Full audit on public transport services
Liow: It is to improve passenger safety
KUALA LUMPUR: A comprehensive audit will be carried out on the entire chain of public transport services, including vehicle design, construction, approval and inspection procedures, in the interest of passenger safety. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the audit, to be conducted and reported in the first quarter of 2017, would also cover record keeping of the relevant agencies.
As part of the increased scrutiny, he said the ministry was also in the process of forming the Malaysian Transport Safety Board (MTSB) which would be an independent and transparent body to investigate major safety incidents.
The board would also conduct research to improve safety, monitor and evaluate the safety initiatives of all modes of transport.
“The safety and security of passengers is of paramount importance to us,” Liow said in a statement issued yesterday.
His remarks come in the wake of the many crashes involving public vehicles in the country, the latest of which was the bus crash that killed 14 people in Muar on Christmas eve.
Liow revealed that the bus was not installed with a Speed Limiter Device (SLD) as it was manufactured before the ruling came into effect.
He said only buses manufactured from January 2015 were required to install the device in line with UN Regulation 89, adding that the ill-fated bus was manufactured in 2013 based on a 2010 approved model.
The minister said that after the deadly Genting Highlands bus crash that claimed 37 lives in 2013, an advisory panel to the ministry was formed to evaluate and review the investigation report.
“The panel submitted its report with 51 recommendations. Of these, 22 measures under my ministry’s jurisdiction have been acted upon while the remaining ones are being implemented by the related agencies,” he said, adding that the mandatory installation of SLD was part of the recommendations.
Liow said his ministry would continue to look into mechanisms to further strengthen compliance.
“I have instructed my ministry and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) to monitor the implementation of all recommendations outlined by the panel.
“I have also instructed relevant agencies under the ministry’s purview to report the status and progress of the implementations of related recommendations,” he added.
He added that the status report on respective implementations would be revealed via the relevant agency’s official website.