WARNING: Errant taxi drivers face action under enforcement operation on Monday
KUALA LUMPUR: THE Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), Road Transport Department (RTD), Kuala Lumpur City Hall and police will work together to crack down on errant taxi drivers in two problematic areas here from Monday.
This follows the action taken by more than 250 taxi drivers on Wednesday who parked their vehicles across the road in the busy Bukit Bintang area to protest the enforcement of regulations on taxi operations there. Due to their action, traffic was brought to a standstill.
An operation, dubbed Op BBKLCC, will be spearheaded by police in the Bukit Bintang and KLCC areas to educate taxi drivers to respect laws and regulations, and to adhere to the code of conduct outlined by the authorities.
RTD enforcement director Jaafar Mohamed said an integrated operation by all the enforcement agencies would be held to protect the interest of the public.
“Wednesday’s incident was not the first time they (taxi dri-vers) had staged a protest over the regulations imposed by the authorities. This has to stop and they must abide by the regulations.
“All transport operators must cooperate with the authorities and maintain appropriate behaviour at all times.”
Jaafar said among the conduct that taxi drivers should not engage in were refusing to use meters, touting, overcharging and refusing to pick up passengers.
Yesterday, the New Straits Times carried a report on the standstill in the Jalan Bukit Bintang shopping area where about 250 taxi drivers had staged a protest in response to the enforcement of regulations related to taxi operations.
The taxi drivers left their vehicles parked in three rows. Because of this, a 100m stretch of the road had to be closed to traffic.
On the protest, Jaafar said the taxi drivers needed to adhere to regulations as there were facilities in place.
“There are eight taxi bays — six for waiting for passengers and two designated for pick-up and dropping off of passengers.
“Taxi drivers, however, are not allowed to leave their vehicles but must wait inside their taxis until they get passengers so that traffic flow will not be disrupted.”
He reiterated that those who prevented officers from carrying out their duties could have action taken against them.
“We do not want a recurrence of the incident and our personnel should not be obstructed from carrying out their duties.”
RTD lodged a report at the Dang Wangi police headquarters over the incident on Wednesday, described as “an act of provocation and retaliation” and preventing enforcement officers from performing their duties.
-NST
