Despite objections by 130 taxi drivers, 28 bus operators, 100 stallholders and the protest signatures of 50,000 users of the Medan Kidd bus terminal in Ipoh, the Commerical Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) is adamant about shifting operations to Medan Gopeng.

The Medan Kidd bus operators' action committee suspects that special interests are behind the unpopular move and want Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ( photo) to intervene.

Action committee head Sheikh Dawood Hussain said there were many assurances last year by state government officials that the 30-year-old Medan Kidd bus station would remain operational.

"We sent letters to (state transport) director and department heads, the mayor and Menteri Besar (Tajol Rosli Ghazali, photo )," he said when met in Kuala Lumpur.

"The state government then, via the press, stated that express buses (at Medan Kidd) can continue to operate there. This was before the general election. This was the menteri besar's statement in The Star ."

In the Oct 22 report, Tajol was quoted as saying that although Medan Gopeng bus station, located 6km away, was created to overcome the congestion at Medan Kidd, he would "leave it to them (bus operators) to choose where they want to be stationed".

Dawood said the committee also met with Rapat Setia state assemblyperson Chang Kon You, who is the state local government committee chairperson and "he said the same thing".

Small and inconvenient

Apart from being too small to accommodate all the buses, Dawood said Medan Gopeng is also inconvenient and inappropriate as it was meant to be a handicraft and food complex. The bus station is located in the underground level of the complex.

He said the size of the site is only 0.48 hectares and that it is located between rivers. This restricts the passage of large vehicles and raises the question of passenger and pedestrian safety, as buses must make U-turns on the busy main road in order to enter the station.

Medan Kid traders' association chairperson Ahmad Ibrahim said the committee is not seeking official preference of one bus station over another, but permission to remain at the current location.

"We're not saying they should close down Medan Gopeng. We just want to be left alone to remain where we are," added the trader who has been plying his goods in Medan Kidd for about 30 years.

Last May, then-CVLB chairperson Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar was reported to have ordered the bus operators to relocate to Medan Gopeng or lose their licences.

On July 9, CVLB secretary Musa Muhamad announced in Kuala Lumpur that those who do not sign a statement to relocate would have to surrender their bus operating licence.

The committee's appeals to both the Perak government and the Entrepreneurship and Corporation Development Ministry, as well as various state agencies, have yet to obtain any response.

Proof in hand

Assisting the action committee is Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member S Kunasekaran, who said the promises made by the elected state government officials have been forgotten.

"This is why we have decided to approach the prime minister and request his intervention in the matter," he said.

"To date, we have collected 50,000 signatures (of commuters using Medan Kidd). We sent a letter to the prime minister, telling him that we will submit (the signatures) to him."

Kunasekaran claimed that they will also provide proof that there are vested interests behind the move.

He said what is at stake is not only the interests of commuters, but the livelihood of numerous taxi drivers, bus operators and stallholders.

"Why is the public interests being marginalised to serve the interests of a few people?" he asked.