KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 – Taxi drivers who are courteous and disciplined can become significant contributors to the tourism industry and will lure more foreign tourists to visit Malaysia.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said this is in line with the government objective to ensure that the public and tourists enjoy a world class taxi service.
“Excellent taxi service is not only because of the ‘beautiful’ vehicles. The drivers also need to be ‘beautiful’ in terms of behaviour and character.
“When carrying passengers, smile and become courteous taxi drivers. Say thank you after getting paid. These are the ingredients of good taxi drivers,” he said in his speech at ‘Majlis Janji Ditepati – Pemberian Lesen Teksi Individu’ here, Thursday.
Also present is the chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.
Najib said the distribution of 500 individual taxi licences marks the fulfillment of another pledge made by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
It is another government effort to recognise the role of taxi drivers and improve the quality of public transport services nationwide.
Recollecting the function held in Putrajaya in March, he said: “I remember announcing a plan to give individual taxi licences to 1,000 taxi drivers. I gave out 200 licences and SPAD gave another 300 licences in April.
“This is a starting point in government efforts to jump start the taxi industry by focusing on individual taxi licences and determine the appropriate standards.”
The prime minister said each driver who received individual licence are required to purchase and use the Proton Exora as a taxi.
The 1Malaysia People’s Foundation (YR1M) gave individual licensees grants of RM5,000 each to purchase the Proton Exora.
“This is another government commitment to ensure taxi drivers provide suitable vehicles for the convenience and comfort of passengers especially foreign tourists.”
Taxi drivers will also enjoy vehicle price exempted from sales tax and customs duties, no deposit, rate of two per cent loan from Bank Simpanan Nasional, maintenance package at market price and comprehensive motor insurance scheme for the first year.
In line with the government agenda, SPAD had introduced the Taxi 1Malaysia programme (TEKS1M) to give a new image to the taxi industry and make TEKS1M as a benchmark for the industry in future.
TEKS1M is an initiative implemented through collaboration between SPAD and Proton under the 1Malaysia People’s Taxis (TR1MA).
Najib hopes Malaysia will become popular because of the Exora Taxi that provide the best taxi service like those in big cities such as London and New York.
“SPAD will require all taxi drivers to undergo an accreditation programme to ensure the quality of taxi service provided to the public in accordance with set standards.”
He called on taxi drivers nationwide to provide the best service in order to improve the image of the country in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2014.
At the event, Najib presented replica keys for Proton Exora TEKS1M to five taxi drivers and opened the SPAD new headquarters in Bangunan Platinum Sentral, KL Sentral.
-BERNAMA
