‘My shoulder is very heavy': Loke backs Motac taking over tour bus oversight, but says Cabinet must decide

SHAH ALAM, June 13 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke today said he has no objections to returning the oversight of tour buses to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac).
He said the matter was raised two years ago, and he had already conveyed his support to Motac Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
'This is not due to the UPSI (Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris) incident as Motac had raised this matter two years ago," Loke told reporters after visiting Scania Malaysia headquarters here.
'I don't have a problem with this, I've raised this with Tiong, if you want to take up this responsibility and guarantee that these tour buses are safer, I'm more than happy to surrender that portion back to Motac.
'But that is subjected to the Cabinet's decision because there are many implications in terms of staff employment, enforcement, human resources, this has to be decided by the Cabinet,' Loke told reporters after visiting Scania Malaysia headquarters here," he added.
He said the decision was not under his ministry's jurisdiction, but instead required action from the Public Service Department (JPA), particularly regarding staffing for enforcement.
'I've said that from the aspect of licensing power and enforcement for tour buses — to return to Motac — my stand is I have no problem," he said.
'The more people there are to shoulder this responsibility, I'm more than happy. Because I don't want to be the only one shouldering all these responsibilities.
'Now my shoulder is very heavy. So if there are more agencies that are willing to help ensure better regulation by all means I have no problem and I fully support it," he added.
However, Loke said his condition was that enforcement officers under the Road Transport Department (JPJ) must not be reassigned or reduced.
'Our enforcement officers cannot be reduced — because we ourselves at the Transport Ministry are facing constraints.
'Because when JPA requests for JPJ officers to be placed under Motac, that will make my job harder as our enforcement officers have its constraints."
On June 11, Tiong called for Motac to be given back authority over tourism vehicles, citing safety concerns and poor coordination between enforcement agencies.
He reportedly said that Motac's original mandate had been diluted over the years, weakening its ability to ensure compliance and safety in the tourism transport sector.
The issue was raised following the June 5 Gerik-Jeli crash that killed 15 UPSI students and exposed major regulatory gaps, prompting national debate over tour bus oversight.

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