SUBSIDISED bus cards for school children were being abused by both parent and student – and as a result, Government will restrict the use of the card to 4.30pm, says Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
While delivering the 2019/2020 National Budget, he said Government had to restrict some of the assistance after they found loopholes in the program.
He said a high number of truancy cases was recorded when students were given the choice to board any public bus.
Parents were also taking advantage of the subsidised bus cards, travelling around the country on half or fully paid fares.
“They simply slide the cards into their wallets or into their phones and tapped it against the machines undetected,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“A parent taking a student’s card, a student who should be travelling to school to abuse Government assistance is a level of immorality that frankly we could not predict.
“We will be firmly closing that loophole by again restricting travel for subsidised students to the dedicated school buses and no longer allowing students to travel after 4.30pm.”
* More detailed reports will be published in today’s edition of The Fiji Times and also in our e-Edition
