A strong hand in coordination is needed for the country to have an effective public transport system, Malaysian Strategic Research Centre (MSRC) executive director Abdul Razak Baginda said today.

Speaking to reporters after a public forum entitled 'Public Transport in the Klang Valley: Problems and Solutions' organised by the think-tank, he said coordination between the related government agencies was pivotal in tackling public transport woes.

The forum saw some forty participants comprising academics, politicians and civil society members. The panelists were University Malaya geography department Assoc Prof Dr Jamilah Mohamad, Rapid KL chief executive officer Rein Westra, Suhakam commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan and DAP Seputeh parliamentarian Teresa Kok..

Conspicuously absent were representatives from the various government authorities tasked with implementing and administering the nation's public transport policy and mechanisms.

Earlier, when addressing the forum, Abdul Razak pointed out that coordination was the perpetual weak link in the administration of public transport.

"The macro issue here is which body should be the one who is responsible? We sometimes face the disconnection between ministries and local authorities," he said, likening government officers and politicians to 'fire fighters'.

"Malaysian government officers and politicians are fire fighters. We love to fight fires. The reason we do that because we constantly face that problem. We don't have time to think of long-term solutions," he said.

Where is the master plan?

Other key issues raised at the forum touched on the lack of proper planning, the inconsistency in government policies, the lack of enforcement as well as accessibility to disabled persons.

"Where is the master plan for our transportation system? We don't know what the government is planning.

"Even in the 9th Malaysia Plan, there's just a few lines talking about the public transport system," said one member of the public who spoke up.

Kok agreed that no proper plan had been laid out in the 9MP unveiled on March 31 and she said this indicated the government was not serious about upgrading the public transport system.

She revealed that Kuala Lumpur Mayor Ruslin Hassan had said in a dialogue with the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee that he could not do anything about traffic woes in the city as it was not under his jurisdiction.

"So who is the boss? Why has City Hall no role at all?" she asked, adding that local councils could play a vital role in the planning of an effective public transport system.

Currently, only the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board under the Ministry of Entrepreneurs Cooperative Development is in charge of determining routes and fares for public transport facilities.

Shy officials

Before the forum proper started, Abdul Razak expressed his disappointment that related government agencies had turned down at the last minute their invitations to attend the forum.

He told reporters later government officers should not shy away from attending such public fora.

"We should not shy away from debates. Pak Lah has already we should listen [...] I think the government agencies are still not familiar with being part of a public forum," he said.