KUCHING, Sept 24: Putrajaya has been told to expedite the disbursement of its Interim Stage Bus Support Fund (ISBSF) to the Sarawak Bus Companies Association to maintain public transport services in the state.
Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin, in a statement, said the association the association only received their ISBSF for 2018 in June this year.
“The delay in disbursement of the ISBSF fund by the federal government has adversely affected the operation of bus services in Sarawak.
“To date, three companies have ceased operation and because of this, it is difficult to provide better public transportation services to the people in Sarawak,” he said after receiving a courtesy visit from the association recently,
Lee added that the ISBSF is important to the bus companies association, as the aim was to provide funds to support the operation of bus companies in Sarawak.
Another issue highlighted by the delegates to Lee was that the federal government had signed a new agreement with peninsular-based bus companies only, but not from Sarawak.
He added that the Sarawak Bus Companies Association and Sabah Omnibus Operators’ Association have jointly written a letter on July 12 to the federal Minister for Transport to a sought assistant and resolve the problem but to no avail.
“Sarawak viewed the problem faces the bus companies association here as serious, as it has a negative implication on people mobility especially those using public transport or bus services,” Lee continued.
He said that the ministry will seek clarification on this matter from the Ministry of Transport.
Lee was also looking to meet and discuss with his federal counterpart Anthony Loke to resolve this problem. — DayakDaily
