Bus owners to face action - Police expect to take action against the owners of the company whose bus crashed at Genting Sempah last week

Bus owners to face action
By RACHAEL KAM and STEVEN DANIEL
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

SHAH ALAM: Police expect to take action against the owners of the company whose bus crashed at Genting Sempah last week.

Gombak OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Rahim Abdullah said action would be taken against them for hiring a driver who did not have a valid driving licence.

He added that the bus company’s business registration number showed that it was based in Perlis.

“We have yet to record a statement from the owner of the company but expect to do so within a couple of days,” ACP Abdul Rahim said after attending the police Deepavali open house at the Selangor police headquarters near here yesterday.

The driver, who is currently receiving treatment for a broken leg at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, is expected to be released on police bail today.

The bus skidded and overturned at the 38km of the Genting Sempah road on Friday, killing seven and injuring 39 others.

The driver told police he had lost his licence, but a check with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) showed that he did not have one.

Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) chairman Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique had, in a statement earlier, said that the driver S. Muthumani, 36, was employed by Taipan Suria (MM2H) Sdn Bhd and that an audit finding on the company was held yesterday to get more details on the company’s operations.

The results of the audit, she said, would be tabled on Nov 8 at a meeting of the Fatal Accident Inquiry Committee.

Sources said it was time to review charter bus licences as such buses had monopolised the industry and had affected express bus, school bus and factory bus operators.

They also said Taipan Suria, which was registered in March 1997, had four directors and had 99 active licences.

However, the JPJ’s system showed that 101 buses were registered under the company as charter buses.

The bus involved in the crash – with registration number RC 9863 – was registered on Jan 25, 1996 under the charter bus category.

It was learnt that JPJ was in the midst of investigating why the charter bus had the word Trans Holiday on it and was painted in green and white – the colours of a tour bus.

Pan-Malaysia Bus Operators Association president Datuk Mohamad Ashfar Ali suggested that bus drivers have an identity card similar to the one displayed by taxi drivers when on duty to allow passengers to report reckless drivers.

He added that the association had made the suggestion five years ago.

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