PUTRAJAYA: The permit of the tour bus involved in the fatal Genting Highlands crash expired four months ago, says Anthony Loke.
The Transport Minister said the accident could see the company’s owners slapped with a RM500,000 fine and even jail time.
“The permit of the tour bus involved in the recent accident expired on Feb 16 this year.
“This means it was operating without a permit for four months,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
Loke said the company was found to be operating using 15 permits for tour buses and 18 for factory buses.
“It is not only the bus driver who did not have a licence, the bus also did not have a permit to operate.”
Loke said that authorities are considering invoking a rarely-used section of the Road Transport Act as preliminary investigations showed the bus involved in the accident is over 15 years old.
Loke said that a “major crackdown” on tour buses will begin at 6am today.
He said joint enforcement operations will be conducted over the next few weeks.
The minister added that fair warning had been given to bus operators that they would be penalised if they were found to have breached regulations.
On Saturday, a tour bus carrying 21 people overturned while descending from Genting Highlands, killing two Chinese tourists.
Initial investigations revealed that the 32-year-old bus driver had 27 previous traffic summonses for various offences and did not have a licence.
The driver has since been remanded for further investigations.
Loke said the owners of the tour bus company had been issued a show-cause letter.
“They will have three days to respond,” he added.
He said he had instructed the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) to take stern action against the company, including suspension and revocation of its operating licence, if it is found to have violated regulations.
“We are proposing to invoke a rarely used provision under the Road Transport Act where those found guilty can be fined up to RM500,000, jailed two years, or both,” he said.
