Buses to remain in Penang

By: Audrey Dermawan

No question of new vehicles to be sent to Rapid KL.

GEORGE TOWN: The 200 new Rapid Penang buses, expected to arrive in stages, will not be sent to Kuala Lumpur after all.Rapid Penang chief executive officer Azhar Ahmad said yesterday the company had no intention of sending the additional buses to Kuala Lumpur as reported in the media recently. The buses are expected to arrive from May.He said that what he had meant, when asked by reporters then, was that the new buses could be loaned to Rapid KL first while the company waited for the state to offer it land for a depot.

"The question of returning the buses to Rapid KL never occurred. It is also not our intention to threaten the state government."What we want is for the state government to expedite our requests to help us provide the state with an efficient and effective bus service," he told reporters at the Rapid Penang bus depot in Sungai Nibong, near here.On March 6, Azhar was reported to have said that if the state government failed to provide the company with new depots, then Rapid Penang would have no choice but to hand the new buses over to Rapid KL.He had said that the five depots Rapid Penang had now, including one on the mainland, could not hold the additional buses.The five depots are at Lorong Kulit, Tanjung Bunga, Sungai Nibong and Balik Pulau on the island and in Butterworth.

However, state Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow had said that the five depots were more than sufficient to house the additional buses.On Sunday, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said he would discuss the matter with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.Chow, when met yesterday, said the state executive council would discuss the matter when it meets tomorrow. He said the government had identified several sites in Sungai Nibong and Pengkalan Weld (on the island) and Kepala Batas and Bukit Mertajam (on the mainland) for the purpose."We are looking into the company's other requests, including paying a nominal sum as rental and longer tenancy tenure," he added.

(This article taken from: News Straits Times, March 20, 2009)

So, friends, what u thinks about this view?? Is the government need to provide new depot for Rapid Penang in island and mainland? Your comments and opinions are welcome.

Let’s voice up for our rights! Voice of majority needed to better improvement and changes in public bus services.