Gerik crash: Operator's licence of tour bus company terminated, says Loke
SHAH ALAM: The tour bus company involved in the tragic crash in Gerik, Perak, which claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students, has had its operator's licence terminated, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
"First of all, the company's operator's licence has been terminated. Many people misunderstand and think we only revoked the permit for the vehicle," he said after a briefing on Speed Limitation Devices (SLD) for heavy vehicles at Scania Malaysia's factory in Bukit Jelutong Industrial Park today.
Loke said that there is a distinction between a vehicle permit and an operator's licence, the former applies to individual vehicles, while the latter covers the entire company. Termination of the licence effectively grounds all vehicles under the company's operations.
He said the same action was taken in the Teluk Intan crash involving a gravel lorry and a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) truck.
"Firstly, the operator's licence was terminated. Secondly, we will take the owner of the company to court. This is a criminal case," said Loke.
However, he added that the families of victims may also pursue civil proceedings for compensation.
On Wednesday, Loke announced that all permits held by the tour bus company involved in the Gerik crash had been revoked with immediate effect following multiple breaches of permit conditions.
He said the company had committed two major violations, leasing its operating permit to a third party, and failing to activate the vehicle's GPS tracking system.
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