KUALA LUMPUR: Irresponsible owners who leave their vehicles unattended long enough to cause a nuisance to others may end up finding their wheels among the piles of wreckage at a “vehicle cemetery”.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said a review of the law to empower the authorities to dispose of abandoned vehicles was being carried out with the Transport Ministry.
They are looking at no fewer than eight million abandoned vehicles across the country, much to the chagrin of neighbourhood residents and premises owners.
The figure might be higher as there were many more unreported vehicles.
Wan Junaidi told the New Straits Times that officers from both ministries had met last month to discuss amendments to allow the de-registration and confiscation of abandoned vehicles for disposal.
He said the proposal was still at the initial stage, and the ministries would need to iron out the main areas of enforcement, such as “the deadline for owners to salvage their vehicles”, “who would be empowered to tow them away” and “the locations for gazetted vehicle cemeteries”.
“The ministry, through the Department of Environment (DoE), is reviewing the Environmental Act 1974 to include a provision that will allow enforcers to dispose of end-of-life vehicles in the best ways possible, without causing harm to the environment.
“The Transport Ministry, on the other hand, will look at amending its Road Transport Act 1987 to allow for such vehicles to be de-registered.”
Wan Junaidi said the growing number of abandoned vehicles meant there was a need for the policy to be introduced immediately.
“We have eight million abandoned vehicles all over the country, and these are only the ones we know about. There may be more than 10 million of them, and they have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, snakes, leeches and other pests.
“We have also been bombarded with complaints from the public on such vehicles hogging parking spaces, and creating an eyesore and an unsanitary environment.”
Wan Junaidi said the DoE director-general had been told to identify suitable plots of land nationwide to be used as “vehicle cemeteries”.
“We may have two or three sites each in Sabah and Sarawak, and five or six of them in the peninsula,” he said, adding that the junkyards would likely be privately-run, and their owners would be allowed to salvage vehicle parts or destroy the wrecks.
Wan Junaidi was also asked if it was possible for owners who didn’t want their vehicles any more to send them to the “cemeteries” themselves for some money.
He said the matter was being deliberated, but added that it might be possible after the owners signed off a vehicle “discharge form”.
“A task force will be established at the ministry level to coordinate and ensure that a sound mechanism for waste disposal, including hazardous waste from vehicles, is in full compliance with provisions under the Environmental Quality Act, 1974.”
The cabinet had, on Sept 6, directed both ministries to propose sound solutions in resolving the burgeoning issue of abandoned vehicles being dumped nationwide, which had become a problem for local authorities.