Bus companies hiring overseas drivers need to liaise with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) first before bringing the imports to Fiji.
LTA acting CEO Irimaia Rokosawa said they were noticing a new trend of overseas drivers being imported to Fiji to replace those that have moved to foreign countries.
“They are probably a bit desperate to find drivers and they are looking overseas,” he said.
“It is a concern for us because they need to engage with us well beforehand not when the person lands in Fiji and they are complaining that they cannot meet our requirements.
“We tell them that they should have done that beforehand.
“One of our requirements is the driver should be fit and proper which means he has to have a clear criminal record and be medically fit.
“If they are bringing in drivers from Asian countries, we will need to get in touch with their source countries because their records will not be here.
“These should have done well beforehand, before they set foot on our shores.
“Just recently, we had two applicants whose work permits were not very clear about the fact that they were here for driving duties.
“They could be here for other technical work, but just because of the shortage of drivers they tried to promote them to be a driver.
“But to be a Group Five public service vehicle (PSV) driver in Fiji you have to meet a lot of requirements which in these two cases they did not.”
He said the LTA was working closely with the Immigration Department on the issue.
