Loke: No plans to scrap MRT feeder buses, Pua's Grab statement a personal view

KUALA LUMPUR: The announcement made by Tony Pua that e-hailing company Grab may soon replace feeder buses at MRT stations is his own personal view, says the Transport Ministry.

Its Minister Anthony Loke said the statement by Pua, who is the special officer to the Finance Minister, was not reflective of the government's decision.

He clarified that the Transport Ministry had no plans to scrap the feeder bus services.

"We are not cancelling the feeder bus services. That was a just a proposal to complement (MRT feeder bus services), and it came from Tony.

"As far as the Transport Ministry is concerned, we have no plans to scrap the feeder bus service right now.

"We want to integrate with other bus services, and we hope we can roll out the monthly pass soon. Then all these services will be part and parcel of the public transportation system in the Klang Valley," he told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby on Wednesday (Oct 17).

On the protest organised by taxi drivers in Putrajaya today as a response to Pua's announcement, Loke said anyone could protest as long as it was peaceful.

"As far as we are concerned, we respect the freedom for them to voice out their opinion as long as it's a peaceful protest.

"There's no problem with that," he said.

Loke said although taxi drivers are demanding that the government ban Grab, the government had made the decision to allow e-hailing services to operate and for them to be regulated.

"My political secretary has an ongoing discussion with them (taxi drivers), and I've asked the political secretary to keep engaging with associations.

"With some other associations we have very good relationships, and in fact, we are encouraging them to adopt e-hailing. And one particular association is developing an app for airport taxis, which I will launch soon," he added.

Recently, taxi company operators expressed unhappiness over Pua's announcement that the government will hold talks with e-hailing company Grab to provide complementary transport services to MRT users.