Thursday April 14, 2011
Making a Point - By Jagdev Singh Sidhu
WHEN Malaysians heard of the massive 500km mass rapid transit system being planned for Iskandar Malaysia, a knee jerk reaction was expected.
Many found it incredulous that such an expensive and expansive public transport system could be mooted by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda).
The cost of the 150km of MRT being planned for Kuala Lumpur, which has a large number of people coping with a poor public transportation system and a clogged up road network is probably in excess of RM50bil and many people wonder how Irda is justifying one for Iskandar Malaysia. It has far fewer people in an area three times larger than Singapore.
Checks with Irda, however, paint a different picture from what was in the news.
Irda officials claim that the 500km integrated transportation network over that distance would mainly utilise a bus rapid transit system, which will cost far less than an MRT.
The rail component would not necessarily be the MRT and could be limited to just a few km of a monorail system.
The message of their statement is this - planning is necessary for Iskandar Malaysia and it's a luxury Irda and Iskandar Malaysia should capitalise on as it has the opportunity to do something that most other cities in Malaysia did not.
Although Iskandar Malaysia encompasses Johor Baru, much of the land area is an open canvas for the authority to chart an efficient public transportation system from scratch.
That means Iskandar Malaysia should not fall into the transportation trap many of the other major cities in Malaysia are facing.
The population of Iskandar Malaysia is projected at 1.5 million people.
The road network in Iskandar Malaysia, which is being upgraded and with new arteries being built, will be enough to cater for that population.
As a large number of people living in Iskandar Malaysia commute to work in Singapore, a proper transportation system is needed to ferry them across the Tebrau Strait.
More light would be shed when the construction of a station connecting the island with Johor Baru was formalised.
But Iskandar Malaysia will need an upgraded public transportation system within southern Johor.
Development plans and programmes underway are anticipated to see more people moving into Iskandar Malaysia as the billions of ringgit of investments already committed and being earmarked should see the number of people living in Iskandar Malaysia rise to three million by 2025.
The projects planned would lead to a massive number of people migrating to Iskandar Malaysia. EduCity, Legoland and the Premium Outlet are designed to cater to large number of people.
The Premium Outlet, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, will occupy an area of 44 arces and it expects four million visitors in its first full year of operations.
If the bigger picture was communicated clearly and concisely, much of the consternation over the 500km MRT news would have been avoided or if the message was from clear from the start.
In fact, articulating development plans that involve a large sum of the taxpayers' money should not be left to random interpretation.
Deputy news editor Jagdev Singh Sidhu thinks a lot of husbands would need to make an investment in a pair of good walking shoes once the Johor Premium Outlet is completed.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/14/business/8478099&sec=business
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