BATU KAWAN – The Northern Zone Tour Bus Operators Coalition is appealing to the government to intervene and arrange a moratorium with credit companies as they face the possibility of their buses being repossessed after failing to pay their monthly instalments.
Coalition chairman Ahmad Ruslan Abdul Latiff said the majority of the 80 bus operators had previously sought financing from credit companies instead of banks, and have received various notices for the past several months seeking repayment.
“Our situation is different from banking institutions under Bank Negara that provide certain loan moratoriums until March next year, or for a reasonable period,” he told reporters today.
“Credit companies under the Housing and Local Government Ministry have not extended the moratorium so we have to pay even though we have no income currently.
“We are really depending on the government, especially minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, to intervene and allow credit companies to provide moratorium extensions or for Bank Negara to acquire tour bus operators’ loans from these credit companies, thus allowing us to service our loans with Bank Negara or a financial institution in a loan restructuring process, as this will help ease our burden.”
Around 30 tour bus operators had gathered peacefully in the parking area of Batu Kawan Stadium to request that the government intervene and find a solution to the issue.
Ahmad Ruslan said tour bus operators will not run away from their loan obligations, but requested for time until the economic situation recovers, as their sources of income are currently affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The situation not only affects tour bus operators, but the entire transport industry. Furthermore, we are not asking for money, but the government’s assistance where a moratorium is concerned,” he said.
Tour bus operator S. Jegajeew said most of them lost their source of income when the transport and tourism sectors were badly hit by the pandemic.
He said that he has 13 tour buses and four of them still have monthly loan payments of RM40,000, which he could not service when he ran out of savings.
“We really need the government to step in and consider our welfare because we are not only thinking of closing down, but are also dealing with the possibility that our vehicles will be repossessed,” said Jegajeew.
“If we want to sell the buses, we will have to suffer losses and incur more debts. For example, I have remaining debts of RM400,000 but the asking price (for a bus) is only RM200,000.
“I have also received a legal letter from a credit company for unsettled payments, and they also charged eight per cent interest on my loan.
“Not only do I have to pay more, but I also have to pay legal fees and deal with the court, and all the while I’m still not earning anything,” he said.
Another tour bus operator, Mahadi Izady Maharazi, said his company has been servicing a debt of RM200,000 a month for 10 buses and four vans without any income while struggling with the salaries of 15 employees since June.
“We need to ask the government for help because when the buses resume operations, the problem of insurance will occur,” he said.
“The insurance for each bus is between RM15,000 to RM20,000. How will we pay that when we can’t even manage to pay the monthly loan instalments? Our buses are not insured currently as they are not in operation.
"If we want to resume operations, there will be many who won’t have enough to buy insurance, so we hope the government will help us start up our operations when Covid-19 cases drop.
“If we can restart with the government’s approval of insurance on a monthly basis, that will allow us enough time to source for income,” he said. – Bernama, November 23, 2020
