Media Conference Statement by Lau Weng San in Petaling Jaya on
Friday, 22nd August 2008:
Email written to RapidKL for
appointment poured with cold water
The Most Honourable Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday traveled from Serdang to
Masjid Jamek by KTM Komuter and Putra LRT via KL Sentral Interchange "to
get a feel of the transportation problems faced by the people and came
away less than satisfied."
Prime Minister outlined four major weaknesses of our public
transportation system, i.e. over congested compartments, unsatisfactory
services, insufficient frequency and insufficient coverage network.
I believe that if PM were to travel from his official residence in
Putrajaya to Serdang KTM station by bus, he will have more grievances
and complaints as there is no bus-stop in front of his official
residence in Putra Perdana.
Public transportation has become an important issues, not only because
it will be the focus of the upcoming budget after the steep fuel price
hike in June 2008, but it is an issue that cut across all racial and
religious backgrounds. A city without an efficient and reliable public
transportation system will not be a livable city, especially when urban
folks from the lower income group have to rely heavily on public
transportation as their major mean of transportation.
A lot of people, mainly office workers have turned to public
transportation as their daily mean to travel back and forth to their
workplaces after the fuel price hike in order to cut down their reliance
on personal vehicles and petrol. In fact, the number has been on the
growth since petrol price was increased by 30 sen in in 2006.
However, with the increasing numbers of commuters and passengers, public
transportation operators in Klang Valley especially Syarikat Prasarana
Negara Berhad (or Prasarana) have failed miserably to meet the demands
of the passengers.
Prasarana is a wholly-owned Government company under the Ministry of
Finance Inc., which was set up to own the assets of selected public
transport companies, including the two light rail transit (LRT) lines
namely the Ampang Line (or formerly known as Star LRT) and Kelana Jaya
Line (or formerly known as PUTRA-LRT).
Prasarana also supplied 1,055 new buses as of April 2008 to service
routes within the Klang Valley. Both the LRT and bus services are
operated by Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (RAPID KL) a
wholly-owned Government company under the Ministry of Finance Inc.
In December 2007, Prasarana took over the assets and operations of KL
Monorail System which is currently being managed by KL StarRail Sdn. Bhd.
(KLSR) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prasarana.
For the past one month, there are numerous reports of breakdowns on the
two LRT systems, not to mention the many unexpected delays in bus
sevices.
I have been trying to make an appointment with the management of RapidKL
and prasarana but was unfortunately poured with cold water (Please refer
to the email). In an email I sent to RapidKL to seek for an appointment
in relation to the frequent breakdown of the LRT services, I was given a
reply a few days ago only after several follow-ups and that I was asked
to arrange the meeting through Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ).
I wonder what has MBPJ to do with the breakdowns. Why an elected
representative has to turn to MBPJ in order to convey the message of the
people to the management of RapidKL?
There are many major issues concerning public transportation at various
level. For example at the policy level, there are dispute why public
transportation is put under various ministries when there should be one
ministry to fully overlook public transportation?
DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara YB Tony Pua yesterday raised a question
on on the status of the Commission of Public Transport (Suruhanjaya
Pengangkutan Awam) promised by the Prime Minister in his speech to the
parliament on the 26th June 2008. YB Tony Pua and I were equally
disappointed as the government has not made any decision on the set up
of the Commission.
I hope both PM and the Transport Minister can look into Prasarana's
serious lack of concern in improving public transportation in Klang
Valley.
* Lau Weng San, DAP Selangor Secretary and ADUN for
Kampung Tunku
http://dapmalaysia.org