Nancy receives a memento from Sazali during the courtesy call.
KUCHING: The Federal Government is committed to improve public bus services in the state through various initiatives, including continuing its Interim Stage Bus Support Fund (ISBSF).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nancy Shukri, said Putrajaya wanted Sarawakians to have access to safe and efficient public bus transportation.
“The Federal Government has allocated RM400 million to the ISBSF since 2012 to improve the quality of public bus services and to encourage the people to use public buses as an effective mode of transportation,” Nancy, who holds a watching brief on the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), said in a statement yesterday.
Earlier, she received a courtesy call from a Sarawak Bus Transport Companies Association delegation led by its chairman Sazali Morshidi. The meeting at the minister’s office in Kuala Lumpur also discussed the Stage Bus Service Transformation (SBST) operations in Kuching.
Batang Sadong MP Nancy pointed out that Putrajaya, through agencies under her purview, including SPAD and Sarawak Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board, was in the midst of solving technical and administrative issues between federal and state agencies to ensure programmes and initiatives to improve public transport in the state could be successfully implemented as soon as possible.
Nancy assured she would personally oversee the matter.
ISBSF was set up by the Federal Government in 2012 to aid stage bus operators, especially those plying rural areas. The financial assistance is provided to eligible recipients through a contract system that expires every six months.