KUALA LUMPUR – The Transport Ministry intends to reopen applications for taxi and rental car licences to companies with its new improved modules.
Minister Anthony Loke said that this could improve the quality of public transport and provide job opportunities to people who cannot afford to own their own vehicles.
“This is a policy that we will reintroduce, and any party which wants to invest in the taxi and rental car industry can submit an application to the Land Public Transport Agency,” he said when winding up the policy-level debate on Budget 2023 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Meanwhile, Loke said the ministry has no plans to build a railway network to connect Sarawak, Brunei, or Sabah with Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara.
In Sarawak, he said the focus is on the provision of urban rail networks under the Kuching Urban Transport System project led by Sarawak Metro, while in Sabah the focus is on improving railway infrastructure and the quality of the transport service, led by the Sabah Railway Department.
Touching on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, he said until January this year it had achieved 39.64% construction progress, with 2023 as the peak year of construction – involving beam launching, station construction, track laying, and others.
“Currently, most of the construction works – such as bridge construction using beam launcher machinery, dredging, and tunnel construction – are actively being carried out from Kelantan to Pahang,” he said.
In addition, Loke said structural works such as on bridges, flyovers, and sub-grade activities are also being carried out along the ECRL alignment. – Bernama, March 8, 2023
