Taxis waiting to pick up passengers at Sibu Airport. – File photo
KUCHING: A list of 929 names have been submitted by the Sarawak Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) to the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia for the disbursement of a one-off financial assistance to ease the hardship faced by taxi drivers.
State Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin explained that the federal government through the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package had approved a one-off RM600 financial assistance for all taxi drivers who are registered with the Sarawak CVLB in the state.
“Taxi drivers in Sarawak are advised to register online at the Sarawak CVLB website or avail themselves at Kuching, Sibu and Miri CVLB offices to register for their eligibility,” Lee said in a statement today.
He however said that there may be some taxi drivers in Sarawak who may not have registered for the federal funded stimulus package.
Lee also revealed that the state government had allocated a total of RM2.75 billion under the Bantuan Khas SarawakKu Sayang (BKSS) 1.0 to 3.0 aid to be distributed to those in the middle and lower income groups.
“One of the items under BKSS is the one-off financial assistance specifically for the transportation sector, such as a RM500 one-off financial assistance to 199 ‘penambang’ passenger boat operators registered with the Sarawak Rivers Board,” he said.
This also includes a one-off financial assistance of RM600 to school bus or van operators and a one-off financial assistance of RM600 to licensed van (also known as ‘kereta sewa’ or ‘van penumpang’) drivers.
The one-off financial assistance payment disbursement of to the “penambang” is being carried out by the Sarawak Rivers Board and to date, payment has been made to all 929 eligible taxi drivers in the state.
“My ministry had received 193 online applications from school bus or van operators and 14 online applications from licensed van operators and is currently collaborating with the Sarawak CVLB to update the list of school bus or van operators and licensed van operators who are registered with the Sarawak CVLB,” he said.
All eligible recipients are advised to go to the Ministry of Transport, Sarawak’s website and to register directly using the Application Form (Google Form) on or before June 18 this year.
Eligible recipients can also go to the nearest Residents Offices to get the assistance to fill the online Application Form.