They tell legislators that they are living in constant fear after attacks and threats from extortionists Minibus drivers have called on legislators to press the police to crack down on criminals who prey on them. They complained yesterday to the Complaints Division of the Legislative Council Secretariat about triad attacks that have injured two drivers and damaged a minibus since last September. The complaint was lodged by representatives of 34 drivers working the Yuen Long-Tai Po route. They said that in September, a driver was attacked by two youngsters claiming to belong to a triad gang named Shing Wo. The driver needed hospital treatment after being bashed with a brick and a metal tube at the Tai Po minibus terminal. Last Thursday morning, a woman driver was intimidated and held captive in her minibus by two men who claimed they belonged to the same gang. They told the woman the drivers must pay them $500 a month or more drivers would be injured. The drivers suspected the incidents were linked to their unanimous refusal to join a new minibus association called Hong Kong Yuen Long Tai Po Public Light Bus Merchants' Association. Formerly, drivers paid a $370 service charge for the right to work on the route. The new association asked the drivers to pay a higher monthly service charge but refused the drivers' request to release the new association regulations. The drivers then set up another association called Yuen Long Tai Po Public Light Bus Drivers' Association to regulate traffic at the terminals. They said they called the police after each incident but the triads kept disrupting operations at the terminal and threatening the drivers, said Zachary Wong Wai-yin, a member of the Yuen Long District Council. 'It occurs to me that the police forces in Yuen Long and Tai Po lack communication,' Mr Wong said. Fung Ying-yu, chairman of the drivers' association, said they were living in constant fear of being the next target. 'All of us are worried, but we still need to make a living,' he added. 'The only thing we can do to protect ourselves is to stay united against the gangsters.' Albert Ho Chun-yan, a member of the Legislative Council, said he would keep in contact with the police. The drivers could still make complaints to individual legislators during Legco's summer break. A police spokesman said the New Territories North regional anti-triad unit was looking into the case. The unit would work closely with the anti-triad units of Tai Po and Yuen Long districts, he said.
