Scomi Group Bhd.

is the main supplier of buses and trains for the bus and LRT system in the Klang
Valley. RapidKL is the asset operator in Klang Valley while Prasarana Malaysia Berhad is the asset
owner. Scomi Group Bhd is also the main supplier of assets for RapidPenang and KL Monorail.
The government had, year upon year, appropriated funds for the improvement of the public
transportation in the urban areas. But as all sundry can see, no immediate change was seen since 2004.
Our public transportation system is weak (train delays, inconsistent time schedules, low quality buses
and awful customer service)
The government had taken the wrong strategy in uplifting this problem. They had only focusing on
the infrastructure. They thought that they could eliminate these problems by simply providing more
trains or more buses.
1.
The main problem is the profit sustainability of the business itself. For far too long the transport
operators especially RapidKL is caught between the need to make profits and the need to retain some
social responsibility.
The government had neglected the fact that if they had wanted RapidKL to operate within the social
responsibility perimeters, the industry need to be heavily subsidised. There is no other government in
this world that did not subsidise the day to day operations of its national public transportation
company.
But Malaysia chose to minimally subsidise RapidKL. Thus far, the only form of subsidy RapidKL
enjoy is through a discounted diesel purchase. This however is not enough to sustain their operational
costs. The dilemma now lies with the need to increase their fare structure. A move which by the way
was shot down by the government every year due to the social responsibility agenda.
2.
Another problem of the Klang Valley public transport is the myriad of governing bodies having the
authority over it. With so many bodies that often that not, have many contradicting views in mapping
out the strategy, no wonder public transportation system remain stagnant despite the huge amount of
funds it received since the current Prime Minister took over since 2004.
We currently have DBKL, the local councils, JPJ, the police force, Puspakom, Transport Ministry,
Finance Ministry, Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board etc. governing the public transportation
system in the Klang Valley itself. It would be a wonder if even a simple, unanimous decision can be
deliberated within a month.
With really high maintenance cost especially in the train transportation system, the asset operator
suffers huge cash deficit year on year.
3.
The asset operator is the pulse and heart of the public transportation industry, not the main supplier of
assets. In reality, the problem within the public transportation is only exacerbated by the failure of the
main vendor to provide high quality assets.

For instance, what the asset operator had requested in terms of engineering specifications such as bus
type and spare parts were not duly met by the supplier.
If RapidKL requested high quality buses from Europe (albeit with much higher price), the supplier
will substitute these orders with much cheaper buses from China. As the result, due to the poor quality
of buses purchased, breakdowns occur on daily basis. Maintenance costs invariably increase and this
is eating up their reserves. At the same time, service level to customer deteriorates further.
And this is where I feel the government had lost its focus. Instead of looking at the root cause of the
problem, what the government did was to pamper the vendor with obscene amount of money under
the guise of supplying more assets.
Supplying more assets such as more buses and trains will not improve the public transportation as a
whole. The industry need to be revamped as a whole.

Ways to solve
1.
There is a need to centralise the governing authority of public transportation under one body. There is
an initiative to do this right now. However, a body without the relevant power to deliberate decisions
will only be reduced as a token entity in the end. Furthermore, this body must be run by experts; not
by politicians which may be blinded with political expediency.
2.
The government must make the difficult decision to either let RapidKL operate in a more conducive
environment i.e. be able to determine their own fare structure to be more profitable OR to fully
subsidise the public transportation industry like what Singapore, UK and Hong Kong are doing right
now.
3.
A new business model must be thought of by the Ministry of Finance to help revitalise the asset
operators and also plug the leak that has had our wealth seeping out unnoticed from the nations
coffers since 2004.

Public transportation system in the Klang Valley had been a serious issue since 2004. It pains us to
think that all those money pumped in since 2004 is regarded as sunk cost. Inefficiency and greed must
no longer rule the government.