THE Brunei Muara Taxi Association (BMTA) has rejected the Ministry of Communication's proposal to create another franchise taxi in the country by absorbing the association into a company.
BMTA president Hj Bakar Hj Hamdan told The Brunei Times that the main reason why they have rejected the proposal to be absorbed into a franchise is that they fear that it might affect their main source of income.
According to Hj Bakar, this was partly due to failures of the past initiative by authorities aimed at encouraging the use of public transportation.
"There were two instances when this occurred, the City Transport Service (CTS) and TTT Pelangi, which offered cheap fares, but none of them were successful," said Hj Bakar.
The future franchise, said Hj Bakar, would work well for the next few months, however it would not sustain and fizzle out in the long-run compared to individual taxis as they have more at stake and the need to earn to make the ends meet.
Among other reasons for the rejection were lack of demand by public, rampant plying of illegal taxis and lack of stern action against them; the lack of government agency's initiative to encourage tourists to use public transport and easy affordability of cars.
"The association would serve better if the taxis continue to operate individually," he said.
Though the association did reject the idea for a new franchise to be formed, they would not fully oppose the proposition once it takes place.
The BMTA president only asked that if quota for the franchise taxis was allowed at 20 vehicles, then the association should also be given equal treatment as well, allowing them to become more competitive.
Additionally, the BMTA will continue to support government agencies' initiative.
However Hj Bakar urged that the authorities should also conduct indepth research before embarking upon the change.
"Do the research first, as indepth as possible, so that it could benefit all those who will be using public transport," he said. Hj Bakar also said, on the subject of illegal taxis, that they were becoming more bolder as they have begun picking up passengers from the airport, bus stops as well as from taxi stands, adding that the lack of enforcement by authorities was encouraging illegal taxis to flourish.
"Enforcement should take action and should not just sit and wait
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