(Petaling Jaya, Thursday): Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin can not run away from the responsibility of failing to improve the public transport system and uphold safety standards. The tragic accident happening near Taiping which cost 21 lives, including an unborn child, should not have happened if there were stringent requirements set on drivers to ensure that they are well rested and do not take illegal substances like drugs. 

In the United States, a full log of driving hours is kept on truck drivers to ensure that they are well rested and have enough sleep. Why are such basic codes not complied with in Malaysia and in the typical Malaysian fashion, require a mass tragedy of this scale to prompt the government and relevant Ministries to act? 

The Cabinet had announced that CEO of bus companies will be held accountable for safety standards, hiring and training of drivers and fleet management to prevent bus companies from hiring bad drivers or using faulty buses. Other safety measures are:

1.    ADOPTING and strictly adhering to the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Code currently used by multinational oil and gas companies.

2.    GROUNDING the entire fleet of buses and suspending all permits given to a bus company even if only one of its buses is involved in a serious accident.

3.    ADDITIONAL and stronger rail guards to be placed at all accident-prone roads throughout the country.

4.    New roof structure standards for buses.

5.    SUSPENSION of permit for a month if a commercial vehicle fails Puspakom tests three times in a row.

6.    WITH immediate effect, all commercial vehicle drivers must attend a refresher driving course.  

Isn’t it ridiculous for Chan to say the obvious that bus operators could no longer give excuses for hiring drivers who had arrest warrants or a long list of summonses, or were drug addicts? That JPJ could not detect such drug users amongst drivers is a testimony of the inefficiency and incompetency of the Transport Ministry as well as failure of performance of Chan. 

There is no point taking action only at bus companies that compromise on transport safety standards when no action is taken against RTD, CVLB and Puspakom for failing to regulate, monitor and enforce existing rules. What shocked Malaysians is that the bus driver had 13 summonses - none of which have been settled - totalling RM1,980. He also had two warrants of arrest to his name issued in 2001 and 2002 while the dates for court hearings had expired for three of the offences. How could a driver with such a record be allowed to drive for so long? 

The bus involved had accumulated 19 police summonses since 1991, 79 summonses from JPJ since five years ago and it had failed checks by Puspakom four times because of problems with the brakes. Again how could a bus which is clearly not road-worthy be allowed on the road. Taking action after the fact is meaningless to the families who have lost loved ones. 

Action must also be taken against RTD, CVLB and Puspakom officials for failure in performance. The public finds it difficult to accept claims by these departments that they can not detect habitual offenders when the public can see that those who are blacklisted can easily form another company, get the relevant permits through their political connections and continue operations. 

Clearly there are serious flaws and weaknesses in the setting and enforcement of road safety standards in Malaysia. For such a tragedy that should not have happened to occur, Chan has to bear some of the blame.

(16/8/2007)