RM20,000 fine if charter buses being used: Ministry
Kota Kinabalu: The Tourism and Culture Ministry (Motac) will be working with the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) on a guideline for charter buses being used for tours in a bid to weed out illegal tour buses or the white van menace in Sabah.
Its Director Ag Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar said charter buses ferrying tourists around in tours is illegal and tour operators who engaged them could face fines of up to RM20,000.
"It is clearly stated in the Travel Vehicle Licensing Act and the Tourism Act that it is forbidden for tour operators to engage other vehicles than tour buses, licensed under the licensing act," he told reporters here on Monday.
He said his office is now working with CVLB to define the guidelines involving charter buses in tourism related operations, along the lines of the law under Motac.
Ag Ahmad Zaki also wants tour operators to cancel any contracts they may have signed with charter bus owners or operators, noting that he was aware that several operators are currently hiring their services to handle tours.
Earlier, Ag Ahmad Zaki noted that the number of white van or illegal tour buses has significantly reduced following a joint-campaign Motac launched last year with the authorities, Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry and tourism-related non-governmental organisations.
"Previously, there were around four tour buses against 15 to 20 white vans (Illegal tour buses) plying our streets to ferry tourists.
"But by October the same year, there was no white van bus found. The last operation we held on May 26 this year, only one white van was caught, carrying seven tourists, Chinese nationals, onboard.
"I believe the number of white vans has dropped by at least 80 per cent since then," said Ag Ahmad Zaki, brushing aside recent claims by the Sabah Tourist Guide Association (STGA) that it was illegal tour buses that were causing congestion at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport late last month.
He said the photos provided by the STGA news reports proved only to be private vehicles, pointing out that the ministry is also receiving fewer complaints about illegal tour buses operations in recent times.
On the contrary, Ag Ahmad Zaki wants STGA to keep its members in check, saying he had discovered throughout the course of the campaign last year that tourist guides were also selling tour packages.
He noted that this was illegal, noting that guides were not supposed to sell packages, other than tour operators who are the only ones licensed to do so.
"We will be holding a meeting with the tour guides associations soon including STGA.
"But we want these bodies to act tough with its members like the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents, where they would expel any members who had gone against the law," he pointed out.
Ag Ahmad Zaki also warned that Motac will be tough on touts and illegal tour operators who set up makeshift offices in several coffee shops around the city.
Source: Daily Express