SUBANG JAYA, 27th AUGUST: Selangor’s development will be sorely lacking if its mobility is continuously affected by the current poor transportation system, said the Chief Minister of Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
Khalid Ibrahim further insisted that developing an efficient transportation system and infrastructures will be a good challenge for Selangor to seize the opportunities that are being offered to Greater Kuala Lumpur by the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA).
The State Government is pressuring the Federal Government to develop a new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) because it would be a great growth catalyst for Selangor and Klang Valley.
“Shifting the city dwellers’ paradigm from driving personal cars to utilising the public transport system instead should be a welcoming challenge for everyone involved in the project,” said Khalid Ibrahim to the audience during the 16th Property and National Housing Summit at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre, Sunway City.
He revealed that the use of public transportation has declined from 35 percent in 1985 to 20 percent in 1997. It is now down to a dismal less than 12 percent.
Previously, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reported that the declining use of public transportations in Malaysia largely is due tu people’s lack of confidence in the efficiency of the services provided.
The MRT project, which was proposed in 2010, involves the construction of rail-based public transportation network that integrates with the light rail transit (LRT), Monorail, KTM Komuter, KLIA Express and KLIA Transit.
Aiming to transform the current unsatisfactory public transportation coverage in the Klang Valley that is incapable of coping with the urbanites’ needs, the target is to make 50 percent of the journeys in the Klang Valley a part of the public transportation system.
“A good transportation system and network infrastructures are among the key assets that businesses and commuters often consider in their journey planning,” Khalid Ibrahim explained.
While seizing these development opportunities through the NKEA, Khalid Ibrahim said the State Government will also focus on upgrade works, and providing new infrastructures – including utilities, multimodal public transportations, and communications.
“This will become a catalyst for the investors to build industrial and commercial properties that sustain manufacturing and logistics industrial activities, not only in Selangor but also throughout Malaysia and all of Southeast Asia,” he said.