GEORGE TOWN: The government cannot prohibit foreigners from using public buses, says transport minister Loke Siew Fook, amid calls for Rapid KL to bar foreign passengers over alleged unruly behaviour.
Loke said Rapid KL’s auxiliary police would act on complaints of misconduct, but a blanket ban on foreign passengers was not feasible.
“We are not a country that excludes people. How can we ban foreigners from boarding buses? It is a suggestion that is impossible to execute,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of Rapid Penang’s electric bus fleet here.
“If any passengers engage in unruly behaviour and disrupt public order, action will be taken, and they can be arrested. We have auxiliary police at every MRT and LRT station nationwide.”
Loke said bus drivers could also report incidents to the police.
He was responding to claims by social media users on Threads that some foreign passengers on Rapid KL buses had made local passengers uncomfortable by changing their children’s clothes on board and had allegedly vandalised bus facilities.
Some users called for Rapid KL to ban foreigners from its bus services or remove those who engaged in unruly behaviour.
Heavier penalties for cable thieves
Separately, Loke said his ministry was working with the home ministry to amend existing laws to impose heavier penalties on cable thieves following repeated thefts, the latest involving the MRT Kajang Line yesterday.
“We are looking at increasing prison terms and penalties. The details of the amendments have yet to be finalised as we are still at the policy discussion stage.”
While the government works on the legal amendments, Loke said rail operators should strengthen preventive measures, including installing CCTV cameras at strategic locations and deploying more auxiliary police to prevent cable thieves from entering restricted areas.
An attempted cable theft between the Phileo Damansara and Pusat Bandar Damansara stations disrupted MRT services on the line yesterday morning.