PETALING JAYA: More and more improvements to the country’s transport ecosystem happened following the change in leadership at the Transport Ministry (MOT) since March 2020.
On the safety front, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong successfully fast-tracked the passage of amendments to Sections 41 to 45 of the Road Transport Act 1987 (also known as Act 333) to impose heavier punishment for those convicted of driving recklessly or driving under the influence.
The main objective of these amendments was to act as a deterrent to Malaysian motorists to not drive while under the influence of either alcohol or drugs, as this irresponsible action was risking the safety of other road users.
The amendment to Act 333 came into effect last Oct 23, which includes punishment where offenders could face a jail term of 10 to 15 years, a fine ranging from RM50,000 to RM100,000, and revocation of their driving licence for 10 years or more, if convicted of causing death while driving under the influence.
It was first passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 26 and Dewan Negara on Sept 22, with Dr Wee pushing hard for the amendment in view of the rather lax penalities before that, where jail terms are made mandatory in several instances where offenders used to be able to get away by just paying a fine.
In a press conference to announce his ministry’s “report card” last week, Dr Wee said the latest amendments would create greater awareness among road users to adhere to traffic rules and be civic-minded on the road.
“This is to ensure our roads will be safer for all, and amending the Road Transport Act was one of the highlights, ” he said.
The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic on our shores, said Dr Wee, also presented his ministry with the daunting task of ensuring both goods and people could still move around efficiently during the period.
For incoming cargo containing essential supplies to fight the pandemic, the Transport Ministry ensured all port authorities in the country stepped up their pace to clear containers that had piled up in their yards during the movement control order period that began on March 18 last year.
The movement controls had pulled the brakes on work to transport containers from the yards. The ministry swung into action to resolve the issue.
“At that point, we directed port authorities to work with various government bodies, including the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Department as well as the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, to ensure the cargo release process was efficient, to ensure all citizens get adequate supply of daily necessities, ” said Dr Wee.
At MOT’s directive, special channels were created for the movement of daily essentials so that markets will continue to have food on their shelves, while hospitals will continue to have their protective equipment like gloves and masks, as well as medication.
“It was important that goods can move efficiently, and later on, we ordered the ports to ensure their yards be totally cleared every few days, making no distinction between essential and non-essential goods, ” said Dr Wee, who was visibly proud of Port Klang’s and Port of Tanjung Pelepas’ (PTP) performance when benchmarked against the World’s Top 50 Container Ports.
“Port Klang maintained its 12th position in 2020, as per its 2019 placing, while PTP improved from 18th to 15th for the same period, ” he said, adding that other than China, Malaysia is the only country that has more than one port listed in the Top 50, which ranks ports according to the volume of goods moved in any given year.
Relief during pandemic
Other than ports, the ministry also oversaw several other moves to bring relief to the people during the pandemic, especially following the passage of the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (also known as the Covid Bill) by Dewan Negara on Sept 22 last year.
The Covid Bill is part of the measures taken by the Malaysian government to stem the fallout from the pandemic by introducing temporary measures to address the inability to fulfil contractual obligations, as well as address the inability to perform statutory duties or obligations, or to conduct statutory meetings.
In this area, MOT lightened the load on goods and public service vehicles by granting temporary flexibility for some vehicles to be used outside their normal classification or licensing categories/conditions.
MOT also allowed the statutory age limit for express and tour buses to be raised from 12 years to 15 years, subject to certain conditions, thus giving a lifeline to those holding on to their existing vehicles under this challenging environment, where cross-border travel and tourism were restricted.
Some relief was also given to public service drivers, especially those driving stage coaches, taxis and e-hailing. For example, allowing workers in the gig economy to make withdrawals under i-Sinar was welcomed because many e-hailing drivers suffered up to 60% in income loss due to the pandemic.
Aviation continues to soar
MOT has also made progress in bringing greater sustainability and safety to the aviation sector, when it introduced three directives to lend greater clarity to the unmanned aircraft system ecosystem.
Last month, the Civil Aviation Authority Malaysia (CAAM) decreed that all academies and organisations currently offering training to drone pilots or operators would have to be accredited as of March. In addition, the usage of drones in the agriculture sector is now regulated with clear guidelines, lending greater safety to everyone.
Sustainability of air services is also given attention, with MasWings reorganising its rural air services in Sabah and Sarawak to serve the needs of the people there, while ensuring the government is not unduly burdened by heavy subsidies.
Expanding rail network
MOT has also confirmed that the government is fully committed to seeing through the completion of the Johor Baru-Woodlands Rapid Transit System (RTS), the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) from Kota Baru to Port Klang, as well as the completion of the renewal work for KTM Bhd’s tracks under the Klang Valley Double Track (KVDT) Rehabilitation project.
“Work on RTS has begun on both sides and is on track. For KVDT, we admit that Phase 1 is behind schedule, but the ministry is tracking the progress keenly, and we are committed to seeing it finished as this stretch of the track is used by many cargo and passenger trains, ” Dr Wee said.
He added that the government is also firm on sticking to the original alignment for Section C of ECRL, which takes the trains from Mentakab, Pahang to Port Klang via Bentong, Gombak and Serendah.
“Whatever the Selangor state government has asked us to address or look into, we have already done so.
“We have even briefed His Royal Highness, the Sultan of Selangor, on the benefits of routing Section C through Gombak, instead of through Negri Sembilan, as proposed during the Pakatan Harapan era, ” said Dr Wee.
The good news on rail transportation also extends to various sweeteners from the government to lighten the people’s burden by ensuring their commutes remain affordable. Last June, the government unveiled the My30 unlimited monthly travel pass for users in Klang Valley, which allows them to have limitless rides on the MRT, LRT, Sunway Bus Rapid Transit, KL Monorail, as well as buses operated by Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd.
The initiative was originally schedule to end on Dec 31 last year but has now been extended to this year.
Even better news is that the My30 pass is now expanded beyond the Klang Valley to include Prasarana’s bus services in Penang, Kamunting (Perak) and Kuantan, with this commitment to extending the public transport network while ensuring affordability scoring a lot of points with the public.
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