KUALA LUMPUR: Former transport minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong today schooled a DAP member of Parliament over her remarks related to a suit filed by a victim of the 2021 Kelana Jaya light rail transit (LRT) line collision.
In his response to Seputeh MP Teresa Kok's remarks on why he did not offer "the humane thing" to the victims when he was in office three years ago, Wee said the system owner and operator of the rail system are companies under the Finance Ministry.
Wee added that the Transport Ministry is merely a regulator for the operation of the train system.
"Teresa, have I questioned the current Transport Minister (Anthony Loke) on this issue? I did not mention him at all. You can check my statement yesterday. Why are you so eager to defend your boss from the party?
"I have already mentioned that Prasarana (Prasana Malaysia Bhd) and Rapid Rail (Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd) are Minister of Finance (Incorporated) companies under the Finance Ministry.
"And in terms of their finances, the Finance Ministry has full jurisdiction. Do you understand? The Transport Ministry is just a regulator for train operation," said Wee in a posting on his Facebook account.
Wee added that none of the victims had taken the matter to court over the collision when he was a minister.
"It (the suit) was only filed in December last year when the Madani government is (already) in power. At this point, it has been 18 months since the Madani government came into power," he said.
In a separate statement, Kok asked Wee why he had not offered "the humane thing" to the victims of the LRT collision in Kuala Lumpur three years ago when he was the transport minister.
Kok said she found it ironic that Wee was now pushing for the federal government to settle a lawsuit brought by a victim of the collision.