GEORGE TOWN, Jan 5 — The Penang School Bus Association can heave a sigh of relief when the 2021/2022 3rd term school session for Group B states including Penang, re-opens on Jan 10.
Penang School Bus Association chairman, Ang Beng Teong, 68, said in terms of preparation, his association will still implement standard operating procedures (SOP) as usual and advised parents to watch their children’s health to help curb any virus transmission among school students.
“We will ensure that every child who uses the school bus service must be healthy by scanning body temperature and using hand sanitiser before boarding the bus.
“In fact, we will also carry out sanitation before starting the service in the morning, afternoon and night to ensure the bus is always clean for the safety of passengers,” he told Bernama when met here today.
He said prevention should start from home to minimise infection among the passengers of the school bus, including himself as the bus driver
“If everyone adheres to SOPs, diseases can be curbed. The government must be strict to ensure SOP compliance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ang said about 15 per cent of the Penang School Bus Association members retired last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said 30 of the 200 members of the association had to make the tough decision to discontinue with the school bus transport service and switch to other jobs to eke a living.
“We understand that the current pandemic has a negative impact on all types of businesses, whether big or small and it would be a deception if we, who have been operating for more than 40 years, say we can still carry on. So some of us have had to switch, become factory bus drivers, do food delivery and other work, to fill our rice bowl.
“Besides that, the periodic orders to close school sessions due to rising cases and the emergence of new variants such as Omicron, is also a big concern to bus operators and parents in terms of school bus transportation fees,” he said.
According to Ang, his sector also understood the financial difficulties of parents affected by the pandemic and thus accepted the monthly fee payment in half.
“We also have to tolerate the dire situation of parents because all parties are affected by the pandemic collectively,” he said, adding that the monthly fee for bus transportation for school children is around RM100 to RM200 depending on the distance.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency