MP SPEAKS Two serious bus crashes occurred on Saturday April 12, one in Bentong, Pahang and the other in Kulai, Johor.

At 12.30am on Saturday, an express bus with 30 Hindu devotees bound for the Ponggal festival in Maran, Pahang overturned at Km26.8 of the North-South Expressway near Kulai. Luckily the accident was not fatal, only eight were injured.  

However, almost at the same time on Saturday, a double-decker express bus carrying 68 passengers overturned at Km11 of Jalan Bentong-Raub while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Baru. Three died and 65 others were injured.

The Bentong double-decker bus accident yesterday happened near the site of the nation’s deadliest bus crash in Genting Highlands that claimed 37 lives in August 2013.

During the eight months after the Genting tragedy, at least 14 serious bus accidents and crashes were reported nationwide, killing 16 and injuring 149.

The frequency of fatal bus accidents deeply concerns Malaysians. Major reforms need to take place quickly to save lives.

The Transport Ministry should immediately implement all recommendation of the Independent Advisory Panel to the transport minister on the Aug 21, 2013 bus crash at Km3.6 Genting Highlands-Kuala Lumpur Road (‘The Genting Crash Report’) to prevent the constant reoccurring of deadly bus accidents.

The Genting Crash Report says “it is deeply concerned that many issues are institutional and system-based, giving rise to the possibility that the problems are not isolated cases, but instead are the norm for the country.”

Public vehicle licensing and bus inspection need closer scrutiny. There exist structural flaws in those processes.

The Genting Crash Report was clearly against the use of double-decker coaches along hilly and winding roads. However, the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) did not take the road condition into account when licensing buses.

The report recommended that double deck/high deck buses - which are widely known as highly unstable vehicles due to their height - be prohibited from roads, pending resolution of safety weaknesses.

The Genting Report also recommended that the Public Work Department conduct road safety audits on all hilly roads. A risk-mapping exercise is also recommended to determine the risks of involving various roads.

I urge the Transport Ministry to take recommendations of the Genting Crash Report seriously to prevent further disasters.

LIEW CHIN TONG is DAP national political education director and MP for Kluang.