KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar made a play for the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) which he heads to have control over licensing Public Service Vehicles (PSV) after a deadly bus crash in Muar, Johor on Christmas Eve.

The SPAD chairman believes that his commission would be swifter and tougher in taking action against public service vehicle companies that flout the law compared to the Road Transport Department (RTD).

"We can suspend the licence on our own, but to revoke the licence we need to wait until charged in court,” he told a news conference here.

"Alternatively, we can only cancel the driver’s permit, but PSV is under JPJ.  We call for PSV to be issued by SPAD.

"Personally I would like for buses to have seatbelts and if possible in future buses should be installed with speed limiters to avoid speeding,” he said.

He reiterated that SPAD has suspended the license of the bus company involved in the Muar crash which claimed 14 lives.

However, SPAD’s role could be enhanced if it had full authority on PSV licences.

Syed Hamid also called on the federal government to allow bus companies the flexibility in charging fares.

He linked the low salaries of bus drivers to the current system of fixed rate fares controlled by the government, saying this forces drivers to take on additional trips to earn extra through commissions, which leads to driver fatigue.

"Their basic pay is low and often not satisfactory. The commission depends on the trips they make. So that will force people to chase trips.

"We need to allow and encourage bus operators to pay higher salaries,” he said.

He gave a reminder that express buses are not government-owned but a service drive by the private sector’s efforts.

As such, the companies may be forced to "close shop” if they could no longer afford to maintain their fleet and their drivers when the government only allows them to charge fixed rates.

"So we should allow a more flexible fare,” he said.

Express bus fare reviews were last performed in 2009 whereas taxis saw a hike in their fares only last year.

The former federal minister went on to say that there was a shortage of bus drivers in Malaysia as many were uninterested in the low-paying job, adding that a mindset change was required.

He also urged the Transport Ministry to arrange a meeting with the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, and for RTD and SPAD to work together and find better ways to avoid a recurrence of fatals bus crashes.