ONE wonders who should Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook pick a bone with for the shock finding by Prasarana Malaysia Bhd that all lifts at 16 KL Monorail stations around the Klang Valley are not working.
But this is only tip of the iceberg as audit by the country’s urban rail service operator that include three Light Rail Transit (LRT) networks, the KL Monorail as well as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line has further found 46 escalators and 664 lights at numerous LRT stations not functioning.
While veteran journalist and blogger Datuk A. Kadir Jasin described the appalling revelation as “a chronic third world disease”, netizen khalid karim Presiden Parti Orang Miskin claimed that what the Seremban MP-elect exposed yesterday (Dec 8) is not something new but “was already known by rail enthusiasts months ago”.
“Thanks to a group of train-spotters – who voluntarily compiled data by visually monitoring train movements .. And they also compiled data on escalators and lifts,” tweeted the netizen who is familiar with public transportation woes in Malaysia. “But they are afraid of making too much fuss on the matter”.
In response, fellow netizen waiming very bluntly posed a question that struck the chord – that it is inevitable for heads to roll. “When are Azharuddin, Yazzurin & Amir going to resign?” (Editor’s Note: Azharuddin Mat Sah is Prasarana’s president and group CEO;
Elaborating, khalid karim Presiden Parti Orang Miskin expressed surprised that Loke himself has to “turun padang” (go down to the ground) to conduct inspection.
“We have highly paid management team in Prasarana. We have well-paid board .We have a lot of MOT top guns. We have a lot of MOF (Finance Ministry) top guns,” he pointed out. “And you still expect Menteri (minister) to do their work?”
Aside from the mal-functioned lift, elevators and lighting, Loke who ‘inherited’ MOT from MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong had also apologised to commuters of the LRT Kelana Jaya Line as he requested them to brace for frequent service disruptions till 3Q 2023
This is considering that only 38 of the overall 56 train sets are currently operating with the remaining 18 sets currently under maintenance.
He also said that a full report on the cause behind the five-day shutdown of the line involving 16 critical stations from Nov 9-13 will be ready soon.
For the record, Loke first became Transport Minister on May 21, 2018, when Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the 14th General Election (GE14) but stepped down on Feb 24, 2020, following the Sheraton Move. – Dec 9, 2022
