Cops deny ‘balik kampung’ jam at KL toll plaza

Police have denied that the traffic congestion at the Jalan Duta toll plaza on May 31 was caused by motorists returning to their home towns as made viral on social media yesterday.

Kuala Lumpur Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (JSPT) chief ACP Zulkefly Yahya said the 3km crawl occurred between 12.30pm and 2.30pm on that date.

“The main cause of congestion was the thorough inspection by police to ensure that members of the public followed the SOPs that had been set, and it was found that the vehicles had interstate travel permits,” he said in a statement today.

Zulkefly said the congestion was also due to people rushing to complete errands before the start of the total lockdown.

He added that police had inspected about 4,536 vehicles passing through the toll plaza on the said date and time.

“The KL JSPT will continue to conduct detailed inspections to ensure there is no violation of SOPs under the movement control order 3.0,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bukit Aman JSPT deputy director Mohd Nadzri Hussain said traffic at the toll plaza recorded a drop of 66% yesterday.

“JSPT also found no congestion at any highway sectors or roadblocks after MCO 3.0 was implemented,” he said in a statement today.

He urged the public to stop spreading unverified news and to always ensure the authenticity of news before uploading or sharing it on social media.