KUALA LUMPUR: The government has introduced a new Public Transport Fund to enhance and improve the existing public transport system including the infrastructure and services.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the fund which is at RM500 million will be managed by Bank Pembangunan Malaysia.
“Through this fund, we hope to increase the number of rakyat using public transport by financing the system’s improvement,“ Lim said in his speech during the launch of the public transport fund here today.
“The funding may be used to purchase vehicles like taxi, bus or other types of public transport vehicles, and can be utilised by the operators, suppliers, manufacturers, assemblers of the public transport vehicles and contractors as well as the developers of these infrastructure.”
Lim added that a 2% financing rate subsidy will also be given to the successful applicants.
“It is imperative for us to make our public transportation network a truly viable and attractive option for commuters, not only in Kuala Lumpur but across all our major cities,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Bank Pembangunan chairman Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan who was also present at the event said the current public transport system remains under-utilised for many reasons.
There should be more initiatives to encourage people to use public transport in order to eradicate the stigma of “the people who could not afford car only used public transport”, she said.
