Ministry to reach out to hard-hit school bus operators, says Lee
MIRI: The state Transport Ministry will soon reach out to school bus operators who have been hard hit by the closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said its minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin.
He said his ministry would discuss with stakeholders on their loss of income and hoped that a solution could be found.
“There are 791 school bus operators throughout the state, and our officers will listen and talk to their representatives through online meetings or they can write to us with their proposal.
“We are aware of and understand their predicament and would like to meet them but had to comply with the SOP (standard operating procedure) as Kuching is still classified as a red zone district,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Lee said this in response to the plight of school bus operators in Bintulu who are said to be facing serious financial difficulties due to the lack of income as a result of schools being ordered to close – first in May this year due to the implementation of the Movement Control Order, and again this month until the end of the school calendar year due to the spike in Covid-19 cases nationwide.
On Sunday, Bintulu School Bus Owners Association chairperson Robika @ Kobika Lubok told a press conference that many of their more than 60 registered members are now struggling to pay their bank loans due to lack of income.
“Many of us are now facing the risk of bankruptcy and may have to cease our operations soon as we cannot pay our loans,” she said.
Robika also said some members had yet to receive any of the assistance announced earlier by the state and federal governments, but added that they still maintained hope that the appropriate help could be provided.
On Nov 10, Federation of Malaysian School Bus Operators Association president Mohd Rofik Mohd Yusof told Malay Mail that thousands of school bus operators are facing the prospect of selling off their vehicles and closing down their businesses due to the implementation of the Conditional Movement Control Order.
He said during the Movement Control Order earlier this year, the federation lost about 4,000 members, many of whom were unable to service their loans due to having zero income during that period.
With schools closed early this year and only scheduled to reopen on Jan 20 next year, he said it meant members had to go without income for nearly three months.
Mohd Rofik had also suggested for the government to impose a moratorium on vehicle loans for school bus operators during this period, saying it will prevent the buses from being repossessed by banks or other financial institutions should the operators fail to service their loans.