SUBANG, July 11 — The Ministry of Transport (MOT) will improve the welfare and benefits of bus drivers in an effort to attract more people to join the field, said its minister, Anthony Loke.
Loke said this is also to ensure that there are enough bus drivers in the market.
“Other than that, Prasarana is going on roadshows to recruit more bus drivers, and we hope more people come forward to take up the job,” he told reporters after appearing as a panellist in a forum on ‘Political Stability in Hung Parliament’ at Sunway University here today.
Loke said this in response to the recent media report where the Transport Workers Union had urged the government to resolve the shortage of bus drivers in the country by addressing problems such as high operating costs, low revenue and fierce competition that make it difficult for bus operators to recruit drivers.
Regarding the government’s decision to formulate a policy to eradicate the Ali Baba culture, which has a negative impact on the economy, Loke said there are approaches and policies that need to be drawn up.
He said it is necessary to ensure government resources and allocations used for the purpose are well spent and fully maximised in value.
“That is on top of our mind, the most important agenda is to cut down rent-seeking (and at the same time) ensure value for money, which is something we’re looking forward to implementing to ensure better allocation of resources,” he said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said in a statement that the government is formulating a policy to eradicate the Ali Baba culture, which has a negative impact on the economy.
Anwar said estimated losses caused by rent-seeking reach about one per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and they comprise procurement, licencing, permit and quota insurance, subsidy and grant issuance aspects.
