3 months on, Sabah school bus operators still waiting on RM600 aid

KOTA KINABALU – Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin is taking the government to task for not keeping its promise to deliver aid for Sabah’s school bus operators.
 
Chan said it has been more than three months since Deputy Transport Minister Hasbi Habibollah pledged to disburse RM600 for each school bus operator in Sabah under the Kita Prihatin package.
 
“Hasbi said that 347 school bus operators in Sabah have successfully applied for the one-off aid of RM600, and that a total allocation of RM208,200 had been remitted to Lembaga Pelesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (LPKP) Sabah on November 30.
 
“The deputy minister’s replied on December 3 that RM208,200 has been chanelled (for the purpose) to LPKP Sabah on November 30." 
 
"As for when the school bus operators will receive the aid, he said it is still being processed before being remitted to the respective applicant's bank account.”
 
Chan, who is also the Sabah DAP secretary, said Hasbi’s answer proves that the bureaucratic procedures of the Perikatan Nasional federal government are utterly inefficient.
 
“(Datuk Seri Dr) Wee Ka Siong, the Transport minister, promised to assist school bus operators by making a one-off RM600 as early as July 10, saying that 'no one will be left out'.
 
"Then, applications were opened on August 5. However, the allocation was not remitted to the account of LPKP Sabah until November 30. This shows an utter lack of efficiency of the delivery system and it really needs to be improved,” he said.
 
Chan said the issue was referred to him by Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe, and he had also raised the issue to the Transport Ministry in Parliament’s special chambers.
 
Phoong had earlier on November 10 received a total of 69 complaints from school bus operators saying they have yet to receive the RM600 aid, despite submitting their applications well before the August 14 deadline.
 
Hasbi said of the 69 complainants, 41 had their applications approved and were among the 347 successful applicants.
 
As for the remaining 28, Hasbi simply said the “LPKP Sabah did not receive any records of the applications by the drivers”.
 
Chan said he had handed the list of 28 unsuccessful applications to Phoong’s office, and those affected can contact DAP’s service centre for more information on making an appeal or submitting a fresh application.
 
Wee had, on May 14, said 35,000 school bus operators across the country are expected to receive the RM600 Prihatin aid involving a RM21 million allocation.
 
“However in Sabah, only 347 school bus operators applied for the RM600 aid, amounting to a total of only RM200,000, or less than 1% of the RM21 million allocated nationwide,” said Chan.
 
Chan is now urging Sabah Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board chairman Datuk Chin Kim Hiung to disseminate information regarding the assistance to school bus operators across Sabah and encourage them to apply.
 
“The government ought to start showing that they care. As such, the RM600 Prihatin aid must be distributed as soon as possible without any further delay. The government should provide assistance when it is needed the most,” said Chan. – The Vibes, December 5, 2020