KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke took a dig at the CEOs of government-linked corporations (GLCs) for not being proactive enough.
This came about because Loke noticed that one of the newly-installed bi-directional travellators was not working when he was at the Pasar Seni LRT station today.
Loke then told reporters that he wants the CEOs of the various GLCs to make an effort to come down and check their services more often.
He said his ministry will issue a directive to all CEOs instructing them as such.
“This is why I decided to do spot checks. These travellators are brand new but out of two, only one is functioning and it does not show a good image of the country, especially in the early part of Visit Malaysia Year,” said Loke.
“Then the KTM ticketing machines, out of four, only one is working. This is why I want the top management of all these top companies to come down regularly and check their services. It’s not just the minister who must come down and check services. CEOs must be more proactive.
“It’s just a simple thing. In half an hour, I’ve found out how many things are not working and this is the old KL station, an important station. This is embarrassing and unacceptable.
“I want a culture of better maintenance among our service providers and let me make it clear: I am not happy with the current situation when we’re expecting to welcome loads of tourists to the country this year,” added Loke.
This is not the first time KTM has had issues with ticketing.
In November 2019, “overwhelming demand” for ETS tickets (an inter-city rail service provided by KTM Berhad) caused its ticketing servers to crash, frustrating tens of thousands of commuters.
The deluge, according to KTMB chief executive officer Datuk Kamarulzaman Zainal, came from the combination of demand associated with year-end school holidays, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Thaipusam, all of which were taking place from December until the end of February.
Loke said the government has spent billions on infrastructure but if the services are sub-par, then the onus is on the GLCs to step up their game.
“No point having big projects and spend billions of ringgit to upgrade tracks and stations, but in terms of services to the public, we’re far behind.
“Ticketing systems must be more convenient and reliable. We don’t want a situation where the public come to the station but find it difficult to purchase a ticket,” he added.
According to Tourism Malaysia, the country can expect around 30 million visitors in 2020 and RM100 billion of tourist receipts. Tourism Malaysia targets 92.8 million domestic tourists in 2020 who are expected to spend a total of RM76.9 billion.
