KOTA BARU: The government is still mulling over raising express bus fares nationwide in a bid to help bus operators and drivers cope with rising operating costs.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar said no decision has been made on the matter, despite a demand by express bus operators.
He stressed that the government sympathises with express bus operators who have taken on the burden of rising operating costs.
Kamarudin was speaking at a press conference after witnessing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Konsortium E-Mutiara Berhad (E-Mutiara) and Scania Asia Tenggara here, last night.
E-Mutiara was represented by its executive chairman Che Ibrahim Che Ismail, while Scania was represented by its managing director Marie Sjodin Enstrom.
Kamarudin said the ministry had previously considered raising express bus fares by a minimum of between 10 and 30 per cent.
Last month, he is reported to have said that express bus fares were last raised in 2009 by 31 per cent, and that the ministry is considering making another increase to help express bus operators cope with rising operating costs.