KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — DAP MP Tony Pua today accused the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) of being just another crippled government agency, especially since it was “left completely in the cold” when a company proposed the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system for the Klang Valley.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP told a press conference in Parliament today that although SPAD had been entrusted with the duty to co-ordinate, integrate and regulate all public transport systems in the country, it had not been included in the MRT proposal, which he said was probably Malaysia’s biggest public transport investment, estimated at nearly RM50 billion for the next decade.
“SPAD was first announced by our previous Prime Minister in June 2008. Unfortunately, as of today, nearly two years later, although the structure of SPAD has been more or less finalised, it is still unable to proceed with its urgent task of revamping, restructuring and regulating our public transport system due to legislative issues.
“What is however most damaging for SPAD, while exposing the government’s lack of coherent policies and actions on public transport is the separate and independent announcement the latter has made on the proposed MRT system,” he said.
Pua (picture) pointed out that SPAD itself had admitted that it had not been briefed on the MRT plans.
“It could only issue a face-saving statement that its officials ‘will study the MRT proposals and incorporate all of that if possible into its own public transport masterplan for the Klang Valley’,” he said.
Pua said that at the same time, the MRT proposals were already coming to fruition with Gamuda’s “unsolicited” proposal making headway with the Prime Minister’s Department.
He said that Gamuda had already briefed local research houses, informing them that feedback on its proposal to build the MRT was “positive”.
“In fact a report by OSK Research said that the Gamuda management, along with its joint venture partner MMC, feel that they have a 80 to 85 per cent chance of winning the job and work could commence as early as 2011.
“So confident are they with winning the project that an AmResearch report had said that Gamuda has already commenced soil investigation and survey works to prepare the groundwork for the project,” he said.
Pua further claimed that Gamuda’s management had even revealed that the funding for the project would likely be backed by Federal government under a deferred payment scheme that could take between 10 and 30 years.
“It cannot be overstated that the government is putting the cart before the horse, and its rushing headlong as it did in the 1990s when it privatised the various public transport systems — two LRT systems, one monorail, as well as the consolidation of private and public bus companies.
“The result in the 1990s was disastrous both financially to the government as it had to bail out all these companies to the tune of nearly RM9 billion, as well as for the complete lack of integration between the different rail lines and bus operations,” he said.
Pua questioned if Gamuda planned for the MRT to be integrated based on “optimal public transport connectivity” or based on its own commercial considerations.
“Are the MRT stations going to be built areas where bus terminals can be set up adjoined to the stations to ensure an integrated feeder bus network system?
“These are questions which only SPAD can resolve and impose on any public transport operator. Howevern the government’s eagerness to award the MRT contract to Gamuda-MMC joint venture, it appears that public interest has already taken a back seat,” he said.
Pua urged SPAD to insist to the Prime Minister that any plans to award contracts for an MRT system should only come after it had developed its integrated public transport masterplan and its plan for execution.
“Otherwise SPAD will just become like most other government agencies, loud with its goals but muted with its execution,” he said.
