School Bus Firms Warn They Could Go Bust

School bus operators have called on the government to give them more financial aid, warning that a third of them could go bankrupt without help, and there might not be enough buses still running to collect students when the new academic year gets underway in September.

Classes have been suspended indefinitely since the Lunar New Year holiday due to the coronavirus outbreak, leaving school bus drivers with no work.

Around 50 bus drivers joined a "go-slow" protest from Kwai Chung to the government's headquarters in Admiralty on Monday, with the action organised by the School Buses Operators Association and two other bus unions.

They said some six operators have already closed down, putting around 30 people out of a job.

Tang Chi-Keung, vice-chair of the Public Omnibus Operators Association, who joined the protest, warned that a third of the city's companies running some 5,000 school buses between them could go out of business if schools remain shut.

"If they go bankrupt, there will be no service after the new school year starts," he said.