Apad imposes temporary ban on socket use in express buses

PARLIAMENT | The Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) has issued a temporary ban on the use of sockets in all express buses until the investigation into the death of a teenager who was allegedly electrocuted while charging his mobile phone on a bus is completed.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the temporary ban is to enable a thorough investigation to determine the actual cause of the incident.

“We have also sought advice from the Energy Commission (ST) and if there are any improvements needed by the Transport Ministry, we are ready to work with ST to review the standard operating procedures that need to be implemented before wiring or the use of sockets is permitted in express buses,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Mohd Nazri Abu Hassan (PN-Merbok) regarding the safety of using sockets in express buses and collaboration with the ST.

Loke (above) added that at present, socket inspections are not part of the inspection process conducted by Puspakom.

He said the special task force appointed on Nov 4 to investigate the matter has been given 14 days to produce a report on the cause of the incident.

“This special task force, led by the Transport Ministry, also includes members from the Road Transport Department, (RTD), Apad, the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros); Puspakom, and the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (Sirim).

“As an initial step and standard procedure, the ministry through Apad issued a show cause letter to the express bus operator on Nov 4, and the company must provide feedback to Apad within three working days, by Nov 6 at the latest,” he said.

Additionally, the minister said that RTD conducted an investigation and inspection on the bus body on Nov 5 in Butterworth, Penang, which also involved ST and the Fire and Rescue Department.

Yesterday, representatives from ST, RTD, Miros, Sirim, and Apad carried out a preliminary inspection of the bus manufacturer involved.

In response to a question from Yusuf Abd Wahab (GPS-Tanjong Manis) about the safety of socket use in aeroplanes, Loke clarified that sockets on planes and trains have their own standards, and passengers need not worry about using them.

- Bernama