PENANG Island is now clogged with traffic, resulting in either traffic coming to a standstill or, at best, reduced to a crawl. The contributory factor is the total lack of enforcement of traffic rules by the police and other enforcement agencies.

Vehicles are parked on yellow lines and at “no parking” areas, as the drivers know that no action will be taken. Every day, cars can be seen parked along Jalan Burmah, right outside the Pulau Tikus police station. The authorities seem to be turning a blind eye.

The situation is the same all over Pulau Tikus right up to Gurney Drive. Along the row of coffee shops after the Gurney Hotel, cars are parked right up to road junctions. At the Gurney Plaza, taxis are double-parked, reducing the two-lane traffic flow and contributing to another bottle neck.

At the back entrance of Gurney Plaza from Jalan Kelawei, there is another mess caused by cars turning into the plaza. The Gurney Drive roundabout must be the only one in the country where cars and tour buses can park with impunity.

Every day, during lunch and after work, there is a traffic jam starting from the Citibank in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah right up to Hotel 1926 in Jalan Burmah. This is once again largely due to vehicles being parked illegally along Jalan Burmah, especially at the SMJK Union Institution, where food stalls and push carts also contribute to the chaos along the road.

At Jalan Tanjung Tokong Lama, a lane meant for vehicles turning left into Jalan Tanjung Tokong is blocked by tour buses parked illegally. This is also just outside Tanjung Tokong police station, yet the police do not seem to care.

At Fettes Park, vehicles are double-parked in front of the shops until one is unable to use half the road. Policemen in uniform can be seen riding past but are oblivious to the situation.

Green Hall is a mess, with cars parked on both sides of the narrow road. On the roads near the City Bayview Hotel, vehicles are parked haphazardly, causing a bottleneck in the morning, afternoon and after 4pm. The situation is worse when the St Xavier and Convent schools finish at 1pm.

I strongly feel that unless the authorities are serious about solving the traffic problem, it will be best to remove all the yellow lines and “no parking” signs so that we do not make a mockery of the traffic laws.

What Penang police and the authorities need to do is merely follow what is being done in other places. Tow vehicles that block traffic, clamp those that are illegally parked and issue summonses all-day long.

Follow the United States, where traffic summonses are issued hourly. This will burn a hole in the pocket of traffic offenders and no one in his right mind will want to repeat this experience.

There is no need to wait for the roads to be expanded or for the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR). Just implement the law, clear the cause of bottlenecks and I am sure there will be fewer jams.

Forget about educating Penang drivers. It is time to wield the big stick without fear or favour. If they do not know the basic rules of driving and road courtesy, the drivers have no business to be on the road.

There is an urgent need to expand the services provided by RapidPenang. If this is done effectively, we need not waste such a huge sum on PORR.

AJIT SINGH JESSY, Tanjung Bungah, Penang

Source: NST – May 19, 2008