KenaSaman.com

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government may be drawing up a cheaper public transportation model as it remains steadfast in its decision not to subsidise bus operator Konsortium Transnasional Bhd (KTB).

Stopping short of saying that Selangor would offer its own bus services, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said that he did not want to preempt the results of its discussion with the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) today.

At present, he said the state could offer public transportation through local governments but were not allowed to collect fares.

“I don't think the local governments are capable of handling it without a break-even revenue.

“They are not going to make profits of course, but they have to sustain the cost of maintaining the operations.

“This will surely be cheaper than the commercial public transport cost,” he said here yesterday.

Khalid said he was against giving KTB a subsidy because doing so was akin to charging taxpayers twice.

“Once, by giving the company profitable routes and the second time, by giving a subsidy for their unprofitable routes,” he said

He also said that the company had made money from certain inter-city routes.

On Tuesday, KTB suspended the services of its stage bus Cityliner fleet citing losses of RM8mil a year, leaving some 80,000 commuters stranded.

This had forced commuters to seek alternative transport.

KTB executive director Tengku Hasmadi Tengku Hashim said it was unfair of Selangor to reject its plea outright.

He added that it was missing the point with the insinuation that Cityliner was using profits from lucrative routes to cover the non-profitable ones.

“This is possible 15 to 20 years ago when bus companies were given routes that were exclusively theirs but the situation has changed,” said Tengku Hasmadi.

He said in the last five years, the then Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board had issued permits to different bus companies to ply the same routes as theirs.

“These new companies were given licences to only service the lucrative routes but not the social routes.

“We are obligated to service the non-profitable routes.

“At the same time, our profits from the lucrative routes had to be shared with these new companies,” he said.

Tengku Hasmadi said Selangor should emulate Penang and Negri Sembilan in coming to KTB's aid.

Transport Workers Union secretary-general Zainal Rampak agreed that multiple stage bus companies plying the same routes was a major problem for the operators.

“This should not be allowed to go on,” alleged Zainal.

He added that SPAD must now take it upon themselves to look into and rectify the matter.

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation