41 compounds issued against diesel-powered vehicles for excessive smoke emission
SERIAN: The Department of Environment ( DoE) Sarawak has issued 41 compounds on individuals whose dieselengine vehicles are found to be emitting excessive black smoke.
DoE Sarawak director Hamzah Mohamad said this year to date, his team had conducted 15 operations including the integrated ‘ Ops
Gerak’ at Jalan KuchingSerian here yesterday. On the compounds issued, he said the fined owners had failed to ensure that the emissions from their vehicles would not exceed the specifications as stipulated under the Environmental Quality ( Control of Emission from Diesel Engines) Regulation 1996.
“For the integrated operation today (yesterday), we inspected a total of 93 diesel- engine vehicles.
“A total of six compounds were issued to the vehicle owners who did not comply with the emission standards.
“Each compound is RM2,000 – should they fail to pay within the given period, the case would be referred to court. Upon conviction, the offender would be fined not more than RM100,000, or imprisoned for not less than five years, or both,” he told reporters yesterday. Other agencies involved in Ops Gerak yesterday were Road Transport Department (JPJ), National Anti- Drugs Agency ( AADK), and Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre ( Puspakom).
JPJ inspected 253 vehicles, and 21 compounds were issued over various offences – the majority of which involved overloading of vehicles.
The AADK, on the other hand, conducted urine tests on 62 motorists – 10 of them were found positive for drugs, most likely methamphetamine.
Those who tested positive for drugs are now under AADK custody.