KUALA LUMPUR: The Transport Ministry has made impressive achievements in the three responsibilities under its ambit - namely land, maritime and air transport - within the first 100 days of Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia (AKM), says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

       He said the ministry carried out its 100-day AKM task smoothly and stepped up its responsibilities since Sept 1 to ensure that the three key performance indicators (KPIs) achieved the target.

       "To boost gross domestic product (GDP), national income, we have to solve all the backlogs (land transport) -- this is a big challenge and I set a target of RM3.53 billion.

       Within the first eight months of 2021, we got a monthly revenue collection of RM292.5 million per month but my target is to reach RM400 million per month within 100 days from today," said Dr Wee.

       "Before the 100-day AKM, we managed to do only 48,000 transactions of motor vehicle licences a day but after the 100-day period, we have increased up the transactions to 96,500 a day and cleared the backlog," he added on Radio Televisyen Malaysia’s (RTM) "Selamat Pagi Malaysia” programme on Monday (Nov 22).

       Dr Wee then said that so far, 85% of the backlog has been dealt with and added that he is impressed with the achievement of the Road Transport Department as it had collected RM3.34 billion, an achievement of almost 95%.

       He then said that he believes the target of RM3.53 billion could be realised within the stipulated time.

       Dr Wee also said that he is proud of the maritime achievements as the performance of the port sector involving the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Port Klang continued to improve.

       "These two ports (Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Port Klang) are very important. We managed 9.85 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in terms of loading or handling containers at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas last year and so far have reached 9.94 million TEUs," said Dr Wee.

       "For Port Klang, I think we will achieve the highest record compared to the previous year because so far we have got 12.11 million TEUs and according to projections, we will reach 13.8 million TEUs by year-end --above the pre-Covid-19 levels," he added

       He said this showed that the country's ports were still vibrant and they were never closed even during the movement control order and the pandemic in general.

       Dr Wee then said that he is happy with the transfer of the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre (KLATCC) from Subang to Sepang for full operation.

       "This is not only costly, it was planned in 2014 but due to Covid-19 it was disrupted as experts could not enter (the country) and we faced some difficulties," said Dr Wee.

       "It is my responsibility to make sure we have sophisticated equipment. What I can say is that we have one of the most sophisticated tools in terms of airspace control and they provide a more accurate and optimal landing," he added

       Dr Wee said in the past, the country only had seven airspace sectors but now with the new KLATCC system, it has increased to 14 airspace sectors.

       In terms of landings, he said previously there were only 78 aircraft landings and now it could be increased to 108 aircraft landings per hour using three runways at one time.

       "As we combine technology and optimise what we can integrate, it becomes an entity that benefits us in terms of global competition. We are preparing for the aviation sector to return to pre-Covid-19 levels," said Dr Wee.

       "This is not an easy task, I thank the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) who are working hard to achieve the target since September," he added.

       He said the KLATCC would be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Dec 1.

       "In 2019 during the previous government, CAAM was downgraded from category 1 to 2 by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and when I became Minister of Transport, my intention was to get it back to category 1," said Dr Wee

       "This is very important because it will affect our Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO). We want to get the landing right, CAAM aspires to get back to category 1 certification," he added

       He said all 33 weaknesses found by the FAA in 2019 had been resolved and a group of experts from the US agency would return to Malaysia to conduct an audit on Dec 6.

       "We hope that within five days of their audit we will return our aviation sector to category 1 -- this is a shared dream and it will enhance the competitiveness of the Malaysian aviation sector," he said.