Gojek may help passengers reach their destinations sooner in a crowded city, but it may also cause more road accidents, says president

By S BIRRUNTHA / Pic By TMR File

IT HAS been a week since the government agreed to give the green light for Gojek, Indonesia’s popular e-hailing motorcycle service, to run its business here.

Since then, the proposal has received a severe backlash from various parties claiming that issues will arise if Gojek were to be brought into the Malaysian market.

Malaysia Road and Transportation Safety Association (MRTSA) president Nik Mohd Salim Nik Mohd Salleh said Gojek will not solve the problems that road users are facing.

“Gojek may help passengers reach their destinations sooner in a traffic-crowded city, but it may also cause more road accidents as the current rate of motorcycle accidents in the country is increasing.

“We are facing a lot of issues regarding the safety of our motorcycle lanes, which are still unsolved,” he told The Malaysian Reserve via text.

Although Gojek could help motorcyclists earn some income, Nik Mohd Salim said it would not be significant.

“Not many (consumers) will go for that service, unless safety is properly managed.

“It is also unsuitable to commute to work on a motorcycle, especially for women whose work attires are normally dresses or baju kurung,” he said.

JomRides head of marketing Musfaizal Mustafa said in terms of policies, Gojek will have more bad impact than good.

“Why pick a service from another country when we already had a similar local business like Dego Ride? This is not a new thing.

“So, I think the government needs to explain why Gojek was given the green light in the first place,” he said.

Dego Ride was founded in late 2016 and operated in Johor before the previous administration banned it.

Musfaizal said the geo-economic factors in Indonesia and Malaysia are different, adding that Gojek is likely to cause a lot more problems here for both consumers and riders.

“When we have a better transportation system and higher technology than Indonesia, we should first study if this will be suitable for our culture and nation.

“A lot of things must be done. It is not easy to suddenly adopt a foreign model because we did not have any rules and regulations on bike e-hailing before.

“With issues like the Public Service Vehicle licence, which is yet to be fully solved, I think it is extremely important for the government to reconsider and study the entire plan of introducing Gojek all over again,” he said.

Recently, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the government is analysing the legal aspects of the move to introduce Gojek before it could be officially implemented in the country, and that women’s safety would be one of the top concerns.