KUALA LUMPUR: Bus operators have submitted proposals to the Finance Ministry on the 2021 Budget to ensure sustainability of their service operations which had largely been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association president Datuk Mohamad Ashfar Ali said the proposals focused on the continuity of stage, express, tour and factory bus operations.
"Since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented, the bus transport industry has been designated as an essential service and as such had continued its services to the public.
"However, under the MCO, bus services were limited and there were no other source of income throughout the pandemic (for bus operators)," he said.
Ashfar said among the proposal's submitted include allocation for contract payments and scheme change for stage buses.
"We want to call for full and unconditional payment that were overdue for those who are eligible under the interim support fund scheme for stage bus' and its service transformation scheme throughout the MCO phase.
"Stage buses should also be placed under the services transformation scheme as it will be beneficial to all relevant parties.
"The extension of contracts from two years to five years would bring stability to the operators and enable them to gain funds easily, seeing that money lenders will refuse to give funds to those with shorter contracts," he said.
Ashfar is also hopeful that the government would offer a free training scheme to those who expressed interest in becoming a bus or lorry driver.
He also called for the exemption import tax and excise tax to ease the industry's burden during the pandemic as well as to expedite the capital allowance to mirror the actual depreciation value of the bus.
"We also call for an allocation of one per cent of the RM5 billion under the guarantee facility scheme for corporate bus operators to allow them to receive loans and assist them to fund work capital.
"As for wage subsidy, the bus operators would like to ask for subsidy up to 75 per cent of the monthly wages for their workers throughout the MCO period and extend it another three months after (MCO) concludes as the practice is in the United Kingdom and Singapore.
"The subsidy should also be used to continue services with a special one-off payment at RM1,000 every month, from April 1, until the MCO ceases and a further three months after. The allocation would assist costs such as purchasing masks, gloves, and sanitation of the bus."
On a similar note, Ashfar also proposed for a one-off payment of RM600 to all stage bus and express bus drivers, fee exemption for Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom) scheduled checks until Dec this year, and a fee waiver by the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) for processing permits for 2020/2021 year.