LRT disruption: Gov't must act quickly to resolve issue - Muhyiddin

MUAR: The government must act quickly to resolve the Kelana Jaya Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) service disruption issue following a failure of its Automatic Train Control (ATC) system since yesterday.

National Recovery Council (MPN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this was because matters that affect the people, especially around the Klang Valley, cannot be delayed, adding that contingency plans should have been in place before problems occur.

"This is sad news, although (assuming the role of) caretaker government, you have to take responsibility. What's important and what to do now is to handle this issue as this (LRT services) is a very important transportation system, many users are affected and immediate action must be taken.

"There should be contingency plans should problems such as this occur and it must be dealt with quickly.

"Besides, there was a prior incident when two LRT trains collided. In this case, although there are no collisions involved, the disruption is caused by a technical problem that should not have happened in the first place," he told reporters after a meet-up session with residents of Kampung Panjang Sari, Pagoh near here today.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, on behalf of the government, today apologised to LRT commuters for the inconvenience caused by the service disruption.

Yesterday, LRT operator Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd said an unstable ATC had been identified as the cause of disruption on the Kelana Jaya LRT line on Saturday and Monday.

As a result, the LRT service between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Park stations has been suspended for one week from 6 am today, in the interest of passenger safety and to allow the authorities to identify the real cause of the problem.

Meanwhile, on Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin's statement that he wished to lead UMNO and become prime Minister in the future, Muhyiddin, who is incumbent Pagoh MP, said the matter was not empty talk.

"Khairy is a good leader. In my Cabinet, he was among the trusted ones. He managed COVID-19 matters, he has a good future. He has ambitions, nothing wrong with that. If I, too, have ambitions to become the Prime Minister, would that be wrong?" the former prime minister said.

Khairy was reported as saying at a ceramah in Sungai Buloh last night that if voters there gave him the mandate now, he aspired to eventually lead Umno and become prime minister.

-- BERNAMA