Liew rebuts Wee on PH govt being ‘anti-public transport’

 

Liew Chin Tong has pointed out several issues which have been detrimental to public transport since Wee Ka Siong took over the transport portfolio.

PETALING JAYA: Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong has rebutted transport minister Wee Ka Siong’s claim that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was “anti-public transport”, providing a list of its contributions to the sector when it was in power.

He said PH placed public transport under the purview of the transport ministry, pointing out that it was under the prime minister’s department or the entrepreneur development ministry previously.

He was referring to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) which was set up by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government but was replaced by the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) in 2018 when PH was in power.

“Taxi and bus licences were dished out to Umno cronies. Successive transport ministers from MCA had no role in shaping public transport policy at all.

“The PH government did the right thing to take politics and cronyism out of public transport licensing by placing public transport under the transport ministry,” he said in a Facebook post.

Liew also said the My50 and My100 unlimited travel pass programmes introduced by former transport minister Loke Siew Fook were popular enough that it was continued during former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and current Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration.

“Loke was instrumental in negotiating the Rapid Transit System (RTS) project and keeping the costs down,” he said.

Liew, the Perling assemblyman, also pointed out several issues which have been detrimental to public transport since Wee took over the transport portfolio.

He said these included the decrease in Rapid KL buses in operation from 1,000 to 400 a day, the stalling of the Klang Valley Double Tracking 2 (KVDT2) project, and the reduction of the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund (ISBSF).

He told Wee to be “calm and cool” and to discuss the matter of public transport and traffic congestion in a professional and rational manner.

“There is no need for Wee to be defensive or hysterical. It is not about him. The massive traffic congestion is a problem faced by all Malaysians. So, let’s have a rational discussion,” he said.

On Saturday, Wee called Liew a “hypocrite” over criticisms of traffic congestion and described the PH government, when it was in power, as “anti-public transport”.

To back up his claim, Wee said PH had abandoned or postponed several mega public transport infrastructure projects during its tenure. - FMT