Media statement by Tony Pua Kiam Wee in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 26^th February 2011:

I am ready for any legal action by the Royal Malaysian Navy but the Minister of Defence must still explain the RM6 billion "patrol vessel" purchase

In a brief comment to the press yesterday, Land Public Transport Chairman, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar accused me of "politicising the MRT" when I raised questions on SPAD's public transport policies which appears heavily reliant on the RM46 billion MRT system, while neglecting the role buses will play.

Criticisms of the MRT plans have come in hot and heavy over the past week from residents associations, individuals, research groups, business entities and non-governmental organisations. The criticisms have ranged from the alignment of the MRT, to its cost-effectiveness as well as the prioritisation of the MRT over bus services.

However it is when an opposition politician raises criticisms on the same issue, Barisan Nasional (BN) will dismiss it as "politicising" the issue. Tan Sri Syed Hamid should perhaps stop giving excuses and start providing answers to the very valid questions asked not only by myself, but also by the general public on the MRT rush-job which is under the purview of SPAD.

I had asked in my statement on Wednesday for SPAD to provide details on its plans for bus services as both a complement and an alternative to the MRT services. This is because, any successful public transport plan will require a holistic plan which includes buses. This has been proven in very successful models in Hong Kong and Singapore with public transport utilisation as high as 90% and 60% respectively compared to only 14% in the Klang Valley. Bus ridership contributes at least 50% of the total public transport ridership in Hong Kong and 62% in Singapore despite highly efficient mass rapid transit systems.

The only response provided by the SPAD chairman was that bus operations would not be kept aside as "50% of the MRT commuters would be relying on bus transport services".

Given that the Sg Buloh-Kajang MRT line is expected by the Government to carry 40,000 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD), that means that additional bus services will be expected to carry at least 20,000 per hour just to "feed" the MRT system.

The former Minister must explain how this is to be achieved under the current MRT plan for the public has been left completely in the dark as to how buses will be integrated into the rail system.

Most importantly, SPAD must provide details on how bus terminals will be integrated to the key MRT stations, like in Hong Kong and Singapore. For example, in Singapore practically all stations outside of the Central Business District zones are integrated with bus terminals to ensure convenient access and efficient dispersal of traffic in the suburban centres. Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar only need to pay a short visit across his own Kota Tinggi to study the suburban stations in Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Bradell, Yishun or Woodlands to understand the highly integrated transport hubs and deeply intertwined nature between MRT and buses.

At this point of time, we only hear of the placement of "park and ride" facilities at very selected stations and nothing on MRT station designs to include bus terminals. In fact, where there is an existing bus terminal, such as in Bandar Utama, SPAD has perplexingly chosen to locate the MRT station away from the terminal and not together with it.

Worse, as S. Piarapakaran, president of the Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer) highlighted, according to the declaration forms attached to the EIA report, a consultant registered in the area of traffic studies had been specifically tasked to carry out the traffic modelling but had not done so.

Without such studies having been carried out, how did SPAD or any other authority for that matter decide on the placement of the stations and the alignment of the MRT track, which today is being made available for public "feedback and consultation"?

How are the public and any other interest groups able to make objective assessments of the MRT project without such critical accompanying data?

The "rushed-job" raises the suspicions that SPAD is just acting as hatchet men for the real party which designed the MRT alignment, which is the MMC-Gamuda joint venture, and failed to take into proper and full account the interest of Malaysians at large. As the chairman of SPAD, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar must be taken to task for the poor delivery of the MRT proposal which appears designed to serve the commercial interest of Gamuda and MMC.

* Tony Pua Kiam Wee, DAP National Publicity Secretary & MP for Petaling Jaya Utara