5,600 summons on 2,000 'mat rempit' issued in Kota Baru this year

Tuesday, October 17, 2006 : Article from The Star

KOTA BARU: Police here slapped 5,600 summons on some 2,000 “mat rempit” since the start of this year while 1,429 motorcycles were also seized on suspicion of illegal modifications.

This showed that Kelantan police were vigilent on clamping down on illegal races, State CPO SAC (I) Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah said.

Responding to claims from certain quarters that police here were slow to react to “mat rempit” activities, SAC (I) Zulkifli said the arrest records speaks for itself.

He said a total of 120 operations were also conducted since Jan to round up suspected “mat rempit” who terrorise other road users with reckless speeding or racing.

Most of juveniles nabbed under such operations saw that their parents were alerted by the police and the adults were adviced that their children must be constantly monitored, he said.

SAC (I) Zulkifli said this at the launching of the state-level “Ops Sikap XI” for the coming festive period.

Present was state road safety council chairman Mej (B) Anizam Ab Rahman and Kota Baru Lions Club chairman N. Subramaniam.

A total of 240 traffic policemen will be deployed to manage the flow of 1.5million vehicles expected to use the trunk roads here.

In addition, 40 General Operations Force personnel have been called up to assist the traffic police.

Mej (B) Anizam who is also a state executive councillor, urged motorists to observe the new speed limit of 80km per hour when entering Kelantan.

During the 2005 “Adil Fitri”, a total of seven fatal accidents were recorded and he hoped that this year it would be zero.

He also praised the police for installing speed humps at strategic locations in the state to deter “mat rempit” activities.