Installation of CCTV cameras in Rapid Penang buses to be expedited

GEORGE TOWN: Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana), the operator of the Rapid Penang bus service, will speed up the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in its buses to improve the security of its drivers and passengers.

Prasarana Group director and Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff said to date, 110 of the 330 Rapid Penang buses had been installed with CCTVs, with the balance to be equipped by year-end or January next year.

He was speaking to reporters after visiting injured Rapid Penang bus driver, Aisyamudin Yaacob, 26, who is being treated at the Penang Hospital after he was stabbed several times on his right thigh by a female passenger.

In the 7am, Monday incident, Aisyamudin was stabbed by a passenger when he had refused to drop her at an undesignated stop, as she had demanded.

Zulkifli said following the incident, Prasarana together with the Rapid Bus Workers Union would study measures to improve security in Rapid Penang buses.

“We did not expect this to happen and it was the first such incident since Rapid Penang started the bus service in this state 10 years ago,” he said.

Zulkifli said the company would bear the costs for the family of Aisyamudin, who is the sixth of nine siblings, including providing a place to stay near Penang Hospital to enable the family to care for the victim.

He said he had met Aisyamudin’s mother and other family members and assured them that Prasarana would assist the family throughout the duration of the victim’s treatment at the hospital. – Bernama