This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 22, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 6,000 taxi drivers are expected to join a rally in November calling for the resignation of Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, according to Persatuan Transformasi Pemandu Teksi Malaysia (PERS1M).

The taxi drivers’ association has said it will be organising a protest in three areas in the Kuala Lumpur city centre on Nov 18.

Cabbies will be gathering at Padang Merbok, Masjid Kuala Lumpur and Kraf Complex in Jalan Conlay.

PERS1M vice-president Kamarudin Mohd Hussain said when all the taxi drivers have gathered at their designated areas, they will then march to an undisclosed location.

“We will be gathering at 10am and we will reveal our protest destination on that day,” he said yesterday afternoon.

Kamarudin said he is expecting more than 6,000 taxi drivers to participate. 

“If more than 6,000 taxi drivers join the protest, Syed Hamid should resign,” he said. 

Kamarudin said the drivers are not against the government, but are urging Putrajaya to upgrade taxi services nationwide.

“The main reason for the protest is that because we are calling for the Spad management to be reshuffled.

“Spad has failed to bring changes to the taxi industry. Instead it has caused chaos,” he said.

The lawyer for Klang Valley Taxi Drivers’ Action Committee R Kengadharan said they will be taking legal action against Spad and the government at the end of November.

“We are setting up a ‘National Union of Taxi Drivers’. There are 150,000 taxi drivers all over the country and we are looking for at least 50,000 taxi drivers to join the union.

“Once that is done, we will initiate a collective class action suit against Spad and the government,” he said. — The Malaysian Insider