THE Prime Minister, or any other authority, must not be seen as attempting to undermine the decision of an independent tender committee, says the Fiji Bus Operators Association (FBOA).
Responding to Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s comments about improving bus services and possibly opening e-ticketing to new service providers, the Association said there was confusion over the issue.
“The issue of bus services provision should not be confused with the upgrading of e-transport cards by Vodafone, which is being rolled out across the country,” FBOA said in a statement.
“The upgrading of cards and the logistical issues surrounding them are out of the control of bus operators who are continuing their bus services without disruption.
“FBOA would like to reiterate that travelling by bus is not affected at all and commuters can still travel using their old bus cards.”
FBOA urged the PM to be “circumspect in his discussion of the electronic ticketing system and issues surrounding it to avoid inflaming the issue further”.
It said while Vodafone was addressing concerns by expanding upgrade locations, introducing new providers would not necessarily resolve the situation.
“It is the process of upgrading to the new cards that has been the cause of much of the issues, although Vodafone is now providing more locations to upgrade.”
The Association said an independent tender process had awarded the contract to Vodafone and that FBOA was happy with Vodafone’s new system.
“It appears that people who have the most to complain… are those who are cheating the system and paying less than the standard fare by using cash.
“Like any other technology, no matter how great it is, can sometimes fail. If we are to embrace technology, we should be prepared to deal with any of the resulting issues, including the upgrading process.”
