MORE bus operators servicing Orang Asli schoolchildren are planning to stop their services because of late payment by Putrajaya, said Cameron Highlands MP Ramli Mohd Nor.

The problem started with a few bus drivers and more are planning to do the same in his constituency, he said, adding that most of the drivers are Orang Asli.

“Several of the buses have already stopped sending the Orang Asli schoolchildren this week with more expected to join them soon,” the first-time federal lawmaker from Barisan Nasional told The Malaysian Insight.

This is hampering the children who live in interior areas, such as Sinderut, where the distance between the Orang Asli kampung and nearest school is up to 40km, he said.

There are between 1,000 and 2,000 Orang Asli children in the Cameron Highlands constituency.

The Cameron Highlands seat in Pahang has the largest number of Orang Asli voters in the peninsula at 21.5% out of its 32,000 voters. The Orang Asli in Cameron Highlands are predominately Semai and live in the highlands.

According to Ramli, who is the first Semai MP in the country, the bus operators complained that the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa) stopped paying them since March.

“The majority of these bus operators are Orang Asli and cannot continue their services because of the lack of money needed to maintain the buses,” said the retired police officer who won the seat in January.

“The government  has to ensure that the operators are duly paid so that the services are not affected.”

“This never happened under the previous government,” he said.

When asked if he had contacted the authorities, Ramli said: “I have checked with Jakoa and according them, the Prime Minister’s Department had not paid them yet.”

Director-general of Jakoa Prof Dr Juli Edo said the department is aware of the problem with school buses in the constituency but declined to comment. He said only the minister in charge could answer on the matter.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy who handles the national unity portfolio also oversees Orang Asli affairs. – August 28, 2019.