School bus operators don’t have money to prepare vehicles
KUALA LUMPUR: While the reopening of schools may be good news for school bus operators, the group is now facing a dilemma.
Having had zero income for the last six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the operators are having problems finding money to prepare their buses to resume services.
Federation of School Bus Associations Malaysia president Amali Munif Rahmat said bus operators were having a headache figuring out how they were going to look for money to prepare their vehicles and obtain clearance for them.
“Servicing our vehicles and sanitising them will set us back by hundreds of ringgit.
“We also have to renew our licences, revisit the Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom), as well as undergo health screenings. All these involve cost,” he said.
Amali said although the government had announced a oneoff payment to school bus drivers, a sizeable number of operators did not qualify for the aid.
He said one of the requirements for the aid was that the operator’s public service vehicle (PSV) licence must be renewed before Jan 13.
He added that as the buses had not been in service, many drivers had not renewed the licence due to the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“The government advised us to stay home and we did just that. Renewing the licence was not a priority as we had no idea when we could resume our services.
“Now, everything was announced quickly. The government is not making it easy for us to make preparations.”
He said that there were bureaucratic issues related to the Land Public Transport Agency, which further frustrated the drivers.
Bus operators, he said, were also expecting a lower number of passengers as some parents and guardians had reservations about sending their children to school in buses during the pandemic.
He said when the first MCO ended last year and schools reopened for a brief period, school bus ridership figures dropped by up to 30 per cent.
Amali said it could plunge by even 40 per cent this year.
Parents, he said, were especially worried about physical distancing in school buses.
“They (parents) prefer to send and pick up their children themselves now.”
The Education Ministry recently announced the reopening of schools in stages beginning with preschoolers and Year One and Two today, followed by Years Three, Four, Five and Six from next Monday.
Secondary schools will reopen from April 4 in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, and March 5 for other states.