KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 9): Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd, one of two companies awarded the Automated Enforcement System (AES) contract, has rebuked the opposition for alluding that it had won the bid because of political affiliations.

In a statement to fz.com, Beta Tegap stressed that the award of the contract was above board.

"To clarify regarding our contract, in 2005, agencies under the Transport Ministry undertook an extensive evaluation of the AES systems' implementation in other nations.

"In 2007, nine companies with international technical partners were invited to participate in a live testing of their system on Malaysian roads," said Beta Tegap chairperson Tan Sri Nik Ismail Nik Mohamed.

He said that on June 18, 2007, seven of the companies had taken part in the assessment of their systems on Malaysian roads.

"Beta Tegap was selected based on our performance and the expertise of our international technical partners during the live testing, and not because of any association with anyone," added Nik Ismail.

On Monday, Teja PKR assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang accused Beta Tegap of winning the contract as its largest shareholder, Rozana Redzuan is the daughter of former Peserai assemblyperson Tan Sri Redzuan Salim and Sri Medan assemblyperson Atkah Abdullah, who are both veteran Parit Sulong Umno leaders.

He also noted that Rozana is the niece of Machap assemblyperson Datuk Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman.

"Beta Tegap would like to state that the company does not have any business links or connections with Umno," said Nik Ismail.

He requested that Rozana's family "not be slandered", given the demise of her late father 12 years ago.

"This is highly insensitive and clearly cheap publicity. According to the Hadis of Prophet Muhammad, we should not speak ill of the dead."

Beta Tegap and another company, ATES Sdn Bhd, have installed 14 cameras at blackspot locations in Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and reportedly captured a total of 63,558 traffic offences within the first eight days since Sept 23.

Opposition parliamentarians, along with several BN Backbenchers have called on the government to withhold its full implementation until public feedback and discrepancies on the mechanisms of the system are sorted.

This story first appeared in fz.com on Nov 9, 2012.