Bleeding bus companies honk for aid

Bus operators are pleading with the government for monetary aid. They warn that if no help comes forth, their services will grind to a halt.

KUALA LUMPUR: Private bus operators are pleading with the government to disburse the RM4 billion stored under the Public Transportation Fund.

Pan-Malaysian Bus Operators Association (PMBOA) president Mohamad Ashfar Ali said the financial aid would give the companies a new lease of life.

“We have problems applying for loans because the banks look at our accounts and see our losses.

“We would like to ask the government, who collected this fund under (former premier) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to disburse it to us,” he told FMT after meeting with Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) officials yesterday.

In March 2006, Abdullah said that the RM4.4 billion gleaned from oil subsidy reductions would be placed in a Public Transportation Fund.

At the time, the premier said that the fund would be used to improve public transport in all states. However, it was not clear if this fund had been used so far.

Solutions to their problems

Meanwhile, Ashfar said that PMBOA members also suggested other options to SPAD officials during their meeting.

These included a further reduction on their partial diesel subsidy from RM1.48 to RM1.00 per litre, and for the option to use buses that were older than 15 years.

Failing that, the operators also requested a cost-per-kilometre measure, where the government would subsidise buses according to the routes they took.

But as far as PMBOA was concerned, these solutions were still short-term remedies, and pleaded for the government to buy them out, lock, stock and barrel.

Even so, yesterday’s meeting did not appear to be fruitful.

Although listening to their cries for help, SPAD chairman Syed Hamid Albar allegedly told the bus operators that the commission could only make recommendations.

The final decision, Ashfar said, rested in the hands of the Cabinet.

Companies in dire straits

Ashfar said that bus companies across Malaysia were in dire straits.

“We are shutting down slowly. It’s not going to be like a television channel where we just turn off, but it’s going to be like a domino effect,” he added.

He said that bus services in many rural and small towns were slashing their schedules or shutting down altogether.

Negeri Sembilan Bus Operators Association president Hardev Singh Gill said the Seremban Town Service (STS) company, which had 25 buses running a few years ago only had four left now.

He added that operators servicing other towns in the state such as Port Dickson and Nilai had closed down completely.

CityLiner buses, he said, were also cutting down on the number of routes in the state, and were holding on by a thread.

PMBOA said that cost of diesel, spare parts, insurance and other items rose while fare structures remained the same.

Johor Bus Operators Association president G Suchdav told FMT that the situation was so critical that bus companies could close down any minute.

“My operators are telling me that they are willing to close shop tomorrow. All our reserves have been pumped in, and we have no reserves left,” he said.

PMBOA represents 130 bus companies operating more than 3,200 buses in the country. It is also the umbrella body of the country’s many state bus operator associations. There are over 9,000 estimated stage buses in Malaysia.