KUALA LUMPUR: The spotlight will continue to be trained on express buses well into the Hari Raya holidays and beyond.

Road Transport Department (RTD) deputy director Solah Mat Hassan said Ops Bersih — a joint RTD and police crackdown on errant drivers that began on Aug 22 — will continue beyond its Aug 30 deadline.

It will later be combined with Ops Sikap, which is usually held during the yearly festival periods.

" Ops Bersih will end on Aug 30, and we will probably begin again on Sept 1 or 2 and it will go on until Ops Sikap starts during the Hari Raya holidays.

" Our focus will especially be on express buses and we will use whatever available manpower we have during this exercise," he said, adding that between 1,300 and 1,500 personnel were being deployed daily to conduct the nationwide spot checks on motorists.

" We are conducting checks at major bus terminals as well as selected spots along highways and trunk roads.

" We are satisfied with the progress we have made in screening motorists so far."

As at 8am yesterday, 10,423 vehicles had been inspected by the RTD and police under Ops Bersih. Of those, 1,318 were found to be guilty of one or more offences, with 1,736 summonses being issued.

The offences included breach of commercial vehicle permit conditions, overloading, breach of driving and vocational licence or road tax regulations, buses without a relief driver or log books.

Police also carried out random urine tests during the ops. Forty-one drivers, of whom 11 were bus drivers, and three motorcyclists tested positive.