The old local buses of the old city (Part 2)

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In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate; blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

Reflection
"Do not spy on one another,
nor let any of you backbite others..." (Hujurat 49:12)
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IN this blog previolusly I had highlighted the direcondition of Melaka stage buses entitled 'The old local buses of the old city' and to my relief during hisvisit to my home state on Monday, 4th April, Deputy Prime Minister, MuhyiddinYassin had acknowledged the situation and mooted Melaka bus firms to set up aconsortium to solve the problem.
"Public transport in the state, especially stage buses needsa major overhaul, and to do this, I propose that bus companies form a consortium,"Muhyiddin was quoted saying after spending about an hour meetingrepresentatives from bus companies, bus drivers and taxi drivers' associationat Melaka Sentral bus and taxi terminals.
"When the consortium is formed by the 11 bus companies inthe state, the government will set up a fund to help to replace the old buses.I noticed that most of the buses in the state are more than 10 years old.
"The government will then look into the best mechanism toreplace the buses and this might include the setting up a fund to phase out theold buses in stages. A new bus would cost RM450,000 and we cannot afford toreplace all the old buses in Melaka at one go as this would cost RM45 million,"said Muhyiddin.
Thanks to the DPM, Muhyiddin for his understanding and far sightedviews for Melaka local bus companies and commuters, but 'sympathy words andpromises' without the relevant authorities taking fast action is just likeadding salt to one's wound!
Sir, while you were pouring out your ideas, some of the poor'rakyat' who have suffered so long could not just 'cage' their misery in theirheart; thus they 'rained' it out at every opportunity; one such medium wasnewspapers 'interactive columns.
On the very day of your visit to the historical state (4thJuly), I noticed three letters in the Interactive Page (page 52) of 'SinarHarian' (a Malay daily) were complaints on dire state of the local bus service.
A reader (Malu anak negeri/ A shameful citizen) wrote: "Busuzur masih beroperasi: Amat mengecewakan apabila bas MOS Melaka yang tidak sepatutnyadigunakan lagi masih beroperasi. Hairan apabila bas yang uzur ini masihmendapat kelulusan pihak berwajib. Kami sebagai penumpang merasakan ia tidaksetimpal dengan tambang. Tiada keselesaan apatah lagi aspek keselamatan. Melakamerupakan negeri pelancongan tetapi taraf pengangkutan awam amat mengecewakan."/  "Old buses are still on the road: Itis disappointing when old buses of MOS Melaka are still operating. I am puzzledas why these old buses are given green light by the authorities. We, as commutersfeel the service is not worth the fare.  The service is without comfort and safety.Melaka is a tourism state (destination) but its public transportation is disappointed." *Note:  MOS stands for Malacca Omnibus Service.
A regular commuter (Buruh kecewa/ A disappointment labourer)wrote: "Bas tiada susahkan pengguna: Kami berharap pihak berwajib dapatmembantu. Pada 29 Jun lalu, bas MOS Tangkak ke Jasin dari jam 8.45 hingga 11.15pagi tidak tiba di stesen Tangkak. Kami pekerja yang menggunakan perkhidmatanbas tersebut terpaksa berhadapan masalah dengan majikan disebabkan hal ini.Mengapa tidak dimaklumkan awal-awal? Menyusahkan pengguna." / "Cancelled busservice frustrated commuter: We hope the authorities would help us. On 29thJune, MOS bus for route Tangkak-Jasin from 8.45 to 11.15 am, failed to reachthe bus station in Tangkak. We, workers who depended on that bus service had toconfront with our employer regarding this matter. Why do not inform earlier? Createtrouble for commuters."
The third reader (Pengguna/A Commuter) too noted about theMOS bus that failed to service the Tangkak-Jasin route on that specific timeand date.  'Pengguna' too complained thathe/she had to face trouble to go to work.
Muhyiddin's call on Malacca bus firms setting up aconsortium and only then the government will set up a fund to help replace theold buses was nothing new; the urgent step the government especially the stategovernment needed to do was to honor its pledge more than two years ago to giveassistance amounting to RM36 million to members of Melaka Bus Operators.
Recently President of Melaka Bus Operators, Razali Endun whopressed the state government on the assistance, said the money was urgent asoperations by local bus companies in Melaka Sentral are in a dire situation asthey are facing acute financial problem.
He said while waiting for the state's assistance, operatorswere facing more trouble as the authorities such as the Road TransportDepartment (RTD) had compounded several of the old buses because they are notroadworthy.
Razali said he too had no idea how to renew permits for hisbuses next year as almost all of them are in dire condition. "Permits can onlybe renewed if the buses that are more than 15 years are replaced by new ones orupgraded," he said.
About 10 local bus operators that are facing financialproblems are in dire straits and could cease operations, including in 2,000employees being laid off, Razali said.
Thus he hope the state government would come to the rescueby honoring its pledge in helping local bus operators, if not they would ceaseoperations, resulting in difficulties for thousands of commuters who dependedon public transport.
A former high ranking government officer told this writer,what Muhyiddin should do if he was really concerned and committed in solvingMelaka local bus operators' and commuters' woes was not just by making suggestionsand promises but 'delivering' money fast to the state government who at thisstage had failed to secure the RM36 million loan from the federal government to'pay' for the bus operators as it had promised more than two years ago.
"I could guess why that promise could not be fulfilledjudging from the local authorities answers  to the 'rakyat' (people) grouses on why Melakahas not enough public utilities such as sheltered bus stops; they  would said they are still waiting for government'sallocation or sponsorship from private companies.
"What's the heck the state government was doing? Melaka wasdeclared a developed state last year; so the problem is that they don't havethe money. Why wait for government allocation or sponsorship just a built a bus shed?

"Just tell the truth, you don't have the money. That's it. For you information, in 2009, the Melaka state government's debt to the federalgovernment increased to RM587.3 million from RM441.76 million in 2008!"