On this Billion Ringgit Malaysia Sarawak ART Project which the Sarawak Government is embarking, firstly can the YAB Premier inform whether the preferred system is Autonomous Rapid Transit or Automated Rapid Transit? I have noticed that from the many press reporting of the YAB Premier or the Sarawak GPS leaders mentioning about this ART project, the abbreviation ART was referred to as Autonomous Rapid Transit. But in the Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd’s Website, the abbreviation ART is referred to as Automated Rapid Transit. So which is which? Both are ART but the two are totally different in systems. To put it simply, the difference between automated and autonomous is the degree of human intervention. An automated vehicle needs a driver to control it and does not have the level of intelligence or independence that an autonomous vehicle has i.e. as I understand the system is driverless and requires 5G network as foundation to run it. May the people know why was the ART Project has suddenly changed to degraded mode which is Automated Rapid Transit system and the call for tender is such and not autonomous? Is it because Sarawak does not have 5G or 7G network for it? I hope that there was no short-changed in play and please do not think that Sarawakians are easily to be fooled and just believed what the Premier mentioned before by saying “in Qatar it is called automated rail transit and whereas in China it is autonomous rail transit”.
Secondly, may the Sarawak Government disclose was there ever a proper demand analysis conducted by the real experts for this Billion Ringgit Sarawak ART Project? If there is one, please make it public. I have not read any information mentioning it and also data collection which covers route maps, vehicle and customer counts, occupancy surveys, boarding and alighting surveys etc. If that was the case, how is the Sarawak Government going to know where and when the public require ART transport services? It is important to have such data and information so that the decision to opt for ART system is based on the needs of customers and not for political reasons where its benefits would accrue to few politically powerful people. It one was observant, it is very easy to identify from the photos published in the media who are those few politically powerful people.
Information has revealed that there will be 15 stops for Samarahan Line from Rembus Depot to Hikmat Exchange whereas for Serian Line, there will be 13 stops from JPJ Batu 12 to Borneo Convention Centre. May I know whether these stations get identified and decided based on public transport demand or not? What is the ridership of each station? Where does the ridership come from when many people staying in Samarahan and Serian are so entranced and comfortable driving cars as their mode of transportation? How is the state government going to convert overnight the people who drive to work to be ART commuters? Has it ever crossed your mind that families who are so used to getting into their vehicles to send their children to school and then to work would be willing to suddenly get a taxi or a bus, and do more walking under the extreme weather just to take the ART? Will anyone of you sitting across the floor is willing to use the ART as mode of transportation? Is it worth the sweat and spend extra money to get on the ART? Since the ART is set to be hydrogen powered, the fares will not be RM1 like what the bus service is offering now. Everyone knows including the Premier himself, it is very expensive to produce hydrogen fuel cell.
It is wrong to use the population to determine the ridership and simply assume that at every trip there will be 300 passengers taking the ART. The 300 passengers mentioned by Sarawak Metro is just the carrying capacity of a three-car ART.
I have not seen any feasibility study on Sarawak ART Project too. Until the state government provides a full and frank disclosure of this Sarawak ART Project, the Sarawak Government should not put billion ringgit of taxpayers’ money to gamble which will likely ending up to become another while elephant project just like the billion ringgit failed pulp and paper mill project in Bintulu undertaken by Borneo Pulp & Paper Sdn Bhd held by STIDC (Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation) before.
It is a fact that people like those GPS ministers and businessmen in SEDC who are driven by chauffeurs will never make good policy decisions for Sarawak Public Transport System. We are lacking practitioners in the policy team. Sarawak do not need projects which may only sound good in the ears and to just satisfy the ego of the few but impractical, unrealistic, unsustainable and full with uncertainties. In my view, the bus system is still the backbone of transforming Sarawak’s public transportation. Why not just go back to the basic by improving the bus services and but route network? Why not buy new buses and lend it to stage bus companies or subsidize the purchase of new buses?
Another puzzling issue which racked my mind is that how much role does the Ministry of Transport Sarawak involve in this ART project? Why do we need to purposely set up Sarawak Metro Sdn Bhd to handle KUTS when we have the Ministry of Transport Sarawak which one of its core businesses is to lead in the planning and implementation of an integrated State Transportation System for land and riverine, transport, maritime and aviation? Is there something going on that we are not aware of? Perhaps, the YAB Premier could enlighten us on this puzzle.