Taxi drivers' demonstrations axed, rep still insists on seeing minister

The gathering of some 3,000 taxi drivers from across the country planned for today in protest over government talks with homegrown e-hailing transport service Grab did not materialise as only three representatives turned up at the Ministry of Transport in Putrajaya.

Even so, things still got heated when taxi operator Big Blue Taxi Facilities Sdn Bhd founder Shamsubahrin Ismail argued with the ministry staff as he insisted on meeting with Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

"We do not wish to meet with the political secretary (or any) representative. You can ask the political secretary to resign.

"If you want to discuss, bring them all in, bring the media," he said.

However, Loke is currently in Bangkok, Thailand, while his deputy Kamarudin Jaffar is in Sarawak.

Upon receiving this news, Shamsubahrin stated: "So, he sends a representative and we deliver our message. We are giving the minister and the ministry two weeks (to respond)."

Shamsubahrin also explained that the gathering today was cancelled following discussions between the police and organisers.

"We did not come with the (taxi) drivers today as last night, the authorities advised us not to. So we followed the law," he told reporters outside the Ministry of Transport today.

It was previously reported that some 3,000 taxi drivers in the Klang Valley were contemplating holding a large-scale demonstration despite having already met with Loke's political secretary.

Last month, Shamsubahrin led a 250-strong group of taxi drivers in a protest (photo) in front of the Ministry of Finance building in Putrajaya to demand a meeting with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng within 24 hours over the issue.

The issue first boiled over the following revelation by Lim's political secretary Tony Pua that the Pakatan Harapan federal government was in talks with Grab to provide complimentary transport services to commuters. This led taxi drivers to complain they were being sidelined.

“Why should you provide feeder buses if you can work with Grab?

“They can actually arrive and give door-to-door delivery from the MRT to commuters' homes at a reasonable price, and at a cost that will be cheaper than us (the government) supplying feeder buses,” Pua had announced early last month.

Loke later clarified that there were no immediate plans to replace feeder bus services at MRT stations and that the use of Grab was still in the proposal stage. - Mkini