THE 10th government franchise shipping route along Beqa, Yanuca and Vatulele opened up opportunities for the servicing of an additional 10 ports, says Minister for Transport Faiyaz Koya.
Mr Koya said in Parliament last week that the Government would continue to provide monthly services to 14 villages on this route.
He said this meant that 2050 Fijians in these island communities now had safer and more reliable access to transport services for movement of both passengers and cargo.
“If we look back five years under this scheme, we’ve completed a total of 1023 trips, with a total of 84,004 travellers utilising the services,” he said.
“This means a total of 36,255.89 tonnes of cargo transported to and from our main ports to the islands including building materials, groceries, retail shop supplies, fuel and oil while the return trips carry copra, coconuts, seafood, dalo, mats and personal belongings as the main cargoes.
“On average, we’ve had a 7 per cent increase in both passenger and cargo movement between 2015 and 2020, that’s about 13,743 passenger movement and 5,957.59 tonnes of cargo transported annually.
“Government is currently serving 80 ports, with and without jetties, for 10 routes with an average 15 trips a month.” According to their analysis, Mr Koya said they had identified ports that were maximising their services.
“For example, on the Northern Lau route which includes the ports of Yacata, Vanua balavu, Cikobia, Tuvuca and Cicia – Vanuabalavu and Cicia maximises the use of the vessels registering more than 800 passengers and more than 300 tonnes of cargo annually.”
