PARTI Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) president-designate Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin has urged Rapid KL to provide free rides to commuters for at least a month after service has been restored.
She said that this should apply to all transport services provided by Rapid KL, including the Ampang LRT line and intra-city bus services.
“The disruption in the LRT Kelana Jaya line has adversely affected my constituents in Ampang, many of whom are heavily reliant on the mode of transport to get around, including to work,” she pointed out.
“The breakdown is most unfortunate and unnecessary, and this is the least the company can do, considering that many commuters had to incur extra expenses to move around following disruption to the services.”
Zuraida further noted that the free services could help commuters make up for the unexpected expenses such as having to use other modes of transport such as ride-hailing or taxis, on top of other inconveniences caused.
“I have received numerous complaints from Ampang residents about this, and it is unfair for them to bear such extra expenses, especially since many of them are only just getting back on their feet after the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
“I’d also like to take the opportunity to ask the Government, which has a stake in Rapid KL, to hold accountable those responsible for this disruption. In other words, heads must roll,” she said.
She said government-linked companies (GLCs) must lead the way in taking accountability for such mishaps, especially those which provide critical services like public transportation.
“Heads of GLCs can take a leaf from Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid who resigned as chairman and director of MRT Corp following a workplace tragedy at its construction site in 2014,” she added.
On Nov 10, Rapid KL announced that it was shutting down 16 LRT stations on the Kelana Jaya line for a week after a malfunction was detected in the automatic train control system last Saturday.
The affected stations are Kelana Jaya, Taman Bahagia, Taman Paramount, Asia Jaya, Taman Jaya, Universiti, Kerinchi, Bangsar, Abdullah Hukum, KL Sentral, Pasar Seni, Masjid Jamek, Dang Wangi, Kampung Baru, KLCC, and Ampang Park.
On this matter it has been reported that a team from Prasarana Malaysia Bhd, with the guidance of the experts from the Thales Group, had been working hard to identify the root cause of the disruption on the Kelana Jaya LRT line.
According to caretaker transport minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, the team is troubleshooting it and is conducting test runs on the trains so that it will conform to the safety standard.
In a Facebook post last night, Wee said the team had commenced the testing of the entire system from 11.15pm with 24 sets of trains on the Gombak – Putra Heights – Gombak line, adding that a technical team from the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) is also on site conducting the testing. – Nov 11, 2022
Main pic credit: The Star
