PROPOSED MALACCA WATER TAXIS

Monday, 6 March 2017

Malacca gets its strides right

I REFER to the report “Malacca to introduce water taxis to reduce traffic jam” (The Star, March 3) and wish to congratulate the state government for its foresight and proactive measures.

 It was just over a year ago that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron launched a smartphone application known as Destinasi Melaka, developed by Telekom Malaysia and the Malacca Tourism Promotion Division.

The phone app is accessible from anywhere around the globe, providing interesting and relevant information about Malacca in an organised manner, allowing visitors to make bookings in advance and upon arrival. One can also use it for navigation, making foldable maps unnecessary and can share their Malacca experience with just a few clicks of the button.

Many other destinations are still printing costly brochures which are left to gather dust. The few that are picked up are swiftly discarded as it is much easier to share pictures and videos using smartphones.

image: http://bcp.crwdcntrl.net/5/c=5593/b=38486246

Malacca is so popular with tourists that it is jam-packed on weekends but visitors are not deterred, as the delights it has to offer are worth the trouble.

But the state government is not resting on its laurels and is making use of the Malacca river (pic), which flows through the middle of the city, for public transport.

It plans to introduce water taxis in the middle of this year, upon completion of the RM130 million project to rehabilitate and beautify the river project.

These passenger boats will ply between the CIQ complex at the estuary to the Melaka Sentral bus terminal, with five new jetties in between.

There is no doubt cruising along the Malacca River will be a great experience.

While state governments should build infrastructure such as jetties, they should not get involved with water transport.

It is best to appoint a concessionaire to run such services in a sustainable manner without bleeding the coffers of the state. Safety should be paramount and there is no need to decorate the boats with a Malacca roof.

As such, water taxis to be introduced in Malacca should be the safest available, allowing thousands of commuters and tourists to use them without any incident, with the pilots, ushers and security personnel trained to handle any emergencies.

CY MING

Ampang

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2017/03/06/malacca-gets-its-strides-right/#8JDRQMIHBpux6TB6.99