The Star, Thursday February 27, 2014
Caught in the middle: A taxi driver explaining the situation to Liow (right) in Kajang town.
KAJANG: Many taxi drivers here risk getting summoned by the authorities daily for stopping by the roadside.
They have no choice but to make such illegal stops because there are no taxi stands available for them.
A taxi driver who highlighted his plight to MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai here last Saturday said the taxi drivers had been asking the local authority here for taxi stands since the 1990s, but their request had fallen on deaf ears.
He said chronic traffic jams in town these days had compounded the problem.
“There is no place for us to stop at all,” he told Liow, who was visiting the town.
Another taxi driver, Muliono Ramli, 55, lamented that the rising fuel prices had made life increasingly difficult.
“We have to use more petrol unnecessarily when we drive around aimlessly.
“We just need a place to stop, and the location must be convenient for passengers,” he added.
Taxi driver Fadil Mohamad said he had been asking for taxi stands for years, and was puzzled as to why the local authority kept dragging its feet.
“Many taxi drivers got summoned for stopping by the roadside.
“Each summons is RM150 and it can go up to RM300 if we settle it late,” he said, adding that the taxi stand issue was a long-standing one.
Taxi driver Ahmad Shah Latif hoped the authorities could find a solution to the taxi stand problem.
Taxi driver Abdul Halim Mohd Zin said the local council had once stationed drivers on the first floor of the bus terminal in Jalan Reko.
“The place was not convenient for passengers and so we did not have business,” he added.
Another taxi driver who requested anonymity said a driver had to pay RM53 per day or about RM1,600 a month as overhead costs.
“We must have hundreds of passengers a month to survive. Who will care for taxi drivers?” he sighed.
They have no choice but to make such illegal stops because there are no taxi stands available for them.
A taxi driver who highlighted his plight to MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai here last Saturday said the taxi drivers had been asking the local authority here for taxi stands since the 1990s, but their request had fallen on deaf ears.
He said chronic traffic jams in town these days had compounded the problem.
“There is no place for us to stop at all,” he told Liow, who was visiting the town.
Another taxi driver, Muliono Ramli, 55, lamented that the rising fuel prices had made life increasingly difficult.
“We have to use more petrol unnecessarily when we drive around aimlessly.
“We just need a place to stop, and the location must be convenient for passengers,” he added.
Taxi driver Fadil Mohamad said he had been asking for taxi stands for years, and was puzzled as to why the local authority kept dragging its feet.
“Many taxi drivers got summoned for stopping by the roadside.
“Each summons is RM150 and it can go up to RM300 if we settle it late,” he said, adding that the taxi stand issue was a long-standing one.
Taxi driver Ahmad Shah Latif hoped the authorities could find a solution to the taxi stand problem.
Taxi driver Abdul Halim Mohd Zin said the local council had once stationed drivers on the first floor of the bus terminal in Jalan Reko.
“The place was not convenient for passengers and so we did not have business,” he added.
Another taxi driver who requested anonymity said a driver had to pay RM53 per day or about RM1,600 a month as overhead costs.
“We must have hundreds of passengers a month to survive. Who will care for taxi drivers?” he sighed.
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