18 traffic offenders heldin five-hour operation

EIGHTEEN commercial and privately-owned vehicles were nabbed by the police and the Land Transport Department (LTD) during a five-hour roadblock operation along Seri Kenangan Beach in Tutong yesterday.

Three commercially-owned vehicles were slapped with four compound fines after one of them was found with two modification-related offences. The three vehicles were part of 12 vehicles with modification offences which have been ordered to carry out further inspections in the capital to determine the severity of the fines.

The police slapped six privately-owned vehicles with compound fines during the operation, which ran from 9am to 12pm and continued from 2.30pm till 4.30pm.

Authorities have ramped up efforts to clamp down on errant motorists violating traffic regulations and improve road safety, with 4,623 cases of speeding violations were recorded last year throughout the country compared 3,363 cases the year before.

The Minister of Communications, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Hj Abu Bakar Hj Apong, made a working visit to roadblock operations conducted at the Bukit Shahbandar Recreation Park in Jerudong and the Tungku Link road last month to identify key issues needing extra attention for immediate improvements on Brunei's roads.

Talks have been underway since last year on installing hidden cameras to assist the authorities in tracking down traffic offenders.

Hj Mohammad Alimin bin Hj Mohd Tanjong, director of the Land Transport Department, said in October last year that the installation of a fixed-camera system such as CCTV would take place soon subject to approval.

Meanwhile some 40 uniformed officers from various government agencies raided four locations in the Belait District as part of their efforts to stamp out illegal activities late Saturday night.

"The operation aims at monitoring loitering issues among youths in the district," said Hj Nasip Rosli an officer from Belait District Office.

The inspection at Mukim Belait and Mukim Seria did not lead to any arrests, even though a group of people aged between 20 to 40 years old were seen at these locations.

The youths gathering at the targeted locations were not involved in any illegal activities, said a Narcotics Control Bureau officer who did not want to be named.

"Basically we are on the lookout for alcohol consumption and illegal drug intake and the result from the raid looks positive," he said.

He said that the Belait District Office has made a good initiative by facilitating the joint operation.

"It is better to prevent something at its root level than solving it after the problem has developed into a larger scale."

"The result is pretty much positive although these youths were hanging out at public location in the wee hours, but no offences have been recorded," said a Royal Brunei Armed Forces officer who requested not to be named.

An officer from the Immigration and National Registration Department hoped that similar operations will be carried out regularly to maintain national harmony and security.

The agencies involved in the joint operation included the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, Narcotics Control Bureau, Immigration and National Registration Department, Internal Security Department, Royal Customs and Excise Department, Belait Religious Affairs Department, led by Belait District Office. (HHM1 & DKR1)

The Brunei Times