PUBLIC TRANSPORT PASS ON HOLD
Cabinet, Finance Ministry to study its implementation in detail, says Loke
PAKATAN Harapan’s 14th General Election pledge to provide unlimited public transport passes worth RM100 needs to be reviewed before it can be implemented.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the government had to review the implementation as such a move would have a huge impact on its financial position.
The ministry would bring the matter up at a cabinet meeting to examine appropriate mechanisms, said Loke.
“If we introduce (unlimited public transport passes), it will impose a huge financial implication, so it should be studied in detail by the cabinet.
“The decision on the implementation of public transport passes will be announced in the near future as the Finance Ministry is studying it,” he said after a meeting at the Land Public Transport Commission headquarters here yesterday.
On the subsidy amount that the government would spend on the unlimited public transport passes, Loke said the information could not be disclosed at the moment, but statistics would be announced after a cabinet meeting on the matter.
He added that the pledge to provide public transport passes was examined during the formulation of the manifesto, which was before PH formed the government.
“However, when we were the opposition, we had no access to the statistics and relevant information to give more accurate estimates on the amount of subsidies to be allocated.
“Hence, after the PH victory and formation of the government, we find that the provision of unlimited public service passes with the value of RM100 would result in significant financial implications.
“This follows the availability of statistics and other related information.”
On the GoKL free bus service in the federal capital that operated with an allocation of RM12 million annually, Loke said the service would continue for now.
However, he said, the provision of the service was subject to cabinet discussions, taking into account the factors involving its financial impact and benefits generated by the service to consumers.
“Statistics show that 60 per cent of the daily 70,000 GoKL users are Malaysians, while the rest are tourists and foreign workers.”