Officials iron out 'bumps' ahead of enforcement by middle of 2013

Bandar Seri Begawan - To ensure that the Demerit Points System (DPS) will be enforced fully and smoothly by the middle of next year, the Ministry of Communications is addressing several issues en route to the system's implementation.

The Brunei National Road Safety Council under the Ministry of Communications is tackling three main concerns of the DPS by carrying out a trial on technical aspects of the system, making necessary amendments to regulations to accommodate the DPS as well as training personnel such as enforcement officers.

Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yusof, Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications, in a recent interview, revealed the areas of the DPS that needed to be addressed ahead of the system's implementation.

He said, "On the technical component, we are now putting on trial the right size of the PDAs and we are also putting on trial the integration of (Land Transport) system with the Royal Brunei Police Force system."

On the hardware, he revealed, "We are hoping to increase the size of the screen of the PDAs to be more user-friendly for the enforcement and police officers".

To make sure that the DPS works properly, he said, "We must have a sound database".

Although there were issues in the beginning as in most pilot projects, "We have managed to address the issues and we have almost reached the acceptable level of database", he said.

"We already have a lot of digitised database which will be used in time for the Demerit Points System. This is the basis of the Demerit Points System and then the integration of the Land Transport System with the Royal Brunei Police Force system. The trial of the system was done and (it) went well."

On the regulations, he said, "We are currently at the final stage and we have done the necessary amendments to accommodate the requirements of Demerit Points System.

"Once we have the system, we still have to train and retrain the officers who will implement the system. We need consolidated efforts from personnel from Land Transport Department, Royal Brunei Police Force and Ministry of Communications."

He expressed, "Alhamdulillah, we have reached almost the final stage. We will be engaging in a series of internal discussions on review of the demerit points in the past six months and this will involve all the stakeholders".

The DPS is a system aimed at shaping and improving the driving attitude in an effort to reduce road accidents.

The introduction of the DPS is one of a number of medium- and long-term strategies prepared under the Blueprint Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

On Friday, a local woman became the latest fatality on Brunei roads in a horrific accident on the Muara-Tutong Highway.