The commission, also known by its Malay acronym SPAD, is chaired by former minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar; its CEO was formerly the Transport Minister’s special adviser Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal; and its chief operating officer Shahril Mokhtar used to be RapidKL’s corporate planning and strategy general manager.
“We don’t have the power just yet,” Shahril admitted to reporters today.
Parliament was to have passed several Bills on the Road Transport Act (RTA), the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (CVLB) and on rail transport and transfer full control of those areas from the separate ministries to the commission at the current session.
But several federal lawmakers who are not ministers had complained about the drafts and sent them back to the drawing board to be refined.
Shahril was confident the Bills will be passed at the next Dewan Rakyat session in September.
The commission is a new statutory body, directly under the Prime Minister’s Department, responsible for regulating all public transport on land, from buses and taxis to rail lines.
Previously, matters were dealt with separately by some 15 government departments and agencies, which often saw an overlap of powers and leading to confusion among end users and the transport companies.
SPAD is looking to draw a seamless masterplan that integrates all public transport on land nationwide, beginning with the densely-populated Klang Valley.
The commission hopes to be able to present the plan to the public within 12 months from September, said Mohd Nur Ismal.
For starters, SPAD will focus on improving reliability for public transport users, he added.
