The Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) has clarified that so far no holders of licences issued by the agency for school buses or vans were involved in rape cases.

Its chairman Halimah Mohamed Sadique said this was based on statistics obtained from the police, and that most of the cases reported involved illegal drivers.

"We urge parents to ensure that transport services used to send their children to school are licensed by the CVLB," she told reporters here today.

In July, a 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a school van driver near a kindergarten in Jalan Othman, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur. He is also believed to be involved in two other rape cases in the district.

Halimah said following the incident, talks would be held next Wednesday between the CVLB, Parent-Teacher Associations Consultative Council, Education Ministry, Malaysian School Buses Association and Women, Family and Community Development Ministry on school bus services.

Female second driver

She said they would also discuss a proposal from the two ministries involved to provide a female second driver or bus conductor.

"Our discussion will focus on justifying this because having an extra driver or conductor involves additional costs includig the monthly bus fare," she said.

The issue of foreign taxi and bus drivers, especially in the Klang Valley, will also be raised during the meeting, including on licence holders who hire foreigners without permanent resident status or the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) card issued by the Road Transport Department.

So far, the CVLB has issued 14,757 permits for school bus services.

In another development, Halimah said the CVLB had received 16 applications for temporary licences to operate additional express buses this Aidilfitri.

"Applications are open from Aug 9 to 27 and the additional buses will operate from Aug 3 to Sept 19," she added.

- Bernama