KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government has been taken to task for failing to implement the RM1 billion Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system this year, setting the state back by “over ten years” in its plan for a proper public transportation network.
DAP’s Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government needs to incorporate a modern public transport system under its five-year Sabah Maju Jaya plan.
“The issue of a public transportation system has always been sidelined although it is very important for Kota Kinabalu,” he said during the debate on the state budget in the Sabah assembly today.
Stressing that up to 95% of city commuters drive their own vehicles, he said there are two cars for every one person based on the Greater Kota Kinabalu plan.
“This is not a good trend,” he said, noting that Sabah was warned in the World Bank’s monitor report of 2015 that Kota Kinabalu would become highly congested without the early setting up of a proper public transportation system.
Mooted by former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman five years ago, the BRT project was supposed to be completed this year, but nothing has been initiated.
Phoong said not a single modern bus can be seen on the city’s roads today.
He said the state government must give full focus on completing the basic amenity, stressing that a proper service can be a game changer to the Kota Kinabalu economy.
He said the BRT service has a small capacity for passengers compared to the Light Rapid Transit in the Klang Valley. Thus, Kota Kinabalu is more than ten years behind the nation's capital, he reasoned. – The Vibes, December 21, 2020
