DSAT suspends road traffic law consultation, protest continues

The Transport Bureau (DSAT) has suspended public consultation on changes to the road traffic law in order to review the proposal, the Bureau has advised in a statement.

According to the statement, accounting for “community opinion, the government has decided to suspend the public consultation planned for the end of this month.”

Despite the recall of the proposal, groups that have planned to protest tomorrow against the government’s proposed increased parking fines said the protest will not be suspended.

According to the organizers, namely a group that includes lawmaker Ng Kwok Cheong and gaming workers’ rights activist Cloee Chao among others, the protest will go ahead as the fundamental issue has not yet been addressed by the government.

“The fundamental problem is the lack of parking spaces and the unreasonable allocation of the parking spaces,” Ng Kuok Cheong said to journalists. “The government is entirely aware of this deeply-rooted problem and yet is deciding to increase parking fines to provoke public reaction,” Ng said, while also calling for an increase in the number of parking spaces to address the large number of illegally parked vehicles, an opinion shared by Chao, heard by the Times.

According to organizers, the street protest will start at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Vasco da Gama Garden. The march will progress toward the Nam Van Lake area.

This is not the first time groups have organized demonstrations to protest DSAT’s increase of taxes and fines. A street protest was held in January last year, where the organizers claimed to have gathered around 5,000 people to march against the government’s proposed increases in fees for several DSAT-related services, especially those concerning vehicle removal for parking infringements. RM