PETALING JAYA: The one-off RM500 cash aid for public transport players is set to benefit some 134,000 people, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The Transport Minister said that those who will receive the cash aid included drivers of taxis, e-hailing cars, hired cars, school and tour buses including tour guides.
"These are the people who are always on my mind especially when we are facing these challenging times due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Through the Pemerkasa Plus aid programme, the government agreed to allocate RM68mil for the one-off RM500 cash aid as announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday night.
"Hopefully this will benefit all 134,000 recipients, " he said in his Facebook post earlier today.
Dr Wee noted that among the recipients are 62,000 hired car and e-hailing drivers, 40,000 taxi drivers, 17,000 tour guides, 11,000 school bus drivers and 4,000 tour bus drivers.
The special aid will be channelled to the recipients beginning July, he said.
"The method and eligibility requirement will be announced soon by the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad)," he said, adding that people should get the latest and accurate information from Apad's website or official social media platform.
Dr Wee also said the RM1bil allocation for the Bus and Taxi Hire Purchase Rehabilitation Scheme will benefit eligible bus and taxi operators to get a loan moratorium of up to 12 months and an extended period of up to 36 months.
He also noted that the government has extended the Sales and Services Tax (SST) exemption and discount for locally-assembled (CKD) and imported (CBU) vehicles until Dec 31.
"We hope all these extensions will meet the government’s objectives in supporting businesses’ sustainability through the Pemerkasa Plus aid programme."
