JOHOR BARU: The nightmare of traffic congestion in Johor Baru city centre once the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link begins operations must be addressed now.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the very reason why Johor needed the Elevated Autonomous Rapid Transit (E-ART) system was that the RTS was nearing completion.
"When the RTS begins operations in just six months and brings in up to 10,000 passengers per hour, there is a very real risk that traffic congestion in Johor Baru city centre will become significantly worse.
"That is precisely the problem we are trying to solve now," he said in a Facebook statement on Friday (June 19).
He was responding to DAP strategic director Liew Chin Tong, who said that Johor has received significant attention in infrastructure development, including the RTS, which will begin operations early next year.
He called on Liew to provide clarity on the project's status on behalf of the Federal Government, including when the public-private partnership (PPP) agreement for the E-ART project would be signed.
"When will construction of the E-ART begin? When will the system commence operations?
"That is why there is nothing wrong with my call for the Federal government to allocate RM10bil to the Johor state government to implement the E-ART project independently, if there are still so many unanswered questions regarding the Federal government's sense of urgency and the project's actual status.
"If you truly consider yourself 'anak Johor' (Johorean), stand with me in demanding answers and action for the sake of Johor.
"Do not deny Johor its rightful development simply because you feel compelled to defend your party leadership," he said.
On Wednesday (June 17), Dr Wee said the Federal Government should allocate at least RM10bil directly to the Johor government to take over and implement the E-ART project.
He said that if the Federal government cannot provide a firm timeline, cannot issue the Letter of Award (LOA) and cannot demonstrate the urgency required, then it should provide the allocation to Johor and allow the state government to move the project forward.
“Johor understands its own traffic needs better, knows where the major congestion points are and knows what must be done before the RTS begins operations.
“Therefore, I propose that the Federal government allocate at least RM10bil, or up to RM16.8bil for future expansion, similar to the allocation provided for the Penang LRT project,” he said.
On Tuesday (June 16), Transport Minister Anthony Loke reiterated the Federal Government’s support for Johor’s plans for the E-ART, saying that the project was currently being evaluated by UKAS under a public-private partnership model.
