The Penang government may follow Selangor's move in preventing its staff from attending courses run by Biro Tata Negara (BTN) or the National Civics Bureau.

NONE Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman said it was seriously considering a proposal by Penang PKR Youth chief Yusmadi Yussof.

He added Penang backbenchers would be proposing the ban to the state government at the state assembly tomorrow.

"We will seriously consider Yusmadi's proposal that Penang follow Selangor's move in preventing state government staff from attending BTN courses," he said.

Meanwhile, PKR national Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mat Akin said a secretariat headed by Yusmadi would be collecting public views on BTN courses which the opposition claimed as indoctrination by Barisan Nasional.

Stern action if no receipt

In an unrelated development, starting next year, taxi drivers who fail to produce fare receipts to their passengers will face stern action by the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB).

Board chairperson Halimah Mohamed Sadique said the action would include withdrawing their taxi permits. There are some 31,000 taxi drivers in the country.

"We want all taxi drivers to follow the law as there have been so many complaints from the public about taxi drivers charging fares not at the stipulated rates, but as they please," she said.

taxi public transport malaysia 180908 02 She said the stern action was aimed at improving public transport services, particularly taxi service, as taxi drivers often had a negative image, especially among foreign tourists.

Halimah said the government had in August increased the taxi fare, so the claim that the fare was still low should not be an excuse for taxi drivers not to issue fare receipts and to charge the fare accordingly.

Passengers now pay RM3, instead of RM2, for the first kilometre and 50 per cent more of the fare for a ride between midnight and 6am. An extra RM2 is charged for on-call taxi service.

To date, 90 percent of the taxi drivers nationwide have calibrated their meters according to the new fare and installed a printer to enable them to produce a receipt.

The CVLB has set Dec 31 as the deadline for taxi drivers to comply with the new regulation, failing which the taxi drivers will not be allowed to operate.

However, 1,260 taxi drivers in Penang have been given until June 30 next year to calibrate their meters and to install the fare printer as the gadget can cost as much as RM350. - Bernama