KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — Former transport minister Anthony Loke criticised successor Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong today for suggesting that responsibility for the ongoing LRT disruption fell on the operator's owner Finance Ministry (MoF).
Loke insisted Wee must act to alleviate the crisis affecting thousands of commuters, as the operator of the Kelana Jaya LRT line, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, also reported to the latter’s Transport Ministry (MoT).
The DAP secretary-general was responding to Wee’s remarks that Prasarana fell under the MoF whereas his ministry was in charge of regulating the service’s safety.
“That’s a lame excuse. Prasarana sits in post-Cabinet meetings of the MoT during my time, I’m not sure about now.
“As far as operations is concerned, is under MoT. They report to the Ministry of Transport, so the Ministry of Transport has all the power to direct what Prasarana should do.
“Because even though it’s a company under MoF, but they report to the Ministry of Transport. Probably Wee Ka Siong does not know about that after even two years as a minister of transport, I’m surprised,” he told reporters at the temporarily shuttered Universiti LRT station.
When asked earlier to assess the reason given for the week-long closure of 16 LRT stations, Loke declined by saying he lacked the information needed.
“I don’t have the technical details, it’s not fair for me to make any comments.
“But I think if I’m currently the caretaker minister, what I will do is, first of all, I will come out and face the public, face the media, make a public apology to all the commuters and take charge of the situation.
“That’s what a minister should do, but this is not forthcoming from Wee Ka Siong,” he said of the MCA leader.
According to The Star, Wee has said he felt sorry for the problems that the disruption has caused to commuters.
In a report by national news agency Bernama, Wee said he also had to take responsibility as part of the government even though Prasarana is under the MOF, and said that he needed to listen to Prasarana's views as caretaker transport minister as this is an operational issue.
Wee reportedly said he had asked Prasarana to provide updates at least once every three hours on the LRT services disruption to ensure commuters know the latest situation.
Wee was reported saying that experts from Canada and Turkey will be flying in to Malaysia, and said such experts would within a day or two need to identify the main cause of the Automated Train Control (ATC) malfunction which had caused the LRT disruption.
Bernama also reported Wee saying he had instructed Transport Ministry secretary-general Datuk Isham Ishak, the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) and Prasarana to work out the best solution, and also reported him saying it was time for Prasarana to review its schedule for periodic maintenance work and switch to a more dynamic system with higher priority on safety.
