KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — The Transport Ministry has vowed to ensure maintenance work is done regularly at public transport facilities and amenities following rising complaints of damages at some stations.
Wee during an interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian said the complaints have become viral on social media, leading to angry sentiments against the government.
"Ensuring facilities at the stations are well maintained is the responsibility of the station management involved. They are the ones who must ensure the maintenance culture is there.
"Due to this, I have just ordered that a town hall session with Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) involving all rail station managers be held soon,” Wee was reported saying.
He emphasised that even a 'minor issue' must be treated as a crisis by the management and they need to be efficient in recognising and tackling the problems as soon as possible.
The minister added that commuters’ safety is also their priority on top of improving the efficiency of train services.
"We cannot allow train cabins to be used in a state that is not ready, so the frequency between trains has to be delayed,” said Wee.
He said that the frequency of trains will be reduced to eight minutes in the next two months and eventually down to three minutes later on.
On May 22, Prasarana established a committee to figure out the main cause of hydraulic liquid leakage and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) brake caliper damage.
He urged the public to be understanding of the situation that is currently faced by the transport system.
At the same time, he said that the recent move from the government to provide free LRT service for a month is aimed at advocating and promoting the convenience of public transport for those who are still not familiar with using it.
"Many viewed it as a populist move to 'buy' the heart of the people but our goal is to promote the benefits of public transport to those who are not used to and aren’t familiar with the routes of the train.” he clarified.
