MAY 21 ― The police has launched its Ops Warta to take stern actions, including detention with handcuffs, against traffic summons defaulters.

The situation has gone serious as over 1.5 millions of summonses were not settled even though arrest warrants were issued.

The police has made the Ops Warta announcement last month to warn summons defaulters but many still did not settle the outstanding fines before the given deadline.

The message has been conveyed while sufficient time was given, but summons defaulters still did not grasp the last chance to settle the fines. It is not a problem of “not able to”, but “not willing to”.

It is no longer a personal problem when more than a million people ignore the arrest warrants. There must be reasons behind it.

Such a phenomenon has reflected the weak awareness of motorists, as well as the weaknesses of law enforcement authorities.

The government has been lenient to traffic summons defaulters. Not only deadlines were extended, but discounts were offered. Such a practice has “pampered and spoiled” motorists, causing many of them still waited for the “good news (deadline extension or discount)” even after the police has repeatedly stressed on stern actions.

To a certain extent, the government's practice has resulted in the huge number of outstanding summonses, not only affecting the income of the authorities, but also weakened the awareness of law. Law is one of the pillars supporting the modern society and once it is shaken, the consequences could be disastrous.

The government must work harder to change the public's mindset and raise their awareness of law. From now on, the government and police must be firm and stern, to gradually build credibility and strengthen the rule of law.

The rule is simple enough: you pay when you get a summons, or actions will be taken. The key lies on how the law is enforced. It is just as simple as that.

Massive arrests are not the solution. Similar operations have been taken for a number of times but the problem has yet to be solved, reflecting that it is just an interim measure. It is indeed not a wise move as the massive arrests require personnel mobilisation, which is resources consuming.

A country ruled by law needs to maintain strict and impartial law enforcement, instead of launching massive arrests from time to time.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.