NST Online: Topnews

Inquest into Sarbaini's death set for July 4-15

Posted: 13 Jun 2011 10:11 PM PDT

Inquest into Sarbaini's death set for July 4-15

KUALA LUMPUR: An inquest is to be held from July 4 to 15 into the death of Selangor Customs assistant director Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed in April while under the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The inquest will be heard before Magistrate Aizatul Akmal Maharani who will sit as the coroner, according to a displayed notice signed by her.

Ahmad Sarbani, 56, who was attached to the Port Klang Customs Office, was found dead at the badminton court on the first floor of the Federal Territory MACC office in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6.

He had been released on bail after his arrest during a graft probe involving Customs officers and had gone to the MACC office on April 6, apparently to change his statement. -- BERNAMA

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Inquest into Sarbaini's death set for July 4-15

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Puspakom ready for new ruling

Posted: 13 Jun 2011 09:08 PM PDT

2011/06/13
By Roy See Wei Zhi
news@nst.com.my

Puspakom chief executive officer Hisham Othman says it set up new inspection centres and upgraded existing ones to ease the transition to the new regulation. — NST picture by Nik Hariff Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR: Puspakom set up new inspection centres and upgraded existing ones to ease the transition to the Hire Purchase Inspection (HPI) regulation that will take effect tomorrow.

It added inspection lanes in Glenmarie, Wangsa Maju, Sungai Petani, Padang Jawa and Kuching to increase the number of cars it could inspect.

It set up new centres in Taman Bukit Maluri, Pandan Mewah, Jalan Tandang (Petaling Jaya), Batu Caves, Taman Daya (Johor Baru) and Pengkalan Chepa (Kelantan).

The new regulation requires Puspakom to inspect used cars before they can be sold to another person.

The regulation requires an additional 14-point check (B7) on top of the standard four-point check (B5) in practice for many years.

Puspakom chief executive officer Hisham Othman said some inspection centres would open on weekends.

"We revised the operating hours of some centres and they may even remain open until midnight."

Hisham said there were no legal obligations for Puspakom to perform the upgrades and to extend its service hours, but felt it would be necessary to ease the transition to the new regulation.

He said Puspakom had spent RM20 billion this year in upgrades and added 121 staff to carry out inspections.

"We brought in new machines from France that will improve efficiency and reduce cost in the long run."

He said it was important to note that the new ruling was passed by Parliament last year.

"Puspakom was merely the agency appointed to oversee the enforcement of the act. Parliament had discussed at length the amendment to the Hire Purchase Act, which will finally be carried out (tomorrow) to safeguard the public's interest."

Because only car sales involving financing from banks are affected by the amendment, cash-based hire purchase agreements do not need to go through the HPI procedure.

Hisham said cars needed to be inspected only once and the B7 inspection report would need to be produced to banks upon buyers' request for financing from banks or anywhere else.

"The reason for this is because banks would want to know the condition of the cars they are financing."

"Buyers, on the other hand, would not want to be duped into buying a 'lemon', and spend more money to fix malfunctioning parts."

He said the worst-case scenario was people buying a cut-and-joined car, where either the front or rear half of another car had been welded to it. "Last year, we discovered more than 1,200 cut-and-joined cars.

"Either way, cars that are not properly serviced, or have their structural integrity compromised, are unsafe."

He said there were around 495,000 transactions made to change vehicle ownership on a consumer level every year.

Hisham added that Puspakom staff were well-qualified and were monitored by the Road Transport Department and other government agencies.

"If the public believe that Puspakom staff did not act with professionalism and integrity, they can complain to the authorities."

The public can call 1-800-88-6927 for information.

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Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Isnin, 13 Jun 2011