KOTA KINABALU: Sabah wants more poor people, especially those in the B40 category, to obtain their driving licences under the MyLesen programme next year.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the initiative was one of the government’s efforts to help the low-income group get a class B2 licence for motorcyclists, especially in rural areas.
“Mobility will help people to expand their employment, education and economic opportunities, particularly among rural communities,” he said.
Hajiji added that the Federal Government initiative is being continued in Budget 2024.
“The initiative involves B2 class motorcycle licence, and e-hailing and taxi licences where the driving test fees will be borne by the government.
“This initiative will be enjoyed by more than 40,000 youths from underprivileged families,” he said when launching the Tuaran district MyLesen B2 Year 2023 programme at Dewan Sulaman, about 40km from here yesterday.
He said the Federal Government through Budget 2023 had allocated RM2.7mil for the cost of training and test fees for the B2 class licence, which benefited 9,000 individuals from the B40 group.
He said the unity government’s efforts is to help the poor in empowering people’s mobility so that they will be self-reliant.
Hajiji said that the Federal and state governments were always striving to introduce various initiatives to help the people.
He said this included transport, which is an important link to the economic chain.
“Sabah received a total of 500 MyLesen B2 programme quotas involving Tuaran and Kinabatangan districts,” he said.
In the programme in Tuaran, a total of 246 B40 recipients got their B2 licence, and the majority are self-employed.
