MELAKA: Faulty tyres are among the factors that caused 17 express buses to be grounded due to safety issues during the Lunar New Year season, says Datuk Hameed Mytheen Kunju Basheer.
The Melaka public works, infrastructure, public amenities and transport committee chairman said 24 issues that could compromise passenger safety were found since periodical inspections conducted since Jan 13 and tyre-related issues accounted for the highest number, with 13 cases identified.
“A total of 24 technical violations were identified, and the buses involved will not be allowed to operate until they comply with the specified standards.
"If there are tyre issues, the tyres must be replaced, if there are brake pressure problems, these must be resolved. Until then, the 24 buses will remain suspended,” he said after overseeing a Chinese New Year road safety operation by the Road Transport Department(JPJ) at Melaka Sentral bus terminal on Friday (Jan 24).
Also present was Melaka JPJ director Muhammad Firdaus Shariff.
Hameed Mytheen said express buses with journeys exceeding four hours will only be allowed to operate once they meet the technical standards set by the JPJ.
He said that more than 200 express buses operating during this festive season have undergone rigorous inspections at five bus depots across the state where checks covered tyres, brakes and engines.
"In addition to technical aspects, inspections also extended to traffic offences, including summonses, fines, licences and road tax compliance," he said, adding that the operation which began on Jan 20 and would run until Feb 9 where over 2,000 express buses were expected to operate at the terminal.
Meanwhile, he also said that a 30-year-old express bus driver tested positive for drugs following a urine screening conducted on Friday.
"The driver was scheduled to transport passengers to the northern region of the country.
“A total of 177 express bus drivers have undergone the screening,” he said.
