End the reign of road ‘runners’

As we enter the new year, an old scourge – corruption – seems to be hogging the news. Corruption in any form cannot be condoned, especially when it can cost lives.

KAMAL Hassan is a famed Bollywood actor whose newest movie, Indian 3, the third (obviously) in his Indian series, is scheduled to hit theatres real soon.The first Indian, released in 1996, was a huge hit but Indian 2, which came out last year, was a monumental flop.

No, no, I have not switched to doing movie reviews. It’s just that a lot of what’s happening in Malaysia reminds me of that 1996 hit movie. It was about corruption and how it becomes rampant. And about an ageing independence fighter, Senapathy, who turns into a vigilante to fight the scourge.

Corruption has become a big thing in Malaysia too. We really need to ramp up the fight against it. After all, we are getting to a point where many accept corruption as a way of life and even deify the obviously corrupt at times.There’s one important scene in the 1996 movie that Malaysians can relate to, at least in light of current events. In the movie, Kamal stars as Chandru, a small-time broker outside the Regional Transport Office.

His job? To bribe people inside the RTO to get permits and licences. He then bribes his way to become a brake inspector – a person who certifies public vehicles as fit to be on the road.

It’s now his turn to collect bribes and, dirty money in hand, he gives a safety certificate to a derelict schoolbus.

Sounds familiar?

As expected in a Tamil movie, the bus’ brakes fail while carrying 40 schoolchildren, killing them all. And his father, the independence fighter-turned anti-corruption vigilante – also played by Kamal – then hunts Chandru down and kills him, knowing he is killing his only son.

It drives home an important point. Road safety is vital. And those who decide which vehicles can or cannot be on the road must not be corrupt. When it comes to road safety regulations, corruption kills – literally.

Sadly, there are many who are dirty. We have seen that in the spate of heavy vehicle crashes in recent times. So many lorries and buses have failed on our roads. Wheels have come off, and many people have died in a brutal series of accidents.

Fingers are now being pointed at the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom), the company charged with clearing vehicles as roadworthy. And we seem to have many “Chandrus” in our midst – “runners” who get Puspakom officers to pass vehicles whether or not they are roadworthy.

I decided to talk to some lorry and e-haling drivers. After all, these are the people who have to get their vehicles passed by Puspakom every six months.

The verdict was almost unanimous. All of them, whose names have been changed here, said that using runners, who may charge up to RM350 per unit, means you will be guaranteed the continued use of your vehicle within a few hours.

“We just need to drive to the lane we are told to go, and the runner will then take over. They will tell us to wait outside. They usually put a sticker on the side of the vehicle to show that it ’belongs’ to them,” claimed lorry driver Ashok.

“In about an hour, someone will honk and we just go back in to collect our vehicles.”

It seems the stickers are changed every day. The cheats fear that another group may come up with counterfeit stickers. We have cheats cheating cheats in the country. Really ironic.

Another driver, Rahim, said that at the centre he goes to, there are usually more than 300 vehicles waiting.

“Every day, they may handle 1,000 vehicles. And there are 56 inspection centres around the country. So, can you imagine the amount of money changing hands every day?”

Ashok, however, agrees that Puspakom is a necessary service.

“The inspections are for our own good. They ensure that lorries are roadworthy, so our roads can be safe for all of us. Otherwise, some lorrymen will be driving with bad brakes, poor alignment and worn-out tyres,” he added.

The only problem is: They are still driving lorries in bad shape, thanks to the rampant bribery. And because of the corruption, roadworthy vehicles are being rejected.

“I tried to get my lorry passed without any bribery, but although I did all the repairs and ensured my lorry was in good condition, it was rejected twice,” said Rahim.

He finally sent his lorry to a “recognised mechanic” who also had stickers.

“Once, the mechanic just switched my tyres around after a failed inspection. And they were passed,” he claimed.

There are those who remain defiant. A lorry owner in Penang refuses to pay for the “pass”.

“My six-month-old lorry was failed,” said Rajan. “I took it back to the dealer and had it corrected, but it was still failed. I then got the dealer to call Puspakom and, after much arguing, it was finally passed.”

He said if he had to pay bribes for his fleet of lorries, he would have to pass the cost on to customers, adding: “That is why the government has to stop this nonsense.”

E-hailing drivers have complaints, too.

“You know that six-inch dark tinting at the top of the front window to protect your eyes? The inspectors will demand that you tear it off, which will damage the tinting in the whole window. So, we just pay up,” said one driver.

Another driver, Jason, said his car was set to be failed because the expiry date on the fire extinguisher in it was one month away.

After much appealing, he was asked to leave RM50 on the dashboard, he claimed.

His car was duly passed. A few weeks later, he bought a new fire extinguisher.

John said his car was failed three times until he had to pay a mechanic near the Cheras centre RM30 to “tighten” the brakes. After his car was certified fit, he had to pay the same mechanic another RM15 to “loosen” the brakes again so he could drive normally.Of course, these are just allegations for now, but I heard many such stories and I am inclined to believe quite a few of them.

And we have seen some evidence. A video went viral showing a lorry with tattered seats, worn-out brake pedals and a skeleton of a window crank. It had been passed. And lately, after the spate of accidents, there has been a crackdown on runners and bribery in the vehicle inspection unit.

We do need a clean-up in the testing of public vehicles. The government is finally taking away the monopoly in this crucial service, and that may help.

Sure, we don’t want vigilantes, but the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission boss could well be our Senapathy. As of Jan 9, MACC has picked up 22 individuals, including 19 vehicle inspection officers, suspected of being involved in a syndicate approving heavy vehicle inspections. And the disease could run deeper.

Indian 3 has been touted as a Ponggal release. To all the Indian readers out there, I wish you a Happy Ponggal, Happy Makar Sakranti or Lohri.