Railway union thanks gov't for dissolving Spad

The Railwaymen's Union of Malaya (RUM) has welcomed the government’s move to dissolve the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) and return its responsibilities to the Transport Ministry.

Besides thanking the government, RUM president Abdul Razak Md Hassan also took a swipe at the Prime Minister's Department's Performance and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), also set to be dissolved in the near future.

Pemandu was set up under the previous BN administration to carry out the country’s transformation plans.

“Many of Pemandu’s ideas has led to wastage in terms operations costs. What we see is that it (Spad) was not a transformation plan, but rather had burdened users of the planned transformation.

“So the union would like to record our highest gratitude and thanks to the government for agreeing to dissolve Spad and return all of its functions to the Transport Ministry,” he said in a statement.

Abdul Razak said the move, which was announced by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad earlier today, was also a sign of the government’s understanding that decisions must be based on national interest.

“The move should also be seen as a way to eliminate overlapping of duties between ministries, which implicated many of those who were involved in creating the bureaucratic system which led to the creation of Spad,” he said.

Following Mahathir’s announcement, Transport Minister Anthony Loke today said that Spad staff would be absorbed by the ministry, but employees with overlapping functions would be subject to the government's downsizing exercise.

The dissolution of Spad would also have to wait until Parliament convenes, as the commission exists under its own act.

In the meantime, Loke said Spad will continue to carry out its duties, subject to Transport Ministry oversight. - Mkini