KEMAMAN, July 6 — Taxi drivers in the district used to earn between RM70 and RM90 daily.

But it is no longer the case, according to Kemaman Taxi and Hired Car Drivers Association chairman Jusoh Sulaiman.

Currently, he said, the taxi drivers in their 40s and 50s who had depended on the trade as their main source of income could only earn between RM20 and RM30 daily and sometimes nothing at all.

He attributed the passenger drought to workers being laid off by oil and gas companies following the decline in oil prices.

“Almost 80 per cent of the passengers are workers of the petroleum industry, and workers of two steel factories which had since ceased operations.

“We used to send and fetch passengers from every corner of the peninsula in Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Johor as well as Pahang,” he said.

He said the two factories, Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd and Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd laid off more than 3,000 and almost 2,000 workers, respectively.

“There are still 75 taxi drivers around — 55 of the taxis are registered with the association and 25 are under the Centre Point services,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Jaafar, 48, who had been driving a taxi for 20 years, said most of his former passengers were employees in the petroleum and gas industry who mainly worked in shifts.

“So we always had passengers to send to the workplace or home. But now we have to depend on the local public and at times we cannot get any passenger at all.

“Sometimes we even have to compete with private cars that do not have a licence to pick up passengers. This is one big dilemma faced by our association.

“Hopefully, the relevant authorities would take note of this and stop the illegal activities,” he said.

Meanwhile, state Infrastructure, Public Facilities, Energy and Green Technology Committee chairman Rosli Othman said he would try to find a way to resolve the taxi drivers’ plight.

“I will have a meeting with them and look for ways to assist. Taxis play an important role in tourism, more so next year which is Visit Terengganu Year,” he said.

He said a study would also be conducted to find the most strategic locations for the taxi drivers to operate. — Bernama