SIBU: Nearly half of the school bus operators in Sibu could be out of job when the government forces three-decade-old vehicles off the road.
An operator, when contacted by thesundaypost yesterday, said there were about 70 school buses here and up to 30 or more of them could be banned from the road when the policy is enforced.
He said most of them had been driving for more than two decades, and nearly half of their buses have very short lifespan left.
“When the time comes, I anticipate we will not be buying new buses anymore. There is no point. We are getting old. I guess we just have to call it a day,” he said.
The operator, who is a member of the Sibu School Bus Association, said their children are unwilling to take over from them after their retirement.
“Life is hard driving school buses. Our working hours are long and we have to wake up before sunrise. We end our work only after dusk. Our children think there are better jobs elsewhere,” he said.
The government announced last week its decision to ban school buses reaching 30 years old.
According to the nation-wide school bus association, 2,909 school buses in the country would be affected.
It said the decision would also affect 30,000 students nationwide. The operator, interviewed by The Borneo Post, is unsure what his association in Sibu would do if the government goes ahead with the 30-year-old out-of-the road policy.
He said their chairwoman is currently in Singapore, and the association can only decide on the matter when she returns.
In Peninsular Malaysia, the school bus operators are appealing to the government to reconsider its decision.
The operator in Sibu said the age limit of their vehicles is not the only dilemma.
“We are further burdened by the strict checks required by the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board,” he said.
He said for school buses that are 20 years old, for the next five years operators are asked to check their vehicles thrice annually.
“The requirement is very stressful because of the troubles involved,” he said, adding that the authorities would not check until there are several vehicles lining up to be checked.
He claimed that operators are always at the mercy of checkers who seem to enjoy finding faults in vehicles and asking operators to come back until ‘faults’ are rectified.
“This makes it extremely stressful to us. This is also one reason why many of us have decided to close business when our school buses turn 30,” he added.