JOHOR BARU, Oct 9 — Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong today accused caretaker transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong who is seeking re-election in the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat of failing to address the many problems faced by food delivery riders who are part of the country’s gig economy.
Liew, who is Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Iskandar Puteri candidate in the 15th general election, said he had met with a group of delivery riders in the Johor parliamentary constituency recently.
He gave an assurance that the gig economy will be more “humane” if PH were elected to power in Putrajaya.
“I hope that when PH is given the mandate to govern, we must keep our promises and do well for these ordinary Malaysians to restore their faith in the nation, in politics, and in the leaders.
“Malaysia needs a more humane economy with a government that cares,” he said in a Facebooo post.
Liew related that the delivery riders claimed Wee had sidelined them when they sought his help two years ago over a number of issues they faced as gig economy workers.
“They singled out Wee Ka Siong as the poster boy for BN’s failure to help them.
“The riders also learned about the minister’s arrogance when they came in a large group to hand over a memorandum to the government about their plight on July 17, 2020.
“However, nothing happened,” he said.
Instead of an amicable solution, Liew said the delivery riders felt that the minister on August 10 had placed additional burden on them.
“Among other things, Wee wanted to introduce a p-hailing licence as well as registration for p-hailing riders. He also planned to have short induction courses for riders and insurance protection for them,” said Liew.
He said that the delivery riders wanted to know what PH would do for them if the coalition won GE15, adding that he stressed on the need to consider a bigger picture for the country’s overall economy.
“There is a need to create a skill-based economy, so that skilled workers are better paid as not everyone needs to work in Singapore or work in this precarious gig sector with very little security,” he said.
Liew added that the PH government should also give a voice to the riders by trying its best to balance the powers of the gig companies.
“There must be some regulations of pay-outs to protect the riders’ interests while making the gig companies friendlier and more compassionate towards their workers,” he said.
Liew gave the scenario if BN were to form the next government, then its prime minister would be Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Wee will continue to head the Transport Ministry.
“The riders know what to expect from Wee.
“This is the time for all p-hailing riders across the nation to make a stand – to help PH defeat Wee in his Ayer Hitam parliamentary constituency,” he said.
