Loke: Cabinet greenlights Malaysia Transport Safety Board, staffing talks underway

SEPANG, June 15 — The Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Malaysia Transport Safety Board (MTSB), with the Transport Ministry expecting to table the legislation in the next Parliament session, Anthony Loke said today.

Speaking to reporters after the 62nd Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Road Safety Council (MKJR) at the Sama-Sama Hotel near KLIA, the transport minister said discussions are currently underway with the Public Service Department (JPA) on staffing matters for the proposed independent accident investigation body.

“The establishment of the Malaysia Transport Safety Board (MTSB) has already received Cabinet approval. We are currently discussing staffing matters with the Public Service Department.

“The Bill will be tabled in a future parliamentary sitting because the current sitting is prioritising amendments to the Road Transport Act,” he said.

Loke said the MTSB remains on track and will be responsible for investigating the causes of transport-related accidents across various sectors.

“MTSB remains on track and is progressing as planned. Its purpose is to investigate the causes of accidents,” he said.

He said accident investigations are already being conducted even before the board is formally established, with expertise from the ministry's Air Accident Investigation Bureau being deployed for major incidents involving other modes of transport.

“Several incidents have already been investigated by independent committees. Therefore, it is not accurate to say that no investigations take place in the absence of MTSB.

“For major or critical incidents, we conduct detailed investigations through specially established committees or task forces,” he said.

Loke added that the individuals who will eventually make up the board have already been identified.

“In fact, we have already identified the individuals who will form part of MTSB. The process will be formalised in the coming months,” he said.

Separately, Loke said the ministry plans to expand its Safe School Zone initiative after a pilot programme involving 14 schools nationwide.

The project, which introduces traffic-calming measures such as speed humps, road furniture and special road designs around schools, aims to improve safety for pupils travelling to and from school.

“One of the key initiatives is the Safe School Zone Pilot Project, which is currently being implemented in 14 schools nationwide. This year, we intend to expand the programme to more schools,” he said.

Loke said the initiative was particularly important as many of Malaysia's more than 10,000 schools are located along busy federal and state roads.

“As such, interventions are necessary to create safer zones. A Safe School Zone involves a specially designed environment outside the school.

“We install speed humps and traffic-calming measures to ensure vehicles slow down when passing schools. In these zones, the speed limit has been set at 30 kilometres per hour to enhance children's safety,” he said.

He said each Safe School Zone costs between RM200,000 and RM300,000 to implement, prompting the ministry to seek support from private companies and property developers to accelerate the programme's expansion.

“We also welcome support from the private sector. Establishing a Safe School Zone costs between RM200,000 and RM300,000 per school.

“As our funding is limited, we need additional support to expand the programme,” he said.

Loke said state governments, local authorities and corporate sponsors could play a larger role in identifying accident-prone areas and improving road safety infrastructure around schools and other high-risk locations.