Corpun file 22288

dvb.no (Democratic Voice of Burma), 29 March 2010

Burma bus company told to 'stop caning drivers'

Agence France-Presse

A bus company in military-ruled Burma has been told to stop caning drivers and conductors for letting too many passengers on buses, a local newspaper reported Monday.

According to the Myanmar Times, Bandoola Transport brought in the punishment on two routes in the commercial hub of Rangoon in late February "because fining drivers and conductors was not improving discipline".

But it was told last week to do away with the cane -- an order thought to have come from the commander of Rangoon division, brigadier general Win Myint, said the privately-run state-censored newspaper.

It said the caning was administered by inspection teams on the spot "on several occasions" but the exact number of times it had been used was unclear.

"If anyone is caught breaking the rules, the inspection teams will make sure they are punished with fines from now on," Bandoola Transport's boss who introduced the punishment, retired colonel Myo Myint, was quoted as saying.

He said the caning was brought in because drivers and conductors were flaunting a rule that bus lines were only to allow the same number of passengers as seats onboard, and this was bad for the company's image.

Bandoola Transport is owned by the army-run Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, the paper said. Burma has been military-ruled since 1962.