AMPANG, Nov 9 — The shutdown of 16 Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations along the busy Kelana Jaya line due to a malfunction detected in the automatic train control (ATC) system could have been avoided entirely, former minister Tan Sri Ong Tee Keat has said today.
Ong, who served as transport minister between March 2008 and June 2010, said more could have been done to minimise the mishap through regular and thorough monitoring of the system.
“It can be avoided. I am not trying to rub salt in the wound because as far I am concerned, we can anytime learn from other countries with more sophisticated train services.
“Of course, we have to admit our years of experience is pretty short as compared to other countries, but the fact remains that do we have such a practice of keeping regular and thorough monitoring of the control system?
“That definitely is a first and foremost item,” he told Malay Mail.
On the possibility that the issue may be used as election fodder, Ong said all election contestants yearned to win but one should comment for the sake of seeking future improvements and not merely to secure votes.
Earlier, Prasarana president and group chief executive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah said that the malfunction had never happened before.
He added that engineers have so far been unable to diagnose the root cause of the disruptions and decided that the best course of action was to temporarily halt the train services from today until November 15 for the safety of passengers.
In the early hours of this morning, RapidKL announced that 16 trains along the Kelana Jaya LRT line will be out of service for a week starting November 9, leaving many stranded with no other means of transportation.
Some unhappy Malaysians have even started an online petition, calling for the resignation of Prasarana’s key leaders.
Many also questioned caretaker transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong’s silence on the matter, including Pakatan Harapan’s Syahredzan Johan, Lee Chean Chung, and Fahmi Fadzil.
