Najib: RapidKL subsidies to be withdrawn
Fauwaz Abdul AzizPublished: May 28, 2008 12:37 PM | Updated: May 28, 2008 12:40 PM
Government-linked company Rapid Kuala Lumpur (RapidKL) will no longer be subsidised by the government so as to save taxpayers' money, said Cabinet Committee on Public Transport chairperson and Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak.
Government-linked company Rapid Kuala Lumpur (RapidKL) will no longer be subsidised by the government so as to save taxpayers' money, said Cabinet Committee on Public Transport chairperson and Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak.
This move was aimed at levelling the playing field between RapidKL and other bus companies, and preventing them from continuing to lose out to RapidKL because of the subsidy.
"It is not fair that we use allocation of taxpayers to subsidise RapidKL," he stated at a press conference in Parliament today.
"There will be some adjustments to RapidKL's fare prices," he added.
A competitor company Konsortium Transnasional Bhd chairperson Nadzmi Salleh was earlier reported to have lamented the advantages that RapidKL enjoyed as a government linked company (GLC).
While the removal of the subsidies to RapidKL was ‘part and parcel' of the government's effort to streamline its policy on subsidies, Najib insisted that the main concern was the survival of other bus companies.
"We do not want them to kill the local companies. The local companies are dying. They are going bankrupt, actually, and we are using public money (to subsidise RapidKL), and the effect of using public money is that the local companies are going bankrupt. So there's a moral principle there... (it) is not right," said Najib
Higher fares
On the prospect of higher fares for the public, Najib assured that the committee will study it.
He added that if the public transport system was being utilised by high-income earners, the pricing system will be liberalised.
"(For) those who are low-income (earners), we will monitor this continuously," said Najib.
On a related matter, Najib said the committee will recommend to the cabinet a single commission on public transport to be set up at a national level to look into such matters as the monitoring and issuing of licenses, planning, supervision and enforcement of bus companies.
Currently, purview of these matters was distributed across 13 ministries and government agencies.
"The cabinet committee on public transport is of the view that in this situation of such fragmentation, it is appropriate to have a single authority so that control and development and supervision of public transport nationwide can be implemented in a more effective and organised manner," said Najib.
"This proposal needs to be refined further in all aspects... (and) will be discussed at the cabinet committee level before raising it for the government's consideration," he added.
Najib was unable to ascertain under whose authority this commission will fall under.
"We will discuss this in the next meeting of the committee on public transport, and bring it to cabinet," he said.
This move was aimed at levelling the playing field between RapidKL and other bus companies, and preventing them from continuing to lose out to RapidKL because of the subsidy.
"It is not fair that we use allocation of taxpayers to subsidise RapidKL," he stated at a press conference in Parliament today."There will be some adjustments to RapidKL's fare prices," he added.
A competitor company Konsortium Transnasional Bhd chairperson Nadzmi Salleh was earlier reported to have lamented the advantages that RapidKL enjoyed as a government linked company (GLC).
While the removal of the subsidies to RapidKL was ‘part and parcel' of the government's effort to streamline its policy on subsidies, Najib insisted that the main concern was the survival of other bus companies.
"We do not want them to kill the local companies. The local companies are dying. They are going bankrupt, actually, and we are using public money (to subsidise RapidKL), and the effect of using public money is that the local companies are going bankrupt. So there's a moral principle there... (it) is not right," said Najib
Higher fares
On the prospect of higher fares for the public, Najib assured that the committee will study it.
He added that if the public transport system was being utilised by high-income earners, the pricing system will be liberalised."(For) those who are low-income (earners), we will monitor this continuously," said Najib.
On a related matter, Najib said the committee will recommend to the cabinet a single commission on public transport to be set up at a national level to look into such matters as the monitoring and issuing of licenses, planning, supervision and enforcement of bus companies.
Currently, purview of these matters was distributed across 13 ministries and government agencies.
"The cabinet committee on public transport is of the view that in this situation of such fragmentation, it is appropriate to have a single authority so that control and development and supervision of public transport nationwide can be implemented in a more effective and organised manner," said Najib.
"This proposal needs to be refined further in all aspects... (and) will be discussed at the cabinet committee level before raising it for the government's consideration," he added.
Najib was unable to ascertain under whose authority this commission will fall under.
"We will discuss this in the next meeting of the committee on public transport, and bring it to cabinet," he said.
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