Govt Has No Intention To Hike Bus Fares

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- The government has no intention to hike bus fares or allow surcharges as proposed by bus operators following the increase in fuel prices recently.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said instead the government is working hard to ensure better bus services and more people use buses.

When new bus fares were introduced on May 1, the Ministry had set the Five Year Quality Target (2006-2010) for public transportation services in the country in efforts to enhance the safety, comfort, efficiency and passenger friendliness, he said.

"By 2010, it is expected that all the buses in towns are fully air conditioned," he said when winding up the 2006 Budget at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here Wednesday.

He said at the same time the ministry had asked the local councils to come up with a clear town transport plan including bus route plans.

Mohamed Khaled said Syarikat Prasarana Negara that operates the Rapid KL would add 600 more new buses to its fleet next year and the government too hoped that other bus operators would take efforts to enhance the quality of their services.

On repayment of MARA study loans, Mohamed Khaled said serious steps are being taken to collect the dues, including introducing more payment facilities like online banking, short messaging service (SMS) and salary deductions.

"To collect the amount owed from hardcore defaulters, MARA would appoint licensed debt collectors to collect RM99,977,648 from 7,469 borrowers who had defaulted payments for more than 72 months," he said.

He said at the same time, Mara would also continue to publish names of defaulters.

Meanwhile Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis said, the presence of 1,354 companies with Multimedia Supercorridor Status (MSC) proves that MSC is still relevant and capable of attracting investors.

In 2004, MSC companies recorded 26,434 knowledge workers and sales of more than RM6.1 billion, with exports totalling RM1.57 billion, he said.

Dr Jamaluddin explained that it was unfair to compare MSC which started eight years ago with Silicon Valley that began in 1971 as there are differences in culture, knowledge and the level of development between both.

He said, MSC succeeded in producing big time local players like Redtone, Green Packet and IRIS whose products had penetrated overseas markets.

Other than that, sales amounting to RM198.5 million were recorded from 25 companies under MSC research and development grant scheme (MGS) that had succeeded in producing 1,036 researchers and filed 59 patents in Malaysia, United States and Europe.

-- BERNAMA

We provide (subscription-based) 
news coverage in our Newslink service.