Don't be emotional, fair solution will be announced, Najib tells taxi drivers
Suganthi Suparmaniam
March 31, 2016 14:34 MYT
March 31, 2016 14:34 MYT
He said there are many factors that the government needs to take into consideration, like the elements of innovation and competition.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has called on taxi drivers not to be ruled by emotions or engage is street protests over Uber and GrabCar-hailing apps.
He said such actions will only hurt the image of some and does not benefit anyone, particularly taxi users.
“A solution and a fair policy to all will be announced soon,” he wrote in his blog NajibRazak.com today.
On Tuesday, about 300 taxi drivers staged the a protest to battle against the ride-hailing apps services, causing a two-hour traffic congestion along Jalan Bukit Bintang, leading to the arrest of five taxi drivers who failed to heed warnings from the police.
The protesting taxi drivers parked their vehicles in the vicinity of the Pavilion shopping mall, forcing police to divert traffic, from the area.
Najib said he had read reports of the protest and congratulated the police for its quick and professional action in controlling the traffic and giving room for the taxi operators to voice their concern before taking necessary actions.
He said he understood and is concerned over the problems faced by the taxi operators due to the presence of Uber and GrabCar-hailing apps in Malaysia.
“This is not an issue that is exclusive to Malaysia and is faced by other countries as well,” he wrote.
He said as announced by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), the government is studying the proposals to address the issue from two points – the income and welfare of taxi drivers and secondly the issue of hailing apps like Uber and GrabCar which operates through smartphones.
He said there are many factors that the government needs to take into consideration, like the elements of innovation and competition.
“In a sophisticated and innovation-driven era, we have to accept and move with technology,” he wrote adding that competition must be seen as a stepping stone to provide better service.
Yesterday, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said drivers of Public taxi services need to provide better quality services in order to compete with online taxi services
He said numerous complaints had been received from locals as well as tourists over the poor quality of public taxi operators which forced them to choose alternative taxi services.