PUTRAJAYA, May 13 — The Transport Ministry will discuss with school bus operators to determine if their vehicles could be used to ferry factory workers during the conditional movement control order (MCO) period, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the authorities were considering the approach to alleviate the financial pressures on school bus operators who are running at a loss as schools have been closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

"The ministry has decided to permit these operators to transport factory workers, so they will have to discuss and see how this can be done properly,” Ismail said during the daily press conference.

However, he criticised the reported practice of some operators who continued charging parents their monthly fees even when their children were not taking the buses during the MCO and CMCO.

"The issue of parents having to pay operators during this time should not have arisen in the first place.

"I believe this is something the (Transport) Ministry must take action on, since they issue the licences for these operators,” Ismail said.

On the Covid-19 public sanitation operations under the Housing and Local Government Ministry, Ismail said there have been 6,078 exercises since March 30 involving 9,732 government premises, business premises, and public areas.

The operations covered 3,228 government buildings, 2,138 public areas, 2,475 business centres, 1,549 housing areas including People’s Housing Projects, and 342 supermarkets.

As of yesterday, 99 sanitation operations covering 33 red and yellow zones in 11 states were conducted, including 33 operations in Johor, 19 operations in Sabah, and 14 in Sarawak.

Separately the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry also conducted monitoring and enforcement operations yesterday at 1,007 premises nationwide on 25 types of daily essential goods, including 787 sundry shops, 189 wholesalers, and 31 manufacturers.

From March 18 to May 12, approximately 20,572 complaints and inquiries were lodged with the ministry via WhatsApp, the E-Complaint system, the hotline, and to the Enforcement Command Centre.