PETALING JAYA: The three-day grace period that police gave for people to travel home across states and districts ended on Friday and from now on, “lame excuses” will no longer be tolerated at the roadblocks.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Soffian Santong said Penangites were given three days to adjust to the new movement control order and from now on, every car would be checked at roadblocks.
He said that drivers without a valid reason for going out might be issued a compound on top of being told to turn back.
“Since the first day on Jan 13, we’ve been getting lame excuses from motorists like going to meet friends or visit parents living elsewhere but from today (Saturday), no one has given us a poor excuse yet.
“For the first three days, we were easy on drivers and just told those who did not have a valid excuse to turn around.
“We will decide on a case-by-case basis.
“If they come up with a bad excuse, we might not let them go that easily and will have to take action, ” he said.
On traffic holdups at roadblocks, ACP Soffian said this problem was unavoidable as the police must check the vehicles.
“It has not been too bad and traffic has been moving.
“The public need to be understanding as the police have to speak to each driver, ” said ACP Soffian.
The locations of permanent roadblocks in the island’s northeast district are in front of Batu Uban Sports Complex, the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway intersection leading to Penang Bridge, Jalan Paya Terubong, Jalan Batu Ferringhi and Weld Quay.
