KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — The Transport Ministry has denied that it has imposed new conditions in licence renewal for lorry drivers, especially with regards to health concerns, as claimed on social media.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar, said that the licence renewal process for every lorry driver was the same as the normal procedure, without any changes.

"I want to make it clear here that there has been no policy change made by the Road Transport Department (RTD) related to health.

"The issue of health verification is not carried out by the RTD but by doctors who are subject to the method determined by the Health Ministry,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here today.

Kamarudin said this when commenting on the concerns of lorry drivers who claimed that RTD had restrained them under the new licence renewal conditions that allegedly required their health examination results.

Kamaruddin, who is also Bandar Tun Razak Member of Parliament, said the lorry drivers should not easily believe baseless allegations made by irresponsible parties causing anxiety and anger among them.

"Make sure you do not participate in any strikes,” he said, warning that no one should spread inaccurate information.

He also said that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was always striving to make it easier for the people in every matter, especially in seeking an income.

"I’ll be sad if this is made into a political issue. In the PH government, we want to focus on the people, giving them the opportunity to grow the economy. If there are people with malicious intent to cause racial divisions, then I think action must be taken,” he said. — Bernama