Anthony Loke: All express buses prohibited from using phone charger sockets
The Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) has issued a temporary ban on the use of phone charger sockets in express buses following an electrocution incident that recently claimed the life of a teenage boy in Penang, according to a report by Kosmo.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook stated that the temporary ban on the use of phone charger sockets in express buses will remain in effect until a report from a special task force regarding the incident has been completed.
“Currently, all buses equipped with these sockets are prohibited from using them temporarily because we want to determine the actual cause of this incident first.
“After this special task force prepares the report, if there are any improvements that need to be made, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) is ready to cooperate with the Energy Commission (ST) to review the standard operating procedures (SOP) that need to be implemented before the use of these sockets in express buses is allowed,” he said during a session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Mohd. Nazri Abu Hassan (PN-Merbok) regarding whether the MOT could instruct APAD to ensure that phone charging equipment installed in public transport is tested for safety levels before being approved for use.
Meanwhile, Anthony Loke assured passengers that they need not worry about the safety of using phone charger sockets on planes and trains.
According to him, the charger sockets on planes and trains adhere to standards that must be met by the manufacturers of these vehicles.
“There is no need to worry about using those sockets. For buses, there currently are no such standards.
“To date, during inspections by the Computerized Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom) and others, sockets have not been included as part of the inspections. We will revisit the SOP together with the ST to ensure that the use of sockets in buses adheres to a standard,” he said.
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