About 6,000 taxi drivers are expected to protest in three areas in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 17, 2015.Taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur have said they will proceed with a planned protest tomorrow even without official approval, The Star reported.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Mhd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said City Hall had refused permission to the cabbies to gather in three areas in view of the 27th Asean Summit which will take place from tomorrow to November 22.
Police are expected to raise security for the summit in view of the terrorist attacks in Paris.
“No permission. Only after Asean summit. We will consider after Asean summit,” Amin told The Star.
Amin warned that the police and City Hall would take action if the cabbies defied the ruling and proceeded with the protest.
More than 6,000 taxi drivers are expected to join the rally tomorrow to call for the resignation of Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.
Persatuan Transformasi Pemandu Teksi Malaysia (PERS1M) had said the drivers would gather in three spots in the federal capital – at Padang Merbok, Masjid Kuala Lumpur and the Kraf Kompleks in Jalan Conlay.
PERS1M deputy chairman Kamarudin Mohd Hussain had said that once all the taxi drivers had gathered at their designated areas, they would then march to an undisclosed location.
“We will be gathering at 10am and we will reveal our protest destination on that day,” he had previously said.
Kamarudin had said that the taxi drivers were not against the government but were urging Putrajaya to upgrade taxi services nationwide.
“The main reason for the protest is because we are calling for the SPAD management to be reshuffled.
“SPAD has failed to bring changes to the taxi industry. Instead it has caused chaos,” he had said.
Many taxi drivers had expressed unhappiness over what they claimed was SPAD's inaction against providers of taxi services through smartphone applications such as Uber and GrabCar.
The cabbies claimed that their income had been affected and that it was unfair for SPAD to allow Uber and GrabCar to offer their services as their vehicles were not licensed to offer public transportation.
The authorities had said that Uber and GrabCar are not illegal but their drivers risk being arrested for using private vehicles to ferry passengers without public service vehicle licences.
It was also reported that amendments would be made to the Land Transport Act 2010 to ensure operators adhered to certain conditions.
Dang Wangi OCPD Asst Comm Zainol Samah, meanwhile, confirmed that he did not get any letter from City Hall allowing tomorrow's protest to go on. As such, he said any rally by the cabbies would be illegal.
SPAD is also scheduled to hold a land public transport symposium tomorrow. – November 17, 2015.
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