KULAI, Nov 24 — Bus operators in the state hope the Johor government will take into account their welfare following their inability to generate income during the Covid-19 pandemic, in the 2021 Johor Budget this Thursday.
Johor State Bus Entrepreneurs and Drivers Consensus Organisation chairman R. Thiagarajan said the concern of the state government was important to ensure their sustainability in the challenging period.
He said the bus operators had really suffered with the issue of loan payment which was not given a moratorium since the movement control order (MCO) was implemented in March.
‘’What we are seeking now is the concerned of the parties responsible. Our finance is currently critical as we don’t have a source of income.
‘’It is also not easy to find other jobs because many among us are already in this field for the past 15 years.
“As such, we seek assistance such as funds so that we can implement various programmes including food baskets for affected operators,” he told a media conference at his house in Taman Kulai Jaya, here, today.
Meanwhile, in Johor Baru, taxi drivers who were badly affected due to the pandemics hoped that they would get incentives from the Johor Budget 2021, which would be able to alleviate the current burden.
A member of the Felda Ulu Tebrau Car Rental Owners and Drivers’ Association Ahmad Darose said the state government was also expected to bring good news from the budget this time such as helping to pay car rental to reduce their burden.
The 63-year-old man admitted that it was difficult for him to earn a daily income now due to the lack of passengers and having to pay car rent of RM30 a day.
“If the government wants to help us pay for car rental, it is enough because like me, I use a rental car (rented taxi),’’said the father of six children, who just started work as a taxi driver a year ago, to Bernama when met at the Ulu Tiram Bus and Taxi Station, here, recently.
Meanwhile, another taxi driver, Viran Moideen, said the state government needed to think of long-term assistance as he feared that taxi drivers were no longer able to continue to survive.
“It is difficult to get a single passenger a day, some wait from 7am until noon, there are no passengers at all.
“You can get RM30 a day only occasionally… apart from the petrol money, the maintenance cost of the car is high and others... the income is really declining. I hope the state government will think about the people in this budget, “said the father of 10 children.
Viran, who had been a taxi driver for the past 40 years, added that taxi drivers had been impacted for a long time since the existence of e-hailing drivers.
Therefore, he hoped the state government could think of the best solution to save the taxi drivers’ livelihood in the state.
The 2021 Johor Budget would be tabled by oleh Mentri Besar Johor Datuk Hasni Mohammad on November 26. — Bernama
