Bus operators want govt to honour interim fund pact
Published on: Friday, October 09, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Bus operators in the country are in a quandary, claiming the government did not uphold its end of the bargain with them on the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund.Pan Malaysia Bus Operators Association President Datuk Mohamad Ashfar Ali said they felt the government had let them down badly on the matter. "We are holding up our end of the bargain but the government did not. We want the government to fulfil their end of the bargain on the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund. We can't carry on like this for long because we are already making losses and ultimately there will be closure of many bus companies which are ultimately going to affect the rakyat. ADVERTISEMENT "As such we are urging the government once more to keep their end of the bargain and we feel that they have let us down badly." He said this to the media during a press conference here on Thursday.Ashfar explained that the government, through the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) starting on January 3, 2012 had allocated RM400 million under the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund to help stage bus operators who are experiencing losses where the initiative acted as interim measure to cover the shortfalls in daily operations of the affected stage bus operators, especially on social routes.However he said the interim fund agreement between them and the government which was in effect up to June this year had not been renewed as yet."The agreements were still in existence up to June (this year) but the government started dragging its feet in making payments. i.e. they paid for one month then they wouldn't pay for two to three months. ADVERTISEMENT "Whenever we approached SPAD on the matter they gave us the excuse that they can't do anything as the matter was under the Ministry of Finance (that was holding back the funding). They said they could only distribute the fund when it comes in from the Ministry."So we have to go back begging to the government. We have written memorandums to the Finance Ministry but have not got any reply from them.
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"And we are in worse situation now due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the weakened Ringgit which leads to increased costs (as a majority of our bus spare parts are imported) and the increased cost of diesel." He added that in the end if the matter was not addressed the situation will result in the closure of bus companies which will also in the end badly affect the people especially the lower income groups which rely on public transportation to get around.Ashfar said bus companies may eventually be forced to take drastic action including cutting down on unprofitable routes or even shutting down those routes, reduce frequency of trips on a route to continue running the business, cut down on the number of buses and ultimately shut down their business.Meanwhile Ashfar also highlighted the issue of a large number of pirate taxis, vans and buses operating in the State and urged the government take stronger action against them."There are a lot of such illegal operators who are operating here without insurance , Puspakom checks, with no fixed schedule where they can pick up customers where and when they like and they don't pay income tax as well."He said they have made reports to the authorities on the matter but have only received a 'knee jerk ' reaction from them, saying there will be action taken only for a few days and then it's back to business as usual. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"The government should be more concerned about this as these activities can endanger the lives of the people but also end up costing the government more not only in terms of lost taxation income but also because they eventually have to reimburse bus companies more(under the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund) when their incomes are lowered as a result."Also present were Sabah Omnibus Operators Association Chairman David Chu and representatives from local bus companies.