SMC To Introduce Grace Period, Senior Citizen Pass To Improve Smart Parking System
SIBU, July 10 (Bernama) -- The Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) will introduce a grace period of between five and 10 minutes for motorists using the SMC Cares Smart Parking system before an Over Parking Notice (OPN) is issued, following public complaints over compounds being issued too quickly after parking.
SMC Chairman Clarence Ting Ing Horh said the council had instructed the system provider, Primal Solution Sdn Bhd, to study the implementation of the grace period to allow motorists sufficient time to activate parking through the mobile application.
"We understand that users need time to park, exit their vehicles and activate the app. We want to make the system more user-friendly and convenient, not to penalise the public," he told a press conference at his office today.
He said the council had also agreed to introduce a Senior Citizen Parking Pass for motorists aged 60 and above from August, with details to be announced separately.
Ting said the council welcomed public feedback to improve the smart parking system and urged users to channel complaints directly to SMC instead of relying on unverified information circulating on social media.
He said motorists who believed an OPN had been wrongly issued, including due to registration number errors or other genuine reasons, could submit an appeal to the council for review, adding that every notice was supported by photographic evidence stored in the system.
He also said parking wardens appointed by the contractor were only authorised to enforce parking-related offences such as unpaid parking, expired parking time and overparking.
"The enforcement against illegal parking, including obstruction of traffic, remained under SMC's enforcement division and the police, dismissing claims on social media that parking wardens were issuing illegal parking compounds.
"We had instructed the contractor to ensure parking wardens were more approachable in assisting members of the public unfamiliar with the application, while directing them not to wear face coverings except for valid medical reasons so they could be easily identified," he explained.
He said members of the public requiring assistance could seek help at a dedicated SMC Cares counter at the Sibu Public Library, where staff were available to guide users on registering and using the application.
On allegations that Sibu had the state's highest parking charges, Ting said comparisons showed the city's parking rates remained competitive with those imposed by other local authorities in Sarawak.
He added that all parking revenue collected through the smart parking system was paid directly to SMC, while the contractor was remunerated separately under a service contract.
According to Ting, the SMC Cares Smart Parking system has registered more than 93,000 users since its introduction, with the council expecting registrations to exceed its initial target of 100,000 by year-end.
The council's announcement follows widespread public criticism on social media after the SMC Cares Smart Parking system was fully implemented earlier this month.
Many users expressed frustration over difficulties using the application, saying the system continued to experience operational and technical issues that affected the overall user experience.
Among the complaints raised were a complicated registration process, particularly for senior citizens, an unfriendly user interface, slow system performance, automatic log-outs, delays in payment processing and compounds being issued before motorists could complete their parking payments.
-- BERNAMA
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