Bandar Tasik Selatan terminal to open – once gov’t gets its act together! (Update #1)

Update: We now know the ‘face saving solution’ that the government has chosen – the terminal will open on 1 January with no retail lots and almost no bus services. Perfect!!!!

The members of TRANSIT are stunned and confused to read of the “disagreement” between the DBKL and Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board on one side, and the Federal Territories & Urban Wellbeing Ministry on the other, over the opening date for the Southern Integrated Terminal (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan) at Bandar Tasik Selatan.

All that is left is for SPAD to take up the issue as well – and of course they should enter on the side of the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry to even things out.

Basically, the issue is this: DBKL and the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board have indicated that the terminal will be ready for operations on New Year’s Day, 1 January 2011 and have taken steps to ensure that it is ready.

However, the Federal Territories & Urban Wellbeing Ministry wants the opening delayed to 2 February 2011 (right after Federal Territories Day) in order to ensure that there is enough time for the Puduraya terminal to reopen.

TRANSIT Says: Are you shaking your head yet? You will be if you continue reading – more info after the jump.

To save you time in reading the articles we whttps://transitmy.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4387&action=editill list below, we have provided a summary of the situation from the perspectives of a few different stakeholders. Do note that we are not making any of this up!

• DBKL – the terminal is ready and should be opened to the public as scheduled. Obstructions to recreational areas should be removed by 1 January 2011;
• Federal Territories & Urban Wellbeing Ministry – The opening of TBS should be delayed until 2 February 2011. Until then, the government agency and terminal management should “review the distribution of retail lots and price” which are too expensive. If they go ahead on 1 January the “opening is unofficial” TRANSIT: We don’t know what exactly that means but it sounds sneaky.
  
• CVLB / LPKP – intercity bus operators should prepare to move into TBS by 1 January 2011 – fax was sent on 30 December 2010; – TRANSIT: Ah, the CVLB – screwing things up all the way to the end.
• Maju TMAS (Terminal Management company) – We will follow DBKL’s directive and open the terminal. Of 190 bus operators we have contacted, 10 have responded so far; TRANSIT – And the bus operators complain that they are not consulted……
• Konsortium Transnasional (Transnasional & Plusliner) – we will stay at Bukit Jalil for the moment because the fax from CVLB came at such short notice and we have our own ticketing system anyways; TRANSIT: Sigh…
• Rakyat – here we go again – can’t these guys get things done on time instead of fumbling at the last minute;
• TRANSIT – what, you were thinking that just because we have a “bus terminal that looks like an airport terminal” we would be freed of all those problems caused by poor communication and bad planning??? Did you honestly believe that?

Here are some articles discussing the issue from the Malay Mail. Apparently a solution has been found:

• Poser over opening date of intergrated terminal;
• Intergrated terminal to open Saturday;
• Terminal to open with big promises – this article lists the ‘face saving solution – the terminal will open on 1 January with no retail lots and almost no bus services. Perfect!!!!

TRANSIT Says:

Let’s be honest, ladies & gentlemen – our government is great at building infrastructure but is still fumbling around when it comes to project management details like communication & planning.

We cannot imagine what the people in these government departments have to say for themselves. Hopefully, they will have to stand before Prime Minister Najib a’la Donald Trump in The Apprentice. Imagine, government leaders / Cabinet ministers forced to take responsibility for the failure of their project teams to communicated properly.

But this is Malaysia and no one in our government will ever hear the words “you’re fired” from the guys in charge.

In any case, while we continue to shake our heads, please enjoy the detailed article from the Star below, which includes a lot of detail about the terminal and some nice photos too.

Bandar Tasik Selatan bus terminal to open tomorrow (The Star)
31 December 2010
By PRIYA MENON and JASTIN AHMAD TARMIZI
Photos by SHAARI CHE MAT and P. NATHAN

THE Integrated Transportation Terminal Bandar Tasik Selatan (ITT-BTS) is set to open tomorrow despite a Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry directive postponing it to Feb 2.

The ministry’s secretary-general, Datuk Ahmad Phesal Talib, said the terminal would be opened on Feb 2 simultaneously with the Puduraya bus terminal.

“In accordance to the views of residents, the ministry is urging the Public Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) and Maju TMAS (Terminal Management & Services) to review the distribution of the retail lots and price,” said Phesal.

Phesal added that the ministry and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) as well as the Federal Territories Lands and Mines Office would make sure that the areas that needed to be handed over to the government for recreational purposes would be implemented as determined in the development order issued by the DBKL.

“The DBKL has also issued notices to the company to remove obstructions which prevented people from entering the recreational areas. If the obstructions are not removed, the DBKL will take action,” he said.

However, Maju TMAS managing director Roslan Datuk Shariff confirmed that the terminal would be open tomorrow as scheduled.

“Our instructions are to open on Jan 1. We have checked and the order still stands,” he said.

The terminal will cater to buses plying routes to the south and will take over a major part of the services of the Puduraya terminal.

“We opened our doors a month ago to the public to view the place before it is officially open,” said Roslan.

Set in the heart of Bandar Tasik Selatan, the terminal is well linked to the ERL, Ampang LRT line as well as the KTM Komuter. There are intercity buses and taxis as well as city buses and taxis to provide access both in and out of the terminal.

The terminal has 55 platform bays and 110 holding bays. No operator will be given the same platform which will reduce any hogging at the bays.

Invitation letters were sent to the 190 bus operators to engage them in discussions with Maju. A total of 10 have responded so far.

There are 18 ticketing counters, two e-ticketing counters and one for disabled users. There will not be individual counters for each bus operator, thus eradicating the tout problem that has been rampant at Puduraya and the temporary terminal in Bukit Jalil. TRANSIT: You wish.

“Passengers will go to the ticketing counter and choose a bus operator departing at that time. They can choose from the available seats and a ticket will be issued with their name, seat number and bus number,” added Roslan.

“You are in a bus terminal but the atmosphere is of an airport,” he added.

There are 1,800 seats in the terminal and the public information display system will keep passengers informed of bus arrivals and departures.

Before boarding the bus, passengers will have to scan their tickets and proceed to the departure bay within 15 minutes.

For now there is a fast food restaurant, a food court, money changer, outlets selling apparel and shoes as well as ATM machines.

During a media familiarisation trip to the terminal yesterday, reporters were taken on a walkabout to understand the operations better.

Roslan said the architecture of both the arrival and departure bays were designed to provide a well ventilated terminal.

“We have machines to check the carbon emission from the buses as well as a suction machine to absorb the smoke,” he added.

Parking will not pose a problem as there are more than 1,000 parking bays and plans are under way to provide at least 300 bays for women only.

To ensure the safety of passengers, there are about 500 closed circuit cameras as well as 250 auxilliary police officers with a police beat in the arrival hall.

He hoped to bring in north-bound bus operators since the terminal was equipped to handle a large crowd.