Rosli Azad Khan said the dearth of local professionals educated and trained in specialist subjects has long affected the transport sector, which currently depends on foreign expertise to advise the government.
“We don’t take the initiative to develop local talent and turn them into experts,” Rosli told FMT. “Perhaps high-level corruption has contributed to this malaise, compounded by a brain drain of talent – a big issue in the transport sector.”
He predicted that Malaysia will continue to buy transport technology from other countries in the foreseeable future, while most developed countries already have both their transport infrastructure and institutes firmly in place.
Rosli, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the transport sector, said those countries were now enjoying the fruits of their labour and investment.
Developed countries had also shifted their attention to reducing their carbon footprint, which, he said, Malaysia was not examining rigorously enough.
Rosli said Malaysia was far from reaching the 60:40 ratio of trips by private and public transport in developed countries.
“And yet we still want to build more highways. That will increase vehicle usage, and with that, our carbon footprint will also go up,” he said.
He said Malaysia lacked a clear vision on carbon reduction policies and did not have the technology to undertake “the big shift”.
“We don’t have policy plans for electric vehicles (EV) in place, our oil consumption is still very high, our electric power generation is very much dependent on coal, and our recycling policy is not in order,” he said.
He called for increasing funding for public transport and the use of school buses, especially within the Klang Valley, where 35% of morning car trips consisted of parents taking their children to schools, causing congestion.
Another suggestion was to introduce parking charges and congestion charges in all city centres, with the revenue going towards better access to public transport.
He said petrol subsidies should end, except for the more efficient Euro5 diesel, and studies undertaken on the use of cable cars for public transport outside Kuala Lumpur.