PMBOA president Ashfar Ali said that while the ruling is good, the ministry should also look into the shortage of bus drivers.

“The ruling has been in place for a couple of years and we have been following it. What we need is for the ministry to address the shortage of drivers,” he told FMT.

Ashfar said that the ministry should work together with the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and the Human Resources Ministry to get more drivers.

“What we are suggesting is that SPAD and the ministry provide free courses on how to become a commercial driver. We already have a yearly shortage of 3,000 drivers in the transport industry.”

Ashfar was commenting on Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai’s announcement that operators will be fined and their permit suspended if they do not have second drivers for travel up to 300km or more than four hours.

FMT had reported that Ashfar said the shortage of drivers was due to the high “entry cost” for drivers into the industry, pointing out that one-third of bus drivers in Singapore were Malaysians.

“It can cost about RM5,000 to learn to become a bus and lorry driver, including obtaining the various licences and other fees,” he said.

Large commercial and public transport vehicles require the E licence.

Meanwhile, on the floods in the East Coast, Ashfar said that the bus operators will carry on with their trips as for normal and make changes if the need arises.

“We will put up notices at the bus stations to inform passengers if there are disruption to the services, diversions and delays due to the floods.”

He added: “The particular bus companies at the East Coast will be alerting their counterparts in Kuala Lumpur if there are any changes to the flood situation.”