For foreign visitors, the KL Sentral main public transport terminal will probably be the most frequented place, being the exit point as well as for inter-connectivity within the country. Its original intention is a masterpiece, to combine all modes of public transport into one

1. Air travel

2. Rail local and interstate

3. Light Rail Transit and Monorail

4. Interstate and international bus services

The express bus terminal would have been the last piece of the public transportation jigsaw puzzle, which if incorporated, would create a near perfect ‘integrated public transport system’, feasible at least for the next 20 years.

Why has the location for the interstate and international bus terminal been deliberately left out of KL Sentral when national transportation plans are supposed to be complete is anybody’s guess.

Puduraya has seen its days so why do the authorities drag on with it? Until today, a new venue for interstate buses has not been explicitly dealt with under the New KL Draft Plan. The answer is simple - buses congest the roads.

As such, bus terminals generally are treated like an orphaned child by developers. It is an unwanted asset of the real estate because it inhibits their properties. Recently, Klang and Johor Baru, have also experienced the same predicament and this will continue unless the people begin to see some sense and make noise.

The issue of Puduraya must no longer be hushed up. With each day, better options grow dimmer. KL Sentral should be the first choice. Its location of just outside the city center makes it ideal for buses from the north, south, east and west.

There is still adjacent land beside KL Sentral for a very decent bus terminal. Puduraya will be freed from a very knotty problem and commuters will feel the ease of not lugging their bags from one station to another.

However, KL Sentral is the heart of the nation and the last thing we want is a congested ‘heart’. The entrance to the station to pick up and drop off passengers should be direct and not moving in a vortex.

Approaching roads should be uncluttered by traffic jams so we don’t see why Jalan Tun Sambanthan cannot be converted from a three-lane to a six-lane thoroughfare.

The shocking state of having mammoth structures at KL Sentral (much resembling Mid-Valley), have compromised the purpose of a central transport Hub.

Those who have the political connections know what are the stakes involved and what it means to have one’s mouth at the cow’s udder, to suck out all the milk from it.

A developer’s piece of cake cannot have a bus terminal eating into it. However, planners should take note that the first choice of public transport will still be buses because of their frequency, multi-destination and economy. So put it as first, and not last, priority.

The hodgepodge construction now taking place at KL Sentral will greatly restrict parking space, which is Brickfields main advantage. It is alarming that Little India is being trampled by the iron feet of base commercialism which may reach a point of no return.

The authorities have been unsympathetic towards the erosion of the area’s cultural and spiritual heritage. It is their duty to protect and preserve this enclave to allow its transformation into a Greater Brickfields.