No More Task Forces Execute Past Safety Proposals

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 In August 2013, the then Land Transport Commission set up a task force to investigate the cause of a bus crash which claimed 32 lives in Genting.
A month later, Bernama reported that it would develop recommendations to prevent such accidents.
Last December, another task force was set up with a method of implementing the laws to address the issue of overloaded lorries after seven people and 32 were injured in a multi-vehicle crash in Ayer Keroh.
After the crash involving a lorry and a Federal Reserve Unit truck in Teluk Intan, which resulted in the death of nine police officers last month, another task force was set up.
ADSA task force is a group or committee, typically comprising experts or specialists, formed to analyse, investigate, or solve a specific problem.
Quite often, a task force is formed in response to a problem or specific event, and once the task is completed, the task force is disbanded.
But have we seen the findings, if there are any, of these task forces in the past?
Task force after task force
I recall that six such task forces were set up to investigate the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) after an audit report was published in 2009.
One of them, headed by the late Vinayak Pradhan, studied the issue diligently and comprehensively, submitting a report to the Transport Ministry that included its findings and recommendations.
Notwithstanding this, the then-prime minister announced the setting up of a “super task force” headed by the then-chief secretary to the government to address what was then described as “seriously dealing with issues” arising from the PKFZ audit report.
Rumours were rife at that time suggesting that these groups were set up merely to protect some “heavyweight” names contained in the report.
Then, in 2015, a task force was established on 1MDB, comprising then-attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, then-MACC chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed, then-inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar, and former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Abruptly, the task force was disbanded within less than a year, with Gani taking “leave on medical grounds” and Abu Kassim sent to “Siberia” to hibernate pending his retirement.
I then wrote: ”Over the years, so many task forces were set up at great expense to be followed by silence. Additionally, there were numerous cabinet committees whose work and findings suffered the same fate.
ADS“But name-dropping of the cabinet committee in the past involving the controversial Brickendonbury sports project in England did not work.
“One of those involved, in trying to contain the negative stories, threatened the editor and barked: ‘Do you know this is a government project? This was approved by the cabinet and you are working against national interests.’”
Dusty recommendations
Two weeks ago, the Bukit Aman announced the establishment of a task force to investigate the recent road accident involving a bus and another vehicle in Gerik.
Bukit Aman Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department director Yusri Hassan Basri said that the investigation team would be formed in collaboration with other technical teams.
The team will comprise officers from the Road Transport Department, the Land Public Transport Agency, the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom), the Health Ministry, and the Public Works Department.
What purpose do these bodies, which expand time, money, and labour, serve if their recommendations are stored in a steel cabinet in some government departments to gather dust and cobwebs?
An independent advisory panel to the transport minister to evaluate and review the investigation report after the Genting Highlands bus crash in 2013 submitted its report with 51 recommendations to the transport minister in January 2014.
Subsequently, the cabinet instructed all recommendations to be carried out by all the agencies identified by the panel, which requires action from 16 agencies and stakeholders.
Out of that, action has been taken on 22 measures under the ministry’s jurisdiction, while related agencies are implementing the remaining measures.
After the Teluk Intan crash, Universiti Putra Malaysia Road Safety Research Centre head Associate Professor Law Teik Hua said: “Despite these steps, underlying issues such as corruption, outdated enforcement practices, and a lack of proactive oversight continue to undermine the effectiveness of such initiatives.”
A Malaysiakini special report confirmed the existence of “institutionalised corruption” within the Road Transport Department.
Time to revisit
While task forces can identify shortcomings and initiate reforms, Law said the persistence of fatal road accidents points to a deeper, systemic failure.
The fatal collision between a Federal Reserve Unit truck and lorry“This includes revamping vehicle inspection protocols, upgrading enforcement mechanisms, and tackling corruption within the relevant agencies. Unless these foundational issues are addressed, we are likely to see a recurrence of tragic accidents,” he said.
Can “new” recommendations be made to the task forces on the Teluk Intan and Gerik crashes? They can’t reinvent the wheel, can they?
What about revisiting the 51 recommendations and implementing all of them instead of trying to appease public concern by setting up yet more task forces that will come up with similar recommendations? - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who strives to uphold the ethos of civil rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Comments: [email protected]
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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