THE Government should look into overhauling the public transportation system to make it convenient for the people to commute rather than offering one-off freebies, said the Malaysian Indian Voice (MIV).
“What the authorities must do is to make public transport the top choice among the populace to commute from point A to point B.
“For that to happen, one must make access to public transport fast, convenient and safe. In my view, the free public transport for one month is nothing but an attempt to win the people’s heart for the upcoming general election,” its chairman told FocusM.
On June 16, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that all public transportation services under RapidKL will be free of charge for a month.
“This means that commuters taking the MRT, LRT, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), monorail or RapidKL bus services will not have to pay any fees.
“I hope that Malaysians will take this opportunity to try these public transportation services, parking their vehicles at Park n Ride facilities,” Free Malaysia Today reported him as saying.
Touching on the matter, Pappa Raidu opined that Ismail Sabri’s piecemeal solution over city folks’ transportation woes could only mean two things.
One is that the prime minister and his team have no idea on how to fix the problem or secondly, the former has no political will to do so, given that Malaysians have been encouraged to own private vehicles for decades under the National Automotive Policy (NAP).
“Malaysia, in general, needs a complete overhaul when it comes to redirecting our socio-political and economy in the right direction. That is what we badly need.
“Mr Prime Minister, stop offering us piecemeal solutions because our future generation’s lives and livelihood are at stake. Please do the right thing and be decisive,” Pappa Raidu remarked. – June 21, 2022
Main photo credit: NST
