THE continuing mystery of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 aircraft and road safety are among the new challenges facing Negri Sembilan DAP chairman, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, who was named as transport minister yesterday in Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s cabinet.

Bernama reported Loke as saying that he had already asked the ministry’s secretary-general, Saripuddin Kasim, for a comprehensive briefing on Tuesday.

“I want to go to the ground immediately. What I want to see most is the ministry taking the initiative to ensure road safety, especially during the month of Ramadan, as the rush back to kampung will begin soon. We see a lot of accidents happening every year.

“We want to reduce road accidents and ensure the roads are safe for everyone. Road safety is my top agenda,” he said in Kuala Lumpur today.

Loke, who is the Seremban MP and also the Chennah state assemblyman, said he now had a big responsibility, not only for land transport and the Road Transport Department, but also aviation and maritime matters, ports, and so on.

“The ministry is very important to facilitate economic growth. I also have to look into many issues (such as) road safety, competitiveness of our ports, and of course to continue searching for MH370.

“I hope that we can reach closure on the MH370 issue during my tenure. This, I think, is very important, not only for family members, but also the aviation industry. I really hope that we can close this tragedy in the coming months or years.”

The MAS Boeing 777 aircraft vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Efforts to find the aircraft have proved futile so far.

Loke said his 10 years in Parliament helped him a lot in understanding the functions of the government.

“I don’t know everything, but I am here to learn. As a new minister, I will adopt an open mind and learn. Of course, I will need support from civil servants.” – May 19, 2018.