Abandoned Cars Will Be Scrapped Within A Month Of Notice – Transport Minister

Transport Minister Anthony Loke has announced that cars that are abandoned will be scrapped within a month’s notice, which previously took up to a year in the past.

He said that the move is to lower the overcrowding issue in vehicle compound lots, leading to some local councils being unable to tow away vehicles.

Loke added that between 2014 and 2017, more than 15,000 complaints were received by 8 local councils with regards to abandoned vehicles.

"Currently, it takes the local councils between six and 12 months to scrap abandoned cars, including serving a notice and inter-agency cross-checking on vehicle ownership. It's too long and congesting the depots. I have asked for a new SOP to be established that will be the standard across the board for all councils and reduce the process to just a month.”

"You can expect this to be implemented by early next year at the latest," he told The Sun.

Loke mentioned that the Public Complaints Bureau has been given the task of drafting a new standard operating procedure and tabling it at the upcoming National Transportation Council (NTC) in November.

Once the new SOPs have been enforced, local councils will be given full authority to tow and scrap abandoned vehicles.

Part of the new SOP also covers how long a vehicle has to remain idle before it can be considered as abandoned. "At the moment, there are no guidelines on how long a vehicle has to be idle (before deemed as abandoned). It can be two weeks, can be months. It depends on the efficiency of the local councils. Now want a standard guideline," Loke said.