Consumerists: Revamp public transport for better road safety

By Cecelia Victor (Malay Mail)

PETALING JAYA: The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) and the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) have sent a joint memorandum to the Transport Ministry, calling for revamps of the Road Transport Act 1967, Land Public Transport Act 2010 and the Land Public Transport Commission Act 2010.

At a joint Press conference yesterday, Fomca chief executive officer Datuk Paul Selvaraj said: "Those three acts affecting public transport should be revamped because the number of road accidents are increasing and there is a need to put in place more effective measures in order for the public to have more trust in road safety, especially when it comes to express buses.

"From our study, we attribute four main causes of fatal bus accidents to reckless driving, faulty vehicles, heavy traffic, especially during festive seasons, and insufficient enforcement on safety aspects."

He said Fomca and NCCC hope their joint memorandum will receive serious consideration by the Transport Ministry, including their calls for revamp of the three acts.

"Road accidents can be reduced if there are more stringent measures. For instance, the vehicle safety checks by Puspakom takes four minutes on the average and this is not good enough. We are also dissatisfied with the performances of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD)."

Also present at the Press conference at the Fomca headquarters in Sungai Way here was NCCC senior manager M. Matheevani who said: "In the memorandum, Fomca also suggested NCCC become a secretariat supported by SPAD so that we can work alongside with SPAD to improve public transport.

"We also recommend more buses for the benefit and convenience of passengers, and also the need for buses to depart and arrive on time."