1. Current plans for highway upgrades near the KL area are described.

Transcription

1 Malaysian News: highways, toll operators, shipping, transit issues, KL integrated transit, auto projects September, 27, Current plans for highway upgrades near the KL area are described. 2.A large percentage of toll operators have not started operations on the concessions they recieved and are not expected to do so for another 5 years. It is unclear how long it is taking for new operations to take effect Malaysian shipowners feel there are still gaps in security after implementing new security procedures. Want more integration between government, shippers and ports. 4. Transporting fowls on public transit a health problem. People still smuggle the birds onboard, even though illegal. Just a fast article to show some of the differences in problems between US and Malaysia transport issues Companies not directly involved in integrated KL valley public transit program want their transit systems to have access to the integrated system also. Some stats on monorail also in article. 6. Malaysian government approves many auto related projects, showing how involved government is in auto manufacturing ********************************************* ***1. Description of highway upgrades near KL*** ********************************************* RM960 Mln For Three Traffic Dispersal Projects, Says Samy Vellu KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- The government is to allocate RM960 million for two traffic dispersal projects at the Seremban-Ayer Keroh and Rawang-Tanjong Malim stretches of the North-South Expressway, the Dewan Rakyat was told Monday. The other was the relocation of the Jelapang toll plaza in Ipoh, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said. He said work to widen the two stretches is expected to cost more than RM800 million while the toll plaza relocation would incur RM132 million. The three projects, upon completion, would provide more comfort to motorists, especially during festive seasons and school holidays, he told reporters at Parliament lobby.

2 "We're facing a lot of problems as the stretches were designed to cater for 80,000 vehicles then. Now, 160,000 vehicles are using the stretches on normal days, more than 700,000 during weekends and public holidays and 1.2 million during festive seasons," he said. Samy Vellu said the proposal to expand the expressway had been tabled in the Cabinet and was awaiting approval from the Finance Ministry. "I believe the Finance Ministry will give its decision by end of this month or in a week or two. Work will start immediately after that," he said. He said the four-lane expressway would be expanded to six lanes with two emergency lanes. Samy Vellu said relocation of the Jelapang toll plaza would involve construction of four new toll plazas, two tiered-interchanges, toll-free lanes for Ipoh motorists and express lanes for Penang-bound motorists. He, however, said the government would bear only part of the project cost totalling RM264 million, while the rest would be borne by Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan (PLUS), the expressway concessionaire. Commenting on the closure of the Sultan Ismail Specialist Hospital in Pandan, near Johor Baharu, after fungus was found on the walls and in some of the clinical equipment, Samy Vellu said it was due to the high humidity inside the building. "As a short-term measure, the Public Works Department has installed heat pumps to reduce the humidity inside the premises," he said. Samy Vellu said he would discuss with Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek to appoint technicians to maintain the air-conditioning system in the hospital identified to be the main cause of the fungus problem. ***************************************** ***2. Slow start for some toll operators*** ***************************************** Only 16 Of 25 Highway Concessionaires Have Started Operations

3 BUTTERWORTH, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- Only 16 out of 25 highway concessionaires have commenced operations, said Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) Deputy Director-General (Technical) Datuk Ghazali Md Nor Monday. He said the others were expected to begin operations in five years' time. Most of the companies were awarded concessions to operate highways in the Klang Valley, he told reporters after officiating the customer service programme of Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim Sdn Bhd (KLBK), at the premises of the concession holder for the Butterworth-Kulim Highway here. The five-day programme includes exhibition and promotion of services such as Touch 'n Go and Smart Tag as well as vehicles produced by Hyundai and Eonmobil Sdn Bhd. Ghazali also said the LLM conducted a study last June to get feedback from highway users. "It will be used as the benchmark for concessionaires in managing their respective highways," he said. The acting general manager of KLBK, Abdul Razak Othman, meanwhile said the company would propose to the government that its toll rates be reviewed not every three years but longer so as not to burden highway users. "We will also propose a lower increase," he said. The BKE began operations in 1996 and had only increased its toll rates once in 1999 to 1.5 sen per kilometre for Class I vehicles. -- BERNAMA ************************************************************************ **** ***3. POrts still have further to go in implementing new security procedures*** ************************************************************************ ****

4 / Masa: Address gaps in ISPS implementation WHILE acknowledging the initiatives taken by Malaysian authorities had supported the industry in its efforts towards compliance with the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code that entered into force in July, the Malaysian Shipowners Association (Masa) feels that there are still some gaps that need to be addressed. We also acknowledge the efforts of the ports and terminals in Malaysia in ensuring compliance to ISPS code. However, as an industry, we should have greater coordination and integration between shipowners, port and terminal operators and the authorities, the association said. Speaking at a seminar in conjunction with the World Maritime Day over the weekend, the chairman of MASA s technical committee, Ir Nordin Mat Yusof said there are gaps which need to be addressed as an industry to enhance the common goals of ensuring security without compromising on safety. The ISPS code, sanctioned by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), forms the international framework through which ships and port facilities are required to adopt specific security measures and plans against maritime terrorism. The code was implemented on July Nordin said the challenging 18 months towards the implementation that the industry went through taught them that they could overcome any obstacles with structured planning, courage and endurance. We have charted our course and we will move ahead with confidence, he said. The code applies to ships engaged on international voyages, including passenger ships, cargo ships (of more than 500 gross tonnage), mobile offshore drilling units and port facilities. The ISPS code requires shipowners to act on the security levels as determined by flag state and also install the Automatic Identification System onboard. The shipping companies must also conduct a Ship Security Assessment to identify

5 threats affecting ship throughout its trade operations. Nordin noted that the implementation of the ISPS code comes with a commercial value since the implementation of the code enhances the company s reputation within the industry. Charterers, for example, are concerned with vessel s implementation status. There is a greater concern among shipowners on the parties that charter their vessels, what their cargoes are and where the cargo finally ends up, he added. Nordin said, however, the relatively calm atmosphere since the ISPS implementation may not necessarily mean that everything is well and fine. Being in its infancy stage, there are certainly issues that need to be addressed by parties involved in the industry, be it shipowners, port authorities, flag states or the IMO, he said. Among the issues he highlighted that are of concern to the industry the difficulty of getting permission to grant shore leave for ship s crew in certain ports, restriction at certain ports on ship stores and spares and also differences in interpretation of the code. Nordin also said there is a need to re-limit the accessibility to confidential security documents to be maintained onboard. He said at the moment granting of shore leave to crew, especially of specific nationality, to go ashore seem to vary from port to port causing major concern to the industry. Crew shore leave restriction should be a secondary means of threat mitigation instead of the current primary mean and authorities should also ensure that this is taken into consideration while in the process of approving port facility security assessment and plan, Nordin added. PortsWorld *********************************************************** ***4. Transporting fowls on public transit a health problem*** *********************************************************** le/indexb_html 'Fowl' play on KL-bound bus from Rantau Panjang By Ridzwan Abdullah

6 KOTA BARU, KELANTAN, Mon: CHICKEN are still being transported in Kelantan, despite the stringent measures taken against their transport due to fears of bird flu. A cage with four kampung chicken was found in the luggage compartment of an express bus, but none of the passengers took responsibility for them being there. When questioned, none of the passengers admitted to owning them. State Veterinary director Dr Idris Kadir said the bus, heading from Rantau Panjang to Kuala Lumpur, was stopped by enforcement officers at the Kelantan-Pahang border near Gua Musang at 1pm. The chicken were taken away, destroyed and disposed of, Dr Idris said here today. Dr Idris said the case was a matter of concern as the bus departed from Rantau Panjang, which borders Thailand. Express bus companies have now been warned not to allow poultry on their vehicles. The authorities believe that the HN51 virus which causes avian flu had spread to poultry in Kelantan from fowl, especially fighting cocks, smuggled across the border. Cross-border activity is normal among locals, who have resorted to bringing in poultry illegally since surveillance was tightened at all border checkpoints, including those bordering Terengganu, Pahang and Perak. They have used all sorts of ingenious ways to escape detection, including travelling through the backwaters and village roads to transport their birds. Kelantan was declared a bird-flu outbreak area after more cases began emerging in several districts last month.

7 ***************************************************************** ***5. Companies not part of integrated KL transport plan want in*** ***************************************************************** cb73c03a-18e609b0-2dca88f : KLIG, Nadicorp want in on transport plan By Yap Lih Huey MTrans Holdings Sdn Bhd, the holding company of KL Infrastructure Group Bhd (KLIG), and Nadicorp Holdings Sdn Bhd want their monorail services and intercity bus express to have access to the infrastructure of the proposed integrated Klang Valley urban transport system. This came after Ready Network Sdn Bhd, a consortium which included KLIG and Nadicorp, was replaced by government agency Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras (Rapid) KL to take over the operations of the bulk of the integrated transport system. Both companies tell FinancialDaily that they intend to hold discussions with the government on the best possible way for the intercity bus express and monorail services to complement the integrated transport system in the Klang Valley. On Sept 16, FinancialDaily reported that Rapid KL would take over the operations of light rail transit Putra and Star, and bus services Intrakota and CityLiner from Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) by year-end under the proposed integration plan, which would cover 65% of the urban public transport services. Nadicorp executive chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh says: We can still contribute. They need people with experience. I will always register my interest to the government as it is not easy to manage the operations of public transport. One must have the experience to run the business. We may think along the lines of how commuters can be linked to the express bus terminals, he says. Nadicorp, which operates the Transnasional express bus on its own and city bus Cityliner for SPNB, has 1,200 express buses under Kumpulan Kenderaan Malaysia Bhd. Nadzmi says the latest setback will not derail his plans to inject Konsortium Transnasional Bhd (KTB), a unit of Nadicorp, into debt-laden Park May Bhd, which is currently undergoing a restructuring exercise.

8 Under the restructuring exercise, KTB will acquire eight express bus companies at RM125 million before being injected into Park May. Park May operates the Plusliner, Nice and Nice 2 buses with a total of 500 buses. MTrans, in an reply, says: To achieve a seamless transport system, the KL Monorail will have to be part of the integrated system, which will include the implementation of the single ticketing system, and etc. KL Monorail is deemed as a very important link in the urban public transport system as it serves the golden triangle area, which consists of an estimated 100,000 employees, and connects about 50 hotels in the city centre. An integrated transport system will ultimately benefit not just the passengers but will also bring about an increase in ridership for all transport operators including KL Monorail system, it adds. The monorail serves major shopping complexes in the golden triangle, which includes Sungei Wang Plaza, Berjaya Times Square, Lot 10, Starhill and Maju Junction. Its services were launched on Aug 31, Last month, some 1.18 million people used the monorail services compared with 340,000 in September last year. MTrans also has its own intercity express buses following its recent acquisition of four companies for RM8.8 million. The companies are Mutiara Pahim Sdn Bhd, Ballan Sdn Bhd, Mekar Express Sdn Bhd and Darul Naim Express Sdn Bhd. Its routes include those from Kumpur Lumpur to Singapore, Hatyai, Johor Bharu, Kuantan, Butterworth, Bukit Kayu Hitam and Rantau Panjang. ************************************************************* ***6. Malaysian gov't approves large number of auto projects*** ************************************************************* -cb73c03a-18e609b aac Govt approves 44 auto projects worth RM511m By Faizal Zakariah

9 The government approved 44 automotive projects worth RM511.1 million from January to July, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz says. Out of the 44 projects, 22 were new projects worth RM211.3 million and the rest expansion and diversification of existing projects worth RM299.8 million, she said in her speech at Hyundai-Berjaya Corporation Bhd s launching ceremony of the Atos 1.1 facelift and Matrix 1.6 in Shah Alam on Sept 27. The projects approved include contract assembly of multi-purpose vehicles worth RM145.5 million, alloy wheels for automobiles RM67 million, roller moulding, door garnish, radiator grille RM30 million, complete seat module RM25 million and painting services for auto parts RM18.3 million. Out of the RM511.1 million projects approved, domestic investments totalled RM366.9 million and foreign investments RM144.2 million, she added. In the auto parts sector, she said there were 27 projects approved for the manufacture of auto parts and components with investments totalling RM272 million. The projects were in automotive module/systems, electrical and electronic parts and mechanical parts. She said that a new date for the elimination of tariff for the automotive industry would be announced at the Asean Leaders Summit in Vientiane, Laos in November. Tariff elimination was scheduled in 2010, but it will be pushed to an earlier date, she added