MTSB Memorandum Set to Be Presented to Cabinet Soon – Loke

The memorandum for the Malaysian Transport Safety Board will be presented to the Cabinet soon, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

A memorandum to establish the Malaysian Transport Safety Board (MTSB) is expected to be presented to the Cabinet soon, said Transport Minister (MOT) Anthony Loke.

As reported by Bernama, Loke said once the Cabinet approves the memorandum, the MTSB draft bill will be tabled in Parliament.

“To achieve this target of establishing the MTSB, the MOT held engagement sessions with agencies and stakeholders from May to October this year.

“MOT will also hold engagement sessions with the government of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as workshops on staffing proposals, the draft bill, and the necessary legal amendments,” Loke said during the oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat earlier today.

The transport minister was responding to a question from Setiu MP Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir on the main constraints that have delayed the establishment of MTSB, which has been proposed for nearly 11 years, despite the persistently high rate of road accidents and the need to strengthen transport-sector safety.

Loke further added that until the MTSB is established, the transport ministry will continue using special accident investigation committees, which were already formed during major accident cases like the bus crash involving University Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students in Gerik, Perak.

In his reply to a supplementary question from Shaharizukirnain on whether the MOT plans to make the MTSB an independent agency for conducting transport safety investigation and monitoring, similar to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Loke said the model for MTSB has not yet to be finalised.

However, he elaborated that the ministry is taking various views into account and making comparisons with international transport safety agencies while also considering best practices adopted abroad.

“In terms of an investigative agency, of course, there is independence. In fact, the task force we have established is already free to conduct any investigations and make any recommendations.

“From the ministry’s perspective, once the report is completed, it will not be edited or amended, and it will be released publicly, as I have done before,” he continued.

Source: Bernama