Disgruntled cab drivers, bus operators and stall owners from the Medan Kidd bus terminal in Ipoh took their plight to Parliament today over the relocation of the terminal to Medan Gopeng, about 6km from the city centre.

Opposition MPs Salahudin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian, left ) and M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) received the delegation of 15 at the Parliament lobby.

Salahudin told reporters later that the Perak government should allow the group to remain in Medan Kidd or adhere to the government's initial agreement in 1999 that the bus terminal would be moved to a permanent one in Bandar Meru Raya by 2008.

Kulasegaran said the group's numerous attempts to protest the relocation have proven futile, as the federal and state governments have passed the buck to each other.

According to him, the Medan Gopeng site was initially for a cultural gallery called 'Silvertage Galleria' but the RM1.2 million project failed to get off the ground.

"The place is now a white elephant and has no business value, so the government wants to compel the bus, taxi drivers and stall owners to move there," he argued.

Legal action

Delegation spokesperson Khalilul Rahman reiterated that Medan Gopeng was not an ideal location for a bus terminal because of the distance from the city centre. He said the relocation would affect thousands of local commuters and those from other towns such as Tronoh and Taiping.

He added that the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board has warned all cab and bus operators who are adamant about operating from Medan Kidd will have their licences revoked from Monday.

Legal action could also be taken against them, including a maximum fine of RM1,000 or jail term of three months, or both.

The delegation later handed over a book containing 20,000 protest signatures to the two MPs. A similar copy had been submitted to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's office earlier.

In Parliament today, an emergency motion submitted by Salahudin to discuss the Medan Kidd issue was rejected by Speaker Tun Mohamed Zahir Ismail in chambers.

He said there was no urgency to discuss the matter and the PAS MP was told by deputy speaker Lim Si Cheng in the House that the issue had been previously raised.