PARLIAMENT | Half of the proceeds from the Road Transport Department’s (RTD) sales of special number plates (NPIs) will be channelled to the Transport Ministry for initiatives to benefit the rakyat.
According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke (Pakatan Harapan-Seremban), the matter has been agreed to by the Finance Ministry and will begin early next year.
“We will continue selling NPIs via the JPJeBid system. We will get tenders for the special registration numbers as a way to generate income.
“The Finance Ministry has decided that whatever our initiative is for next year, 50 percent of its proceeds will go back to the Transport Ministry for initiatives to help the rakyat,” Loke said to a question posed by Jimmy Puah (Harapan-Tebrau) in Parliament today.
Loke said the initiatives include giving free B2 license (for motorcycles below 250cc).
“We want to increase the number of people who benefit from this initiative, and proceeds from the sales of special number plates will aid this effort next year.”
Compensation for air crash victims’ kins
On another matter, Loke said that the amount of compensation given to families of the MH17 tragedy victims would depend on the proof of loss of each passenger.
According to him, the loss would be estimated under legal provisions and bound to the Montreal Convention.
“However, I understand that the families of the passengers were previously compensated by the airline when the tragedy happened.
“But that amount is confidential between the airline and the passengers’ family.”
MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, when it was shot down in the eastern part of Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew onboard.
Meanwhile, Loke also touched on the Beechcraft Premier 1 aircraft that crashed in Elmina, Shah Alam, on Aug 17.
He said the government has provided financial assistance to the families of the ill-fated aircraft, as well as the motorist and motorcyclist who were also killed in the incident.
The incident saw 10 people killed when the light aircraft, operated by Jet Valet Sdn Bhd, crashed onto the Guthrie Highway near Bandar Elmina.
Pahang state executive councillor Johari Harun was among those killed.
Locals shun shipping industry
Meanwhile, Loke lamented that Malaysians are not interested in serving in the shipping industry even though the sector pays good money.
This has caused the sector to be populated by foreigners, he said.
“These sailors (shipping sector workers) earn quite well, but one thing that disinterests locals is having to be away from their families for long periods of time when they are on duty.
“If the workers are working on a ship, they have to leave their families, for months at a time, and that causes locals to lose interest in this sector,” Loke said when answering a question raised by
Ganabatirau Veraman (Harapan-Klang) regarding the involvement of local workers in the shipping industry and ports.
The Transport Ministry welcomes any parties that try to encourage locals to venture into the shipping industry, he added. - Mkini
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