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KUALA LUMPUR — The Ministry of Transport is mulling over the proposal to establish the Malaysian Transportation Safety Board (MTSB), a special body tasked with investigating road accidents in the country, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Minister Anthony Loke (picture) said the proposal follows recommendations made by a special task force set up by the ministry to investigate the fatal accident involving members of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) in Teluk Intan, as well as a tour bus crash carrying students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) in Gerik, Perak, earlier this year.

“This is currently under consideration at the ministerial level, but establishing a new body or agency is not easy as it involves a long and complex process,” he said in reply to Khairil Nizam Khirudin (PN-Jerantut) who wanted to know about the government’s commitment to implementing the task force’s recommendations, particularly the establishment of MTSB.

Meanwhile, Loke said the ministry would also introduce several initiatives to elevate the status of the driving profession, including training programmes aimed at producing more competent and professional drivers.

“We want to work together to train more professional drivers. The ministry has several planned actions to uplift the status of this profession…we want drivers to be respected and social status to be elevated,” he said.

Additionally, Loke highlighted the ongoing issue of a shortage of bus and lorry drivers due to a lack of interest and low wages, and stressed the ministry’s efforts to ensure drivers are fairly compensated in line with their working hours, workload, and the risks they face.

“However, we must not assume that just anyone, even those with criminal records or poor driving histories, can be hired as drivers. We are currently working on a database to identify individuals with past offences, especially those involving dangerous driving, so they can be filtered out,” he added. — BERNAMA