S’wak govt may consider providing free bus services in cities, towns
KUCHING: The Sarawak government may consider providing free bus services in cities and towns in the future like what many states in Peninsular Malaysia are doing now, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said.
He said the state government will conduct a comprehensive study on the matter, which he described as a people- centric initiative.
“The state government may consider providing free bus services in cities and towns in Sarawak and we will conduct a comprehensive study on this people- centric initiative because we believe that this initiative will not only solve the traffic congestion in the urban areas, but more importantly reduce the high cost of living for the urban and rural poor and also brings benefit to al l Sarawakians,” the chief minister said at the launching of Sarawak’s 1st CRRC Electric City Bus at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching ( BCCK), here.
He was represented by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing, who is also Minister of Infrastructure Development and Transportation.
Abang Johari pointed out that it is important to have a more holistic approach in the development of public transportation system in terms of design, planning and implementation, adding that building roads and flyovers is not a long term solution.
According to him, a well planned public transportation is a combination of MRT, LRT, Monorail, BRT, stage and feeder buses, and the design and implementation will very much depend on the city needs and requirement.
“That is why the state government is initiating the LRT project in Kuching even though we have to put the project on hold,” Abang Johari pointed out.
He reasoned that the LRT project was put on hold to focus more on rural infrastructure for water, electricity, roads and bridges to narrow the development gap between urban and rural areas.
Besides this, Abang Johari said the Sarawak government was looking at suggestions to carry on with the LRT project between Kuching and Samarahan, which is badly congested, and would make known the final decision at the appropriate time.
On the CRRC electric city bus from China, the chief minister said the Sarawak government was constantly exploring potential trade opportunities and technology that are available.
“Today ( Tuesday), we have the China state- owned electric bus manufacturing company that is bringing in their end product to showcase to us and launch it here,” he said, adding that unlike CRRC not many companies were willing to invest millions just to produce a prototype electric bus for the state.
He explained that the electric bus not only had zero emission but also ran very quietly.
Abang Johari hoped that the Tourism Ministry would look into how best to collaborate with CRRC by extending the free bus service for the entire Visit Sarawak Year 2019 or beyond.
Present were Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan, party secretary of Zhejiang CRRC Electric Vehicle Co Ltd, Zhejiang Wei, and Sarawak Business Federation ( SBF) president Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg.