Traffic jam at the Golden Triangle in Kuching during peak hours yesterday.
KUCHING: The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Transportation is planning to set up a unit to look into the cause of traffic jams in major towns and cities in Sarawak in an attempt to find the most sensible solution.
Infrastructure Development and Transportation Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing revealed that he wanted the unit to be set up by yearend.
He thought it was high time the state government looked into the problem to prevent it from getting worse in the next five years.
“Among my many tasks is to handle the growing number of vehicles in towns and cities.
I have to convince the state government to set up that unit to solve traffic jams. We have statistics on road accidents
and casualties but have not gone on to discover the root cause.
“We have people trained in the subject who can find the cause and the solution,” Masing told The Borneo Post at his office here yesterday.
He said the unit created in his ministry would handle the issue and look for the solution in the next five years.
“Under the present Ministry of Transport at state and federal levels, there is no specific task to handle the increasing number of vehicles. We have to tackle it now before more serious problems crop up,” he said.
Traffic jams in towns and cities had been nobody’s child all this while but once the root cause has been identified, the unit can recommend how to address it.
“Not any Tom, Dick or Harry will be good in this, and I don’t know how much it will cost.
We have the right people to do it, so let us start now,” he urged.
Masing suggested a better road system or light rapid transport (LRT) which would be more expensive to build.
“The new public transport has to be effective, timely, safe and comfortable otherwise nobody will use it,” he pointed out.
Masing said traffic jams were already a nuisance in cities and major towns in Sarawak.
“In Kuching, there is the traffic congestion at Kuching-Serian Road from 10th Mile to town during peak hours – in the morning between 7am and 9am and in the evening between 4pm and 6pm.
“One of the reasons for this is overdependence on cars with social status attached. Public transport is sidelined and most people use cars, so if you don’t have a car, people look down on you. There is a need to change this social bias,” he said.