PUTRAJAYA: Proceeds from the “Gold” number plate series, which was launched to mark the 50th anniversary of Federal Territories Day, will be used to pay Social Security Organisation (Socso) contributions for taxi and bus drivers, says Anthony Loke.
The Transport Minister said about 35,000 taxi drivers and 18,000 school bus drivers would benefit from this initiative.
About RM17.2mil in revenue was recorded from the “Gold” series bid, which was held between Feb 1 and Feb 5.
Loke said he had been informed that the Finance Ministry had allocated about RM100mil for Socso contributions for taxi and school bus drivers.
“This works up to 90% for each driver’s Socso contributions. The remaining 10% will be topped up by the Transport Ministry.
“Hence, drivers don’t need to pay a single sen for Socso contributions in the coming year. They only have to register themselves,” he told reporters after attending the ministry’s monthly assembly here yesterday.
Loke said the Land Public Transport Agency would provide the database of taxi drivers to Socso, with the initiative to be launched next month.
Other initiatives, such as FlySiswa, will be continued through proceeds from the “Gold” series, he added.
FlySiswa, which was announced in Budget 2024, is meant to help underprivileged students to travel between Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan for education purposes.
Loke also said RM5.07bil in revenue was generated by the Road Transport Department last year.
The amount in 2022 was RM4.9bil. Revenue from special number plates bids raked in RM569.6mil last year, he noted.
Separately, Loke said Port Klang in Selangor and Johor’s Port of Tanjung Pelepas had remained among the top 20 busiest ports globally.
Loke said Port Klang recorded its highest number of containers last year with 14.06 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) compared to 2022 (13.22 million TEU).
The Port of Tanjung Pelepas, meanwhile, processed some 10.48 million TEU last year.
“This mirrors Malaysia’s bustling economy as an important component in the global supply chain,” he said.
He said the ratio of transshipment cargo to indigenous cargo in Port Klang was at 55:45 in 2023, a positive development from 70:30 in 2014.
Transshipment cargo refers to the process of transporting items from one ship to another bypassing customs gates, whereas indigenous cargo refers to items produced or obtained domestically.
“The higher the ratio of indigenous cargo, the higher its contribution to the local economy. The increase over the past 10 years shows the progress of Malaysia’s manufacturing, construction and service sectors,” he said.
He also said the aviation sector recorded a 10.7% increase in international and domestic travellers in January 2024 compared to the same period last year.
There were 81.9 million passengers at airports nationwide in 2023 – the highest since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
“Malaysia also currently has 147 aviation destinations compared to 121 destinations in 2022,” he said.
Loke said the 30-day visa free travel for Chinese and Indian tourists that came into effect in December last year resulted in a 32% increase in passengers at KLIA Terminal 1 in January compared to the previous month.
