Locals should be given priority to work as bus drivers — Fomca

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) wants locals to be given priority to work as bus drivers.

Its president, Datuk N Marimuthu, said the issue of locals not keen to work as bus drivers would not arise if the salary offered commensurate with the job and responsibility.

“Most crucial is for bus operators to ensure the salary offered is based on the minimum salary that has been agreed upon,” he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday.

Prior to this, a local newspaper reported that Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd intended to employ foreigners to overcome the shortage of nearly 500 bus drivers by the company.

Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Zohari Sulaiman was reported as saying that neighbouring countries, including Singapore, were employing foreigners to work as bus drivers as locals were not keen to take up the job because of the low salary.

Marimuthu also expressed the need for bus drivers to be sent for courses and health screening to ensure they were mentally and physically fit for the job.

Peninsular Malaysia Bus Drivers Association president Sa’adan Man suggested the government introduce a programme to train school leavers as bus drivers to overcome the shortage of bus drivers in the country.

Sa’adan, a bus driver with Konsortium Transnasional Berhad, said bus operators should not only think of making profit by employing foreigners who were willing to accept the job even if the salary offered was low.

“Bus operators should also be concerned with the welfare of their workers,” he added.

Meanwhile, a bus commuter, Siti Nor Hazirah Goriman Khan, 21, an accountant, is against bus operators in the country employing foreigners as bus drivers, and so is Khairun Nizam Hosen, a student at the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM).

“By doing so, it will only reduce the chance of our own people getting jobs. Jobs are already scarce, so locals who are still unemployed should look at the job as bus drivers as an opportunity,” said Khairun Nizam. — Bernama