In the past four years, the government froze the issue of taxi permits to individuals and only issued them to companies on the ground that permit holders had leased their permits to others in return for commission.
However, new and even greater injustices were created in the system of issue of taxi permits to companies, where genuine taxi drivers were penalised and even exploited by a system which created a new class of rentiers who have nothing to do with taxi driving.
Furthermore, the system of giving licences to companies gave room for considerable abuses of the system in terms of cronyism and favouritism.
I particularly welcome the re-issue of taxi licences to taxi drivers as this is in keeping with the Barisan Alternative common manifesto "Towards A Just Malaysia" in the recent general election, which advocated "issue taxi permits to individual entrepreneurs and their co-operatives, rather than to large companies".
The issue of taxi permits to large companies should be discontinued completely, and all taxi permits should be given to the individual taxi drivers or co-operatives formed by taxi-drivers.
For a start, the next batch of 500 taxi permits should be issued to individual taxi drivers, which must be an open, fair and transparent process of award. There should also be a fair and transparent process of appeal for review in cases where applications have been rejected in the first instance.
All Barisan Nasional Ministers should emulate Nazri and study the Barisan Alternative common manifesto "Towards A Just Malaysia" to implement various proposals which had been made for the good of the people and country.
(19/2/2000)