KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 – Puteri UMNO has urged the government through the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to review and rationalise the recent hike in public transport fares which was said to have burdened the people. Its chief Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, in her policy speech at the opening of the Puteri Umno assembly here, said the increase in the prices of goods and services had a very significant impact on young people.
She said the main factor influencing the living cost of young women was the imbalance between monthly earning and total expenditure that included transportation and accommodation costs as well as the need to save money. She said the fare increases for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Express Rail Link (ERL) and the introduction of a relatively high fare for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) services were burdensome.
In the meantime, she said the current economic was instability has been affecting the city folks. She also said that for those who plan to start a family, coping with the burden from the high cost of the living is among the things that should be taken into the account.
Mas Ermieyati, who is also Tourism and Culture deputy minister, stressed that the empowerment of the public transport system should be the main agenda as it was an essential service to the people’s daily lives. Statistics showed that more than 50 percent of public transport users were those below 35 years old and 52 percent of them were students, she said.
“The goal of empowering public transport services was to increase the quality of life of the people through greater choice of transport modes with reasonable fares.If we fail to attract this target group, the long-term goal to make the public transport system as the number one choice will not be reached leaving Malaysia to lag behind in the realisation of sustainable development,” Mas Ermieyati said while also suggested the government to empower and expand the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia programme.
