Public transport, zero emission status, among aspirations of youth: Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: Improving the public transport system and turning the capital city into a zero emission zone is one of the main aspirations of the youth, said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said to achieve this aim there is a need to start educating the public about the importance of protecting the environment.
"It is my personal hope that by 2050 no one will be using either a petrol or diesel vehicles in the city, they can instead use public transport or electrical vehicles," Khairy told reporters after receiving the top 10 National Transformation 2050 (TN50) aspirations from Prasarana ambassadors on board the Light Rail Transit train here yesterday, also present was Prasarana President and group chief executive officer Datuk Sri Azmi Abdul Aziz.
He said this aspiration can be achieved by 2050, we have 33 years to work on it, adding that some cities in Europe plan to go green by 2030.
The minister said a seamless public transport and payment system is also one of the aspirations of the youth.
He said Prasarana is already working on this and the further development of the Mass Rail Transport lines will help improve connectivity within the Klang Valley.
Khairy said the TN50 must be all inclusive and he will be meeting Felda Youth, who are being bussed in to the capital city, to voice their aspirations.
He pointed out that on Sunday he had met the youth in Sabah as part of his programme to gather views about TN50.
"I met some 1.5 milllion people either face to face or via online to discover their aspirations and so far we have narrowed them to 80,000 and some of which will be included in the Youth Report which will be ready by January," Khairy said.
He also thanked Prasarana for helping spread the information and promote TN50 via advertisements on 42 single decker buses, two double deckers and two LRT trains.
He added that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak will be presenting the final policy document on TN50 at Malaysia Day, Sept 16.