Its strategic director, Wan Agyl Wan Hassan, said although the government did the right thing by centralising all policies under the transport ministry, the NTP’s five policy thrusts “are the basic thrusts applied by other developed cities around the globe”.
Wan Agyl, who is a former head of policy and planning for the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) operation group, said the present administration never understood the urgency of developing a world-class transportation system to be the enabler of a developed nation.
This, he said, was proven by the decision to downgrade SPAD and replace it with the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) at the “first-ever Pakatan Harapan Cabinet meeting”.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad unveiled the five policy thrusts and 23 strategies of the NTP to drive the strategic direction for all transportation sectors, including land, air and maritime.
In a statement, Wan Agyl described the new framework as neither impressive nor new to drive Malaysia to developed nation status.
He said the first thrust – strengthening the governance of public transport sectors – had been highlighted by the previous Barisan Nasional administration under its Government Transformation Programme, and was “something we all agreed nine years ago”.
“Even the fifth policy thrust, which is expanding global footprint and promoting the internationalisation of transport services, is not new.
“We already have Prasarana, which is heavily involved in the Middle East public transportation sectors,” he said.
Wan Agyl highlighted two “clear weaknesses” in the policy, saying it had failed to outline the timeline for the strategies and to identify their priorities.
“Having a general statement that this plan will be from 2019 to 2030 is not enough.
“Secondly, the NTP failed to identify their priority of policy implementation. Which policy needs to be executed first? When will this policy be implemented?”
He said the lack of details was “too obvious”, adding that “it seems to ask people to freely imagine the transport sectors based on our interpretation”.
Wan Agyl also questioned the link between the NTP and the National Automotive Policy (NAP).
“Where does this document stand now? Should NAP be read together with NTP or after? My concern is NAP and NTP will contradict each other,” he said.
He also took to task the lack of specific strategies for Sabah and Sarawak.
“One of the main action plans under the first policy thrust was to strengthen the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (LPKP) as a public transport coordinator in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Do they even understand the public transport industry in Sabah and Sarawak? What is the plan? Upgrading them to Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) like the one we have in Peninsular Malaysia?
“The NTP does not have any other plan for Sabah and Sarawak other than for their LPKP. There is no infrastructure policy besides the Pan Borneo Highway, which is also not mentioned in this document,” he said.