BA businessman and minibus owner Dinesh Prakash Chand has called for the construction of a public convenience at the township’s minibus stand for daily commuters.
Mr Chand told the Fijian Media Association’s Town Hall Forum in Ba that about 50 minibuses travel through the town daily.
“I’m thinking about the people that have been travelling in and out of Ba, roughly about 3500 per day working in Lautoka,” he said.
“Looking at the stand, we have no convenience facility for the general public. In simple terms, we do not have any toilets and no proper water taps.”
Mr Chand said he has raised the issue many times and at meetings at the Ba Town Council Hall.
“Whenever we reach Ba Town Council, they say those places belong to the (Fiji Roads Authority),” he said.
Town council special administrator Moshim Khan said they had proposed a new space to serve as the mini-bus stand.
Mr Khan said the FRA had, however, notified the council that public convenience facilities could not be established at the proposed site since it was a road reserve.
“We have proposed a new space for them, which they did not agree to, and now the council is working with LTA to identify another space for themselves where we can provide them with the proper facilities,” he said.
Roads Authority acting general manager-Lautoka to Rakiraki Peni Tuinona said the FRA did not allow public conveniences on road reserves.
“It falls under the jurisdiction of the Ba Town Council, and I think we’ve been working on an alternative space for the mini-bus stand where we can relocate them.”
