Survey shows 78.1 pct support light rail transit project
KUCHING: An online survey reveals that the light rail transit (LRT) project to be constructed by the state government has received positive response from the people statewide.
A five-day survey from May 5 by the Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) shows 78.1 percent of the respondents expressed support for the project.
“A total of 79.4 percent of the respondents revealed that they would take the LRT as a means of transport,” said SPA chairman Datuk Lau Pang Heng yesterday.
Lau said the online survey was conducted to determine whether residents in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri, supported the government’s plan to build the LRT.
“Respondents were chosen from a list of persons who have WhatsApp service in their cell phones. Invitations were sent to 5,000 respondents and 4,900 responded, putting the response rate at 98 percent,” he said.
Lau said the response rate was above SPA’s expectation of about 3,500 responses.
According to him, of the respondents, 52.2 percent travel daily by car, 2.7 percent by motorcycle while the rest travel either by bus or other means of transport.
Lau said LRT had helped boost the economy of key cities in Asia and expressed the hope that it would apply to Sarawak’s economy as well.
He said SPA was happy to note that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had announced in his winding-up speech at the just concluded State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting that the first phase of the LRT would be built soon.
He said the decision to initially have routes linking Kuching and Kota Samarahan is a wise move.
SPA called on Sarawakians to support the project not only to ease congestion along the proposed routes but also improve the public transport system statewide.
“The initial investment may be high, but the LRT will certainly benefit the people and the state in the long term,” Lau said.
Lau went on to suggest that it would be good to link rural villages to the LRT line, saying: “This will enable rural villagers to transport their products for sale in the cities and towns.”
