KUALA LUMPUR – School bus operators nationwide must have a public service vehicle (PSV) licence before they are eligible to receive the RM600 cash aid under the Kita Prihatin package.
Pakatan Harapan MP for Kota Kinabalu Chan Foong Hin said that vehicle owners must also be registered with the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) and the Registrar of Companies (ROC).
“I understand that there may be problems because there may not be information available on the recipients in ROC.
“But this should not be an excuse for the Transport Ministry to reject their applications. Bus operators in Sabah who operate as sole proprietors or partnerships need not register with the ROC where the Registration of Business Act 1956 does not apply in Sabah,” said Chan during a Special Chambers Session in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.
Chan was commenting on the plight of 69 school bus operators who have yet to receive the RM600 cash aid despite it being announced three months ago.
With regards to Apad, Chan said the agency does not have jurisdiction to enforce matters concerning school bus licences in Sabah.
Instead, the authority to do so is with the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (LPKP).
However, Chan raised the issue on Thursday of 69 school bus drivers in Kota Kinabalu who have yet to receive their RM 600 cash assistance under the Prihatin Assistance Programme.
On July 10, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong announced that 35,000 school bus drivers nationwide would each receive RM600 one-off cash assistance under Putrajaya's Prihatin programme.
Chan however pointed out that the 69 school bus drivers have yet to receive the money despite making applications since August 14.
Deputy Transport Minister Haji Hasbi Habibollah said in Parliament that LPKP had received 347 applications from bus drivers in Sabah for the cash assistance and the government had allocated RM 208,200.
He added that Sabah's LPKP is still in the process of distributing the monies to the bank accounts of the drivers.
“Based on the list of the 69 drivers that were mentioned, only 41 of them were included in the list of 347 drivers eligible for the assistance.
“The other 28 drivers, however, were not listed and Sabah's LPKP has no record of applications from those drivers,” said Hasbi.
The deputy minister then urged the 28 drivers to apply for the assistance by providing necessary documents, including copies of their identification cards, PSV licences, vehicle permits, commercial permits, and bank details.
Hasbi also said Sabah’s LPKP had delays making these payments due to a variety of excuses which included incomplete and inaccurate information by applicants.
“Sabah's LPKP must be certain that the information received from applicants is accurate. This filtering process is to prevent applicants without LPKP licences from receiving the money,” he added. – The Vibes, December 5, 2020
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