MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur Tackles Traffic Woes Ahead of Major Games

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anil Noel Netto

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 1997 (IPS) - Malaysian motorists are starting to face head-on what drivers in Thailand and the Philippines have been confronted with for some time now — gridlocked traffic on unaccommodating city streets.

As is the case with Bangkok and Manila, the long lines of traffic today seen on Kuala Lumpur roads are a direct consequence of poor urban planning and infrastructural development.

“There was an oversight in planning,” admits Transport Minister Dr Ling Liong Sik Ling. “It was not done properly and the congestion is going to get worse before it gets better.”

The transport ministry however does not have much time — just 18 months to be exact — to make things better as Kuala Lumpur prepares to play host to thousands of athletes and officials attending the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Several major transport projects are already under way ,to clear the roads ahead of the Games, including a Light Rail Transit system, a monorail service and electric commuter trains.

But as contractors race to meet the 1998 deadline, the construction work is itself adding to the congestion on the roads, and motorists are far from reassured with comments like that made recently by Works Minister S Samy Vellu.

“Kuala Lumpur’s traffic congestion had been anticipated from a study carried out eight years ago,” he said.

So why then was something not done about it before? asks social commentator P. Ramakrishnan. “Without the Commonwealth Games, I wonder if anyone would have bothered.”

Just how “bothered” the government now is about the situation was reflected when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed and his deputy recently decided to take to the streets to get a better picture of what the situation was really like.

They were not impressed, and deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that immediate priority would be given to improving the public transport system. “We will be biased to help those who cannot afford to buy their own cars,” Anwar said.

That would indeed mark a shift in policy which has been very supportive of the national car manufacturing industry with the intent of stemming imports and boosting local production.

National car companies Proton and Perodua have responded by churning out thousands of new cars which are quickly bought up by Malaysia’s burgeoning upper and middle classes.

At the same time, the government has tried to facilitate the growing number of motorists on the road by building new highways — an attractive investment because of the lucrative returns from toll collections.

At the same time, the public transportation system has gone from bad to worse. “There’s such a lousy public transport system, everybody wants to buy a car,” grumbles Ramakrishnan.

In what amounts to an about-turn, the government has announced plans for a comprehensive package to encourage people to use public transport. Bus and taxi lanes are to be introduced in the capital. Idle government-owned land will be used to widen roads, to construct bus lanes and to build new by-pass roads.

“I want the relevant agencies, including the private sector, which has undertaken the privatised projects to be able to perform,” said Anwar who also chairs a cabinet committee on infrastructure. “They must be held accountable.”

His warning comes amid growing criticisms from angry commuters about the services provided by Intrakota, a private bus company, and KTM Komuter, which operates the city’s new electric trains.

KTM Komuter has since agreed to reduce its fares, to change its ticket-buying procedures and drastically improve the frequency of its service with the addition of 44 more trains.

Intrakota has only recently replaced the capital’s 800-odd “cowboy” mini-buses, whose drivers were widely criticised for their reckless attitude on the road.

But while Intrakota provides a safer service, the company was just not prepared to meet the demands of a commuting public — mainly because they had too few buses.

Intrakota has promised to correct the situation by increasing its fleet of buses by about 40 monthly. The company has also been directed by government, to extend its services to areas that may not be economically viable.

To beat congestion, Kuala Lumpur City Hall is also planning a “park-and-ride” scheme for motorists to leave their cars at specific lots just outside the city centre and then use public transport into the city.

An integrated ticketing system may also be in the offing to encourage more people to use public transport. Under the system, commuters can use “smart tickets” to travel on buses, trains or the Light Rail Transit.

The government also plans to spend some 1.4 billion dollars to build outer, middle and inner ring roads to divert traffic away from the city centre.

“If we start now, we can resolve most of the problems before the Commonwealth Games next year,” said Anwar.