Transparency key to building public confidence

TRANSPARENCY and good communication are key to building public confidence.

But this was lacking in two local authorities, based on two news articles I worked on this month.

The first was a prolonged service disruption of Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) online systems from April 27.

The second was sudden stoppage of Smart Selangor’s bus service under the jurisdiction of Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ).

A common denominator in both cases is that both DBKL and MBSJ left stakeholders in the dark and only gave explanations after the damage has been done.

In the case of DBKL, all the local authority had to do was send out updates to media outlets about which of its

portals had been restored and which were still down.

DBKL did not provide an explanation or reason for the prolonged disruption nor give alternative channels to help folk who could not access the online portals.

DBKL only issued a press statement on May 18 that it had been working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as well as National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa) to mitigate the situation, after the disruption was detected.

Meanwhile, talk spread about the systems being hacked and that a ransom was demanded, forcing Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif to deny the allegations.

Despite this, DBKL did not disclose any information on the progress of investigations into the disruption, including the possible cause.

On the bus service, MBSJ only announced the temporary halt of Smart Selangor under its jurisdiction one day after commuters had faced disruptions.

The announcement was only made on May 2, but many commuters had waited for the buses on May 1, only to see none.

MBSJ explained that there was a change in the bus operator as its contract with the previous one had ended in February.

The contract was extended to April 30 to give room to the new operator to do necessary preparations but it faced issues in obtaining a bus route permit from the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD), leading to the delay in service.

However, all this information was not disclosed in MBSJ’s public announcement.

Passengers would have remained in the dark had I not pursued the matter with the city council.

MBSJ should have disseminated the information to the media instead of staying silent and having to defend itself after regular commuters complained.

I am aware that the authorities have a string of protocols to be followed when giving details and updates to the media, ergo dissemination of information to the public, on important issues.

However, the absence of regular and transparent communications can lead to angry and unhappy stakeholders, and it will take a lot more work to rebuild trust that has been lost.