Sarawak: Sarawak Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government II Datuk Michael Tiang Ming Tee has called for immediate improvements to the SMC Cares Smart Parking System following numerous public complaints about difficulties using the application.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, feedback from Sibu residents indicated that the system continued to face operational and technical issues affecting the user experience. Among the complaints raised were a complicated registration process, particularly for senior citizens, an unfriendly interface, slow system performance, automatic log-outs, payment delays, and compounds being issued before users could complete their payments.
Tiang said there were also concerns that enforcement officers were focusing more on issuing compounds than assisting users with the system. As such, he has urged the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) and the system provider to take immediate corrective measures.
"If a system is not yet truly user-friendly, improvement efforts must continue until it genuinely benefits the people instead of becoming an additional burden," he said in a statement today. Among the proposed measures are the introduction of a reasonable grace period to allow motorists sufficient time to complete payments after parking and ensuring that users are not penalised for delays caused by technical glitches.
He also called on the system provider to promptly address issues such as slow application performance, automatic log-outs, and delayed payment transactions. In addition, Tiang urged enforcement officers to adopt an educational approach and assist users, especially senior citizens and first-time users, before taking enforcement action.
He said members of the public requiring assistance could seek help at public libraries, SMC counters, helplines, or the N.54 Pelawan Service Centre for matters related to downloading the application, account registration, e-wallet top-ups, and payment procedures. Regarding compounds already issued, Tiang said SMC had been asked to review cases linked to system glitches and consider waiving the compounds if they were found to be the result of system faults.