By David E.
KOTA KINABALU: 31 October 2026 – The heart-wrenching tragedy involving a parent and child who were killed when crushed by a container in Sepanggar recently has become the catalyst for drastic measures by the Sabah Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (LPKP) to draft special guidelines to enable firm and swift action against heavy vehicle operators or drivers who violate licence conditions.
Its chairman, Senator Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe, said it was time the issue of commercial vehicle safety compliance was addressed seriously without any compromise.
“We cannot allow the negligence of operators or drivers to continue threatening the safety of other road users. These new guidelines will speed up the investigation process and punitive action against those who fail to comply with regulations,” he stressed after chairing the LPKP Sabah Board Members Meeting yesterday.
According to Phoong, the guidelines will enable faster action to be taken against any operating company or driver who fails to comply with licence conditions to the point of endangering public lives.
Touching on the BAS.MY Kota Kinabalu service, he said a study on the proposed route realignment had been completed and was in principle agreed to by the board.
However, he said the route realignment could not yet be implemented as it involved changes to the procurement contract and required fresh approval at the level of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance Malaysia.
“This does not mean we are postponing it, but its implementation requires coordination of financial implications with the ministries concerned first before it can be carried out and fully operational,” he explained.
He expressed appreciation for the extraordinary response from Kota Kinabalu residents to the BAS.MY service, which recorded 598,054 passengers as of October 2026.
At the same time, Phoong announced that a total of 1,106 school bus, rental car and taxi drivers had been verified as eligible to receive the One-Off RM1,000 assistance, scheduled to take place on 6 November.
He said LPKP Sabah would contact the recipients soon regarding further information on the delivery of the assistance.
“This initiative proves the government’s concern for the welfare of those in the transport sector, and we are very grateful to the Malaysian Minister of Transport, Loke Siew Fook, for his continued support,” he added.
