The suspended service at 67 NGV stations in the Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan and Johor will resume in stages over the next month or two, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the safety measures and procedures at the stations were undergoing improvement.

"We ask taxi drivers to exercise patience because the improvement is for their own safety," he said when replying to a question from Ong Kian Ming (DAP-Serdang) during the Ministers' Question Time in the house.

Ong had wanted to know the measures being and to be taken to help taxi drivers whose business had been affected by the closure of the NGV stations and whether Petronas Dagangan Berhad (PDB) would offer them compensation.

On Oct 30, PDB announced the suspension of service at the 67 stations for the safety improvement following the death of a contractor in an explosion and fire suspected to have been triggered from a Petronas NGV tank in Johor Bahru.

Abdul Rahman denied that all the NGV stations in the Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan and Johor had been closed, saying that 61 stations continued to operate in these areas, including 22 in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

He also said that taxi drivers could, in the meantime, use alternative fuel.

Abdul Rahman said PDB had no plans as yet to offer compensation to taxi drivers whose business had been adversely affected by the closure of the NGV stations.

-- BERNAMA