The writer said he had been issued a permit to run a minibus service between Lautoka and Ba but after two weeks the licence was revoked along with the licences of ten others. A Ministry of Transport official told him he and other minivan owners "were causing bus companies to go broke." He thought complaints by the bus companies were the cause of the revoked licences, adding "Surely this is part of the corruption that this government was going to wipe out."
I commented on Peter Firkin's FijiToday blog sympathising with his position and advised him to complain through the Chamber of Commerce and contact me if he thought I could help.
A day later, following enquiries, I wrote this on the FijiToday blog:
Peter, I followed up the minivan story and this is the reply I received from the Ministry of Information. Some of your readers, of course, won’t believe it (or anything else that provides a reasonable explanation of events for which they do not want reasonable explanations). I post it for the information of your more reasoned readers. You may care to give it more exposure than is possible in a comment. Best wishes, CrozMinistry of Information reply
“The freeze on permits is temporary. LTA is in the process of conducting a survey across all Public Service.
"Vehicle providers to ascertain the market demand and to determine whether there is an oversupply of mini-buses, taxis etc (or whether there is a shortage).Predictably, the blog publishers and all who commented on the story assumed it was correct.But not one person checked out the story. I have no way of knowing with certainty how much truth there is in either explanation but it's sad so many bloggers always believe the worst of the Bainimarama government, irrespective of evidence or lack of it.
“The claim by the blogger is false. No permits issued have been revoked. In fact, the 10 ‘permits’ referred to were merely applications that were being processed. These 10 applications were for night runs (ie 6pm – 6am).
"LTA after consulting police determined that there was minimal movement during these times in the west and that there was no justification for issuing these applicants permits. LTA concluded that these applicants if issued permits for night runs would probably end up using their permits during the day instead.
“Once LTAs survey determines that there is a high market demand which is not currently met by the services that exist then it is likely that these applicants may be issued permits for day services.”
In a related story published by the Fiji Times, a study by an independent consultant found that bus drivers annually pocketed $7million of the bus fares collected from the travelling public. In a meeting with bus operators on Tuesday, the MOT expressed concern that four bus companies have begun winding down because of fierce and cutthroat competition from both legal and illegal operators. The MOT spokesmen said pilfering was one of the reasons for the introduction of electronic ticketing now being used for schoolchildren that will eventually be used by all the travelling public. E-ticket machines in buses where fare is prepaid will enable bus companies to know exactly how much they should collect.
Salesh Kumar, the owner of Ba-based Northwest Transport who is in the process of selling 14 buses, said that when the school voucher system was introduced there was a big difference in income. "We finally got what we really should be earning," he said. He thought e-ticketing was a step forward but passenger touting by taxis and vans is also another big headache for bus operators. The Ministry has already said the survival of the bus industry was critical to the country's economy and thus would introduce schedules and set fares for all public transport.
"(People) in the Pacific, if you keep bothering them, they will do the opposite. Just go easy, the more pressure you give, they will just turn (away). It's good to have dialogue with Fiji." Lord Tu'ivakano said Tonga and neighbouring Fiji were "like family" and he understood why Bainimarama would not want to bow to outside pressure. Fiji has sought increased aid from China since December 2006. Tu'ivakano said the trend was likely to continue if New Zealand and Australia continued to refuse to have any dealings with Bainimarama's Government.
2 comments:
Croz,
Regarding the 'Cancelled Licenses' story, for your information, LTA has only issued 16 Mini-bus Licenses (west)to date for day-runs.
None of these have been revoked according to a reliable source in the Ministry of Transport.
To approve another 10 Licenses for night-runs (when passenger traffic is minimal) is therefore absurd.
LTA therefore did the right thing by not approving the 10 applications for night-runs.
Many minibuses are known to be funded by the proceeds of drug dealing. Why would the licenses of this convenient form of transportation which runs on illegal gains be renewed? This has been so for years and until now was not addressed. They are "Road Hogs" operating to rules which have been all their own: a danger both to their passengers (all uninsured?), other road users and themselves.
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