THE Ministry of Transport (MOT) (People with Disabilities Council) conducted an accessibility audit of the MRT buses, bus stops, stations and trains at the Kwasa Sentral Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Station on 12 January 2017.

It was led by Parliament Member YB Senator Puan Bathmavathi Krishnan and Dr Ruzita Mohd Amin, head of the Disability Unit in International Islamic University Malaysia.

The audit was conducted specifically to examine the features that the MRT provides for individuals with disabilities and involved individuals from Malaysia Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp), MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP) Sdn Bhd (MMC Gamuda) and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (PRASARANA).

To begin proceedings for the day, MRT Corp General Manager Electrical and Mechanical Building Services Ir. Major (R) Mohamed Shuhaidi Omar welcomed the delegation of auditors to the station. PRASARANA Group Communications and Strategic Marketing Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Puan Norazah Abdul Rashid then explained the itinerary for the day that included a ride on the MRT feeder bus and train.

During the entire audit, Bathmavathi and Dr Ruzita led the delegation of auditors in giving their respective feedback regarding the MRT service.

The first item that was on the audit schedule was the auditing of the feeder bus. MRT Corp Head of Trackworks & Maintenance Vehicle, Electrical & Mechanical Systems, Encik Zamri Abas led the delegation to board one of the feeder buses. Here, they were given a ride on the feeder bus, following the actual T801 route that covers the Kota Damansara area. They even stopped at one of the bus stops for the auditors to test out the features of the ramp that enable passengers on wheelchairs to ride the bus.

After the bus ride, MMC Gamuda Station Architect Encik Najdi Naimi led the tour for a walkabout at the Kwasa Sentral Station. Special parking facilities for individuals with disabilities and also station features such as lifts and tactile tiles for the blind were pointed out.

A ride on the MRT train was also given at the end of the audit in which the auditors boarded the train from Kwasa Sentral Station to Sungai Buloh Station.

Once on the train, MRT Corp Electrical and Mechanical Systems Director Mr Tarenjit Singh Khella explained that for the MRT trains, they plan to have special seat belts for individuals on wheelchairs. With this in place, their wheelchairs will not swerve when the train is moving.

Bathmavathi was quoted at the end of the audit saying “It is good that the MRT Project provides many types of facilities for the disabled community. Even though this is the case, we hope that they can alter minor tweaks that was mentioned during the audit.”

The audit session ended with lunch being served to the auditors.