MELAKA: Faulty tyres are among the reasons 17 express buses have been grounded against operating during the Lunar New Year season, says Datuk Hameed Mytheen Kunju Basheer.
The Melaka public works, infrastructure, public amenities and transport committee chairman said screenings of express bus operators at the Melaka bus terminal also found that one driver tested positive for drugs.
The driver had been scheduled to transport passengers to the northern states during the festive season, Hameed Mytheen said.
The 17 buses had 24 technical violations, of which faulty tyres were the most prominent, he said.
“A total of 24 technical violations were identified, and the buses involved will not be allowed to operate until they comply with the specified requirements,” he said, adding that the violations were detected during road safety inspections that started since Jan 13. “If there are tyre issues, the tyres must be replaced, if there are brake pressure problems, these must be resolved. Until then, the buses will remain suspended,” he told reporters.
Hameed Mytheen was met at a special round of inspections carried out by the Road Transport Department(JPJ) at the Melaka Sentral bus terminal recently.
Also present was Melaka JPJ director Muhammad Firdaus Shariff.
For Chinese New Year, the authorities will ramp up checks against express buses until Feb 9.
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 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.
