| Date: 19-04-2002 | |
| Author: Tiong Sue Yii / TSY MT AAM | |
| Kuching-Bus (Special Report) |
KUCHING, 19 April (Bernama) - If there is anything that Kuching commuters would like to complain about in the city they live in, it is the poor condition of the bus services. The bus services here are not only unreliable in terms of commuting schedule but the condition of many buses is in a state of dilapidation. Perhaps Kuching is the only city in the world that still allows "antique" or some refer to them as "dinosaur" buses to run on its streets. All the six bus companies operating here had been the object of complaints from passengers over punctuality and the condition of their boneshakers. Some of the buses are so old and rickety that passengers fear for their lives. "The buses are so old...I fear they may fall apart at the next hump," said Haji Imali Abdullah, 60, from Taman Malihah here. He said the buses plying between his housing estate and the city always broke down and when that happened passengers had to wait for hours for the replacement buses. Esah Rahmat, 25, from Kota Samarahan, who had only been using the buses here for a month since she started working in the city, found the buses lacking punctuality which inconvenienced commuters especially when the buses arrived as late as an hour from the scheduled time. She said it was common for her to arrive late at her workplace and to be reprimanded by her supervisor. Winnie Encharang, 23, an undergraduate at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak here also complained of buses exceeding their passenger load by almost 20 percent, thus sacrificing their safety and comfort. She said most of the buses were without air conditioning and on hot days, the heat in the bus was intolerable. Winnie also said with people throwing rubbish and chewing gum inside the buses their condition was not presentable especially to tourists. All these complaints should serve as a wake up call to the authorities, the city council and bus operators to take drastic action to upgrade the bus services in this city. Chairman of the Sarawak Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (LPKP) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Bernama that LPKP was working very closely with the Road Transport Department (JPJ), the Traffic Police Department and Computerised Vehicle Testing Centre (PUSPAKOM) to improve the current state of the public service vehicles in this city. According to LPKP statistics, Kuching had 438 stage buses up to December 2001. There are six bus companies operating in Kuching including the Sarawak Transport Company, Chin Lian Long Motor Vehicle Bhd, Kuching Matang Transport Company and Petra Jaya Transport (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd. "We are aware that the public buses in Kuching are in very deplorable condition hence our immediate action is to ask the bus companies to replace the old buses with new ones," said Wan Junaidi. Wan Junaidi, who is also Member of Parliament for Batang Lupar, said a proposal would be submitted to the JPJ to introduce new guidelines which would limit the age of the stage buses and ensure strict adherence to JPJ rules for the comfort and safety of commuters. "The Kuching bus service is in a sorry state if compared to Miri and Sibu which have beautiful new buses. This is very damaging to the city's image especially in the eyes of tourists," he said. Wan Junaidi urged members of the public to submit written feedback to LPKP instead of just passing remarks in coffeeshops because without a record, the LPKP could not act. He also hoped that the bus companies would cooperate and not protest or resort to political leverage to go against any new directive from the authorities because they should consider the city's larger interest. Wan Junaidi said that the bus companies should be willing to initiate the upgrading of their services before expecting bigger fares. Meanwhile Kuching Puspakom Manager Jalil Ahmad said all buses in the city were required to undergo cumpulsory testing every six months to be eligible for permit renewal. He suggested that public service vehicles undergo voluntary inspection once every two or three months for better maintenance. Jalil said Puspakom also organised dialogue sessions and seminars to educate vehicle owners regarding their responsibilities especially in dealing with public safety. The largest bus company in Sarawak, the STC has 280 buses operating throughout the state with 25 percent or 150 buses in Kuching. STC General Manager William Chan said that before the 1997 economic downturn, the STC was making a profit of RM2 million annually, enabling them to replace 10 percent of the company's entire fleet with new buses every year. "However, the bus fare had not increased with time. Furthermore the bad economic situation and the increased prices of spare parts and petrol caused the STC to lose RM8 million and the whole industry in the city suffered an accumulated loss of over RM60 million last year," he said. "The price for suspension springs for the bus was RM50 some 10 years ago.It has increased to RM300 today but the fare has remained at 50 sen for the first five kilometres and six sen for every subsequent kilometre since 1989." Chan said the government should stop pirate taxis and illegal hired vans from operating as they posed a major threat to the bus industry in Kuching. "We are a dying breed here and nobody seems to care about us. It's not that we don't want to improve our services but to do so, we need funding and we can't afford that at the moment," he told Bernama. It is obvious that the poor public bus services in Kuching will remain a problem until the bus companies had sufficient funds to upgrade their services especially in replacing their old buses with new ones. The authorities and the bus companies agree that they must work together to reach mutual understanding in the effort to uplift the city's image by providing the best possible bus service in the city. Besides expecting a helping hand from the government, the bus operators should seriously consider the possibility of merging to improve their services like in Kuala Lumpur. --BERNAMA TSY MT AAM
| Date: 19-04-2002 | |
| Author: Tiong Sue Yii / TSY MT PR | |
| Kuching-Bas (Laporan Khas)/Bergambar |
KUCHING, 19 April (Bernama) -- Kuching, sebuah bandar raya yang tersergam indah dengan pelbagai prasarana moden menjadi kebanggaan penduduknya, bagaimanapun perkhidmatan bas di bandar raya itu tidak dapat dibanggakan oleh penduduknya. Perkhidmatan bas di sini bukan sahaja tidak boleh dipercayai kerana jadual perjalanannya yang tidak mengikut masa tetapi keadaan buruk bas-bas di atas jalan mencacatkan pemandangan dan menimbulkan pelbagai gelaran sinis akan bas-bas itu. Mungkin Kuching satu-satunya bandar raya di dunia yang masih membenarkan bas-bas "antik" ataupun yang digelar sebagai "dinosaur" atas jalan. Kesemua enam syarikat bas yang beroperasi di sini tidak terlepas daripada aduan bertali arus mengenai perjalanan yang tidak mengikut masa dan keadaan bas-bas itu yang dibaratkan sebagai besi buruk yang boleh membahayakan keselamatan penumpang. "Bas-bas itu sudah ditelan zaman...Saya khuatir ia mungkin berkecai di bonggol jalan," kata Haji Imali Abdullah, 60 dari Taman Malihah dekat sini. Beliau berkata, bas yang beliau sering gunakan selalu rosak dan selepas itu para penumpang terpaksa menunggu berjam-jam bagi bas pengganti. Esah Rahmat, 25, dari Kota Samarahan yang menggunakan perkhidmatan bas di sini sejak mula bekerja sebulan lepas mendapati jadual perjalanan bas sukar dipercayai dan menyusahkan penumpang kerana ada kalanya bas itu sampai satu jam lewat daripada sepatutnya. Beliau berkata, sudah menjadi lazim bagi beliau untuk tiba lewat di tempat kerja dan dimarahi oleh penyelianya. Winnie Encharang, 23, seorang penuntut institut pengajian tinggi di sini juga mengadu bas-bas membawa lebih ramai penumpang daripada sepatutnya dan biasanya 20 peratus lebih dengan itu membahayakan keselamatan dan keselesaan para penumpang. Beliau berkata kebanyakan bas tidak berhawa dingin dan jika cuaca panas keadaan dalam bas bagikan `ketuhar'. Winnie juga berkata perbuatan penumpang membuang sampah dan `chewing gum' mengotorkan ruang dalam bas serta rupabentuknya di luar yang nampak usang memberi gambaran buruk kepada pelancong. Walaupun semua keluhan ini, bas-bas ini masih bermaharajalela di atas jalan-jalan Kuching tetapi penduduknya mahu pihak berkuasa dan pemilik perkhidmatan bas ini untuk mengambil tindakan drastik memperbetulkan keadaan demi menjaga imej Kuching sebagai sebuah bandar raya yang disegani. Pengerusi Lembaga Pelesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (LPKP) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar memberitahu Bernama yang LPKP sedang berusaha gigih bersama Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ), Polis Trafik dan Pusat Pemeriksaan Kenderaan Berkomputer (PUSPAKOM) dalam mencari penyelesaian bagi perkhidmatan pengangkutan awam di bandar raya ini. Menurut statistik daripada LPKP, Kuching mempunyai 438 bas berhenti-henti sehingga Disember 2001. Antara enam syarikat bas yang mengadakan perkhidmatan di Kuching ialah Sarawak Transport Company, Chin Lian Long Motor Vehicle Bhd, Kuching Matang Transport Company and Petra Jaya Transport (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd. "Kami sedar bas-bas awam di Kuching berada dalam keadaan buruk dan tindakan segera kami ialah meminta syarikat-syarikat bas untuk mengantikan bas-bas usang mereka dengan yang baru," kata Wan Junaidi. Wan Junaidi yang juga anggota Parlimen bagi Batang Lupar berkata: "Keadaan di Kuching memilukan jika dibandingkan dengan di Miri dan Sibu yang mempunyai bas-bas baru dan cantik di atas jalan-jalan mereka. Ini menjejaskan imej bandar raya itu di mata pelancong," katanya. Wan Junaidi berkata, syarikat-syarikat bas harus bersedia memulakan usaha menaikkan taraf perkhidmatan mereka sebelum meminta para penumpang membayar tambang yang lebih. Sementara itu Pengurus Puspakom Kuching Tengah Jalil Ahmad berkata, semua bas di bandar raya diperlukan menjalani ujian mandatori setiap enam bulan sekali untuk memperbaharui permit. Beliau mengesyorkan mereka dengan sukarela menjalani pemeriksaan sekali setiap enam bulan bagi penyenggaraan lebih baik kenderaan-kenderaan mereka. Syarikat bas terbesar di Sarawak, Sarawak Transport Company (STC) mempunyai 280 bas yang beroperasi di seluruh negeri dengan 150 bas beroperasi di Kuching. Pengurus Besar Sarawak Transport Company (STC) William Chan berkata sebelum krisis ekonomi 1997, STC mencatatkan keuntungan RM2 juta setiap tahun, membolehkan mereka memperbaharui 10 peratus daripada bas-bas dalam perkhidmatan syarikat itu setiap tahun. "Bagaimanapun, tambang bas tidak dinaikkan dengan peredaran masa. Untuk mengeruhkan lagi keadaan keadaan ekonomi yang buruk dan kenaikan harga alat-alat ganti dan petrol menyebabkan STC kerugian RM8 juta dan seluruh industri itu mengalami kerugian sebanyak RM60 juta tahun lepas," katanya. Sebagai contoh harga spring sistem penggantung bagi bas ialah RM50 sepuluh tahun lepas. Kini ia telah meningkat ke RM300 tetapi tambang kekal 50 sen bagi lima kilometer pertama dan enam sen bagi setiap kilometer seterusnya sejak 1989. Chan berkata, kerajaan juga harus meningkatkan penguatkuasaan undang-undang dalam menangani perkhidmatan teksi swasta (van sewa) haram yang menjadi pesaing utama kepada perkhidmatan bas di bandar raya ini. "Kami tertekan dan tiada siapa yang mahu membela kami. Bukan kami tidak mahu meningkatkan perkhidmatan kami tetapi untuk berbuat demikian kami memerlukan pelaburan yang kami tidak mampu buat masa ini," kata beliau kepada Bernama di sini. Pihak berkuasa dan syarikat-syarikat bas mesti bekerjasama untuk capai kata sepakat dalam usaha meningkatkan imej bandar raya ini dengan menyediakan perkhidmatan bas terbaik mungkin. Selain daripada mengharapkan bantuan kerajaan, pengendali perkhidmatan bas mesti menimbangkan dengan serius kemungkinan bergabung sesama mereka untuk mempertingkatkan perkhidmatan. -- BERNAMA TSY MT PRIt was this first 'big' assignment that sealed my 'fate' and passion to have reporting as my FIRST JOB! It was a big deal for an intern that I was, yup, I wrote this when I was a struggling intern who had her first news torn in front of her by her editor as that was how rookies were 'orientated' by the companies they first 'work' or interned in, as described by my journalism seniors in uni.
When it started? I’m not so sure. I’ve seen quite many of them on the road few months back but I didn’t know those were our new public buses because I don’t take public transport and I don’t know how hahaha… I thought it’s a new express bus company. I only knew about it until my mom mentioned about it.
However, public transport in Kuching isn’t that efficient yet. I doubt it will be soon. At least, nicer looking buses and cleaner looking buses are used now.
