UNFAIR COMPETITION: (From left) Hii and Lau Khing Seng with photographs of pirate taxis.
Chairman of Sarawak Bus Transport Companies Association, Lau Khing Seng told the media this at a press conference yesterday.
He said the government regulations were burdening the operators of buses in the state – be they express buses or town buses.
Since the beginning of the year, bus companies had been forced to insure their buses under Malaysia Motor Insurance Pool (MMIP) as general insurance companies had refused to insure buses.
He said they had to pay a higher insurance premium of 25 per cent compared to before.
Previously, there was no third party insurance for a bus, but now MMIP includes an excess of RM3,000 to RM7,500 for all third party insurance coverage.
He said there were no service centres in most parts of Sarawak so there were difficulties dealing with those claims.
On another matter, he claimed that Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) had been turning a blind eye to pirate taxis or ‘kereta sapu’.
Lau said instead of targeting pirate taxis, enforcement was wont to find fault with buses.
“Pirate taxis can be found everywhere. When there is no JPJ or enforcement unit, these pirate taxis would pick up passengers. But when it (enforcement unit) comes, the pirate taxis would go away. When it leaves, the pirate taxis would return,” he said.
As a result, bus companies suffered a 30 per cent drop in business, he claimed.
“Years back, we could collect around 1,000 to 2,000 passengers daily. Now if we can get 100 or 200 passengers daily, we would be happy already,” he said.
Despite the urging by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew to JPJ to curb the pirate taxi problem, the association felt that enforcement had not played a serious role.
On fuel subsidies, he felt that the 1,440 litres of subsidised fuel given by the government for a normal bus (bas berhenti-henti) was not enough.
He urged the government to look back on its policy which had been burdening bus companies.
“We are providing a service to the public especially for the average and low income every single day. Which means we are working 365 days for them without stopping. We do not have weekends off. To be fair, I think the government should think of our sacrifices and not burden us,” he said. Since Sarawak adopted the regulations five years ago, five bus companies had closed down, he claimed. They were one from Kuching, Mukah (one), Lawas (one) and Sibu (two).
The bus company from Kuching, according to him had been serving for 36 years while the one in Mukah had been serving for 26 years.
“Other than that, the cost for bus maintenance is RM15,000 per vehicle for a month. Imagine how many buses every company has. The cost would reach more than RM100,000,” he said.
With that said, he reiterated that the government should look into the difficulties faced by bus companies.
In countries such as Singapore and Australia, bus companies had been protected by the government whereas the welfare of the bus companies here had not been taken care of.
“If the government does not look back on the policy, I do not think many companies will survive these trying times,” he said.
Also present at the press conference were director of Sungei Merah Bus Berhad Yu Kiang Seng, Borneo Amalgamated Transport Co deputy managing director Johnson Ling, Teku Road Bus managing director Hii Liong Sheng, and Citi Bus chairman Lau Kai Huat.
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