DAP Sabah has taken aware of the one-billion ringgit Kota Kinabalu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project to be handled and implemented by Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, which had raised concerns among the public.
In an interview with Bernama news, DBKK’s Traffic and Public Transport Department Director Mr Kalvin Liaw stated that Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, the company which will be handling the said project, is a 100 percent Finance Ministry-owned company.
This project was initially announced by the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the 2016 budget announcement. Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman then said that the project will commence this year.
Prasarana Malaysia Berhad which was known for operating the LRT and bus assets in Klang Valley, has been reported on making 15 years of losses out of their 17 years of operation. It was also reported that the annual loss of the company reached a record high of RM885.6 million in their 2014 Financial Year. Apart from that, Prasarana had been carrying a total recorded debt of over RM20 billion in 2016. It was rated to be “very weak” by the RAM Ratings back in April 2016 due to heavy debts (later withdrawn in November 2016).
Due to poor financial capabilities, Prasarana’s years of demand in price hike on ticket fares was eventually approved by SPAD in December 2015.
These raise concerns on whether such a debt ridden company will be able to carry out public transports project effectively in Kota Kinabalu for the benefit of the citizens.
Sunway BRT, which was deemed to be one of Prasarana’s failed projects, was reported to have 70 percent of the RM634 million total construction cost to be borne by Prasarana itself. At RM117 million per km, it has no other options but to set the fare at an exorbitant price of RM5.40 for merely 5.4 km. At almost RM1 per km, Sunway BRT perhaps had been made to be one of the most expensive BRT projects in the world. As a result, the ridership of Sunway BRT has dropped significantly since its launch.
I am deeply worried that the KK BRT project will be another overpriced project which could eventually lead to exorbitant and unaffordable ticket fares for the people in KK. This will eventually be made into a white elephant project as the high ticket costs has deter people from riding it.
Therefore it is a potential harm for Prasarana to handle this project, which could lead to the interest of KK citizens being jeopardised.
The question now is whether the Sabah state government or KK city hall will be able to deliver this project without the interference from Prasarana and Federal Finance Ministry. This also raises the issue of autonomy and decentralization particularly for Sabah as equal partner in federation, in which DAP feels that the public transport services should be directly handled and operated by the state government or at municipal level.
The government should come clean on all these concerns and appear transparent to the people regarding this billion ringgit project.
Lastly, in line with the vision of equality taken on by DAP all these years, I hold on to the view that the KK BRT project should be open tendered, and at the same time be prioritized on increasing local job opportunities for local people.