Tuesday 3 May 2016:
JOHOR BARU: Stage bus operators here are at the risk of closing down their businesses after the Govern*ment stopped allocation to a special monthly fund that helps cover their costs from Jan 1.
Johor Bus Operators Association (JBOA) president Suchdav Jotisrop said since 2012, the Government had helped operators under the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund (ISBSF) but the allocation stopped this year.
He said although MyBas was introduced in 2015 as part of an initiative to improve public bus transportation throughout the country, this had yet to be launched in Johor.
“We are asking for the ISBSF to be continued for stage bus operators like us while waiting for the MyBas scheme to start in the state,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Suchdav is also asking the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to play a bigger role in helping JBOA address the matter with the Government.
There were many reasons, he said, that contributed to the losses incurred by the operators despite ferrying over 100,000 passengers daily in Johor.
All operators, said Suchdav, were left to absorb the Goods and Service Tax because the bus fares had not been reviewed since 2008.
“It is still 90sen for every 2km despite the increase we have to bear in operational costs.
“Besides, the social routes where operators ferry passengers from district to district are not very popular as these areas have low population,” he said.
Suchdav claimed that the increase in minimum wage to RM1,000 a month starting from July 1 could be the “final straw” for the 16 operators in the state.
“If we do not receive the funds, then we will have no choice but to stop some of our routes, including that to Singapore, which will surely cause 3,000 of our drivers to lose their jobs,” he said.
SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said it would channel JBOA’s views to the Cabinet for a review on the ISBSF.
The Government, he said, had spent over RM470mil to help the operators since the fund was started several years ago.
“Hopefully, the Government will come up with a favourable decision that will help bus operators in Johor,” he said here yesterday.
Source:
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nati...-companies-may-close-down-if-not-given-funds/
