More insurance coverage for travellers?
BUKIT KAYU HITAM: The Transport Ministry is willing to study the need for airline companies in the country to offer additional insurance to their passengers to protect them in case of any untoward incidents abroad.
Its minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry was prepared to do so if there was a request from stakeholders.
He said the matter should be scrutinised as it involved extra costs, besides the fact that most airlines were already offering travel insurance to their passengers.
“We have to study it first to determine the cost for all airlines. We cannot just implement it in haste,” he said yesterday after attending a High-Level Committee meeting at the Malaysian Border Control Agency (Aksem) Complex on security at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and was also attended by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed and Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Baharom.
On Saturday, a Malay daily reported that a study on Malaysians’ travel trend found that only 34.6% would buy insurance when going abroad.
That means only three to four in every 10 Malaysian travellers have insurance for themselves and their families in case of any untoward incidents during their trips or while staying abroad.
Earlier, Ahmad Zahid said a new Heavy Vehicles Complex at ICQS will be opened for vehicles travelling between Thailand and Malaysia.
“Five departments and agencies involved have been instructed to carry out full operations on Nov 1, which means full handing over of the ICQS will be on Oct 31,” he said.
On Nov 1, operations at the ICQS would run 20 hours a day while beginning in January 2019, it would operate 24 hours. – Bernama