SHAH ALAM - The government has been urged to find a temporary alternative to Waze after the TuJu navigation application was disabled, leaving 1.7 million civil servants uncertain about which navigation service to use.
DAP Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng called for an open tender to enable local youth to develop a more effective road navigation application that meets the needs of users nationwide.
He said he had received complaints from civil servants who were confused about the government’s decision to prohibit Waze and replace it with TuJu.
“I have received complaints from some of the 1.7 million civil servants who are genuinely confused about which road navigation application they should use and what comes next following the government’s decision to ban Waze and replace it with TuJu,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
The government’s decision to restrict Waze for civil servants was intended to protect government information and users’ personal data from potential misuse by the Israeli regime.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also urged Malaysians to stop relying on the application to strengthen personal data protection.
However, Lim said the confusion surrounding the transition stemmed from remarks by Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) chairman Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad, who explained that TuJu was initially developed to improve services on toll highways rather than compete directly with Waze.
TuJu focuses on providing real-time traffic information, rest-area locations, enforcement camera locations and emergency contact numbers for toll highways. Waze, by comparison, offers navigation guidance across various types of roads.
According to Lim, Hasni had also disclosed that extending TuJu’s coverage to federal, municipal and village roads could take between 10 and 15 years.
“In other words, TuJu is still not ready for use by 1.7 million civil servants at present and may only be ready in 2042," he said.
Lim questioned why civil servants had been instructed to switch to an application that he claimed did not yet offer the comprehensive navigation capabilities available on Waze.
He urged Anwar to reorganise the government’s efforts to find an alternative and discontinue the use of TuJu, which he said had failed to meet users’ needs.
"What should civil servants do now to find their way when they cannot use Waze or rely on TuJu, which has now been deactivated?" he said.