GEORGE TOWN, July 26 — A total 2,373 Penang taxi drivers received the first instalment of a RM300 cash incentive each from the state government as encouragement to the drivers who are the frontliners in the tourism industry in the state.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in his speech at a ceremony to hand out the incentive, said a total RM600 will be given to taxi drivers every year and this sum will be divided into two instalments.
“Now, we are giving out for the second half of this year and in January next year, we will pay another RM300 for the first half of next year,” he said.
This is one of the election promises made by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in its manifesto that it will provide a cash incentive to the taxi drivers in the state if it retained power in the state.
“We need a mechanism to improve our taxi service as I have received some complaints of poor service so we hope that this incentive will encourage all taxi drivers to provide excellent service to tourists and their passengers,” he said.
The incentive will only be given to taxi drivers who provide good service to their passengers while those who had complaints against them will receive nothing, he added.
“With this incentive, we are giving respect to the taxi drivers and their profession so that they can give the same respect to tourists,” he said.
A total of 1,623 taxi drivers on the island and 750 on the mainland will receive the cash incentive.
Lim said taxi drivers, including limousine drivers at airports, are the first people who tourists meet when they arrive in Penang so it was important that they give a good first impression.
“This is a profession to be proud of as they are the ones to create a good impression of Penang to the tourists. So I hope this incentive will encourage them to continue to provide good impressions and services,” he said.
