The tour bus company involved in the recent bus accident in Gerik, Perak, that resulted in the deaths of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students has had all its permits and licences revoked with immediate effect. According to transport minister Anthony Loke, this is due to multiple breaches of permit conditions.
He said the company had committed two major violations, which was leasing its operating permit to a third party and failing to activate the vehicle’s GPS tracking system, as the New Straits Times reports. He said that it was found that the permit holder, who is based in Kedah, had leased the permit to an operator in Kelantan for RM500 a month.
He added that the ministry would not consider any appeals from the company involved. “I wish to stress that this decision is final due to the company’s gross negligence. Firstly, they breached permit conditions by leasing the licence, effectively distancing themselves from responsibility for the bus and its safety,” he said.
“More critically, they failed to install the mandatory GPS tracking system. When we requested the GPS report, the company failed to provide it, as the system had not been activated. This is a serious breach,” he said.
Loke said that while the bus driver had claimed brake failure as the cause of the crash, this remained unverified. “A full forensic investigation will be conducted to determine the validity of the driver’s statement. However, dashcam footage from other road users clearly shows the bus was speeding and overtaking recklessly before losing control and crashing,” he said.
He said that a thorough investigation was underway and that the ministry would fully cooperate with the police in any legal proceedings. The crash also left 33 people injured, including the bus driver and co-pilot, as well as the driver and three passengers of a Perodua Alza that was also involved in the incident.
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YB Menteri / Tuan Pengarah JPJ / Polis. Please. Enough talking. Why not do something that can be seen with immediate effect!
1. Do an emergency audit ASAP. Since you mentioned these infractions then I am assuming these are important issue. How many operators are doing this exact same thing – lease out permits / don’t have GPS / hiring unfit drivers?
2. Do an impromptu spot check along ANY stretch of ANY highway / main road in Malaysia for 1-2 hours. KL-Karak highway, Federal Highway, ELITE comes to mind. Start counting; how many trucks / buses / cars / motorcycles do you see flouting traffic rules?
– Aggressive Driving = tail-gating, weaving, speeding, beat red light, left overtaking, speeding in emergency lane.
– Vehicle condition = dark front windscreen / front side window tints, sunshades covering entire windscreen, modified loud exhausts, no reflectors, overloading
– Road conditions = potholes, zero lane markings, broken or rusted Armco/railings, road signs hidden behind trees, LED screens for advertisements (big distraction), wrong and dangerous road/lane arrow markings
– Use of handphone while driving especially trucks. The recent viral video of a near miss with the red container truck is so obviously a driver distracted while texting. Take a ride in a bus on highway and look into trucks. You will be surprised how many of them are texting away.
Again, do not need to believe me. Do the above and see for yourselves.
The business model of transport company needs to be audit and review. The old “Ali Baba” scheme is killing our transport industry. Creating rent seeking culture that raise cost of operations. Causing lower pay for driver and use of pressure on driver to meet tight schedules. This matters need urgent review and cooperation between licencing and permit issuer and JPJ enforcement
Which is which….they did not install GPS or GPS is not activated?
Since GPS system is mandatory, is the item included in Puspakom checklist for inspection during permit renewal? If yes then there is a bigger issue here if GPS is indeed not installed on that bus.
Bus was speeding like crazy on a tight bend, end of story.