Rising traffic congestion across the country has prompted the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to fast-track plans for a national end-of-life vehicle policy, as registrations continue to surge.
LTA chief executive officer Irimaia Rokosawa said vehicle registrations increased by 10 per cent between 2023 and 2025, adding about 14,600 vehicles to Fiji’s roads.
The growing volume of vehicles, he said, was placing mounting pressure on traffic flow, road management and regulatory oversight.
“The 10 per cent increase is in vehicle registration, not considering vehicle importation,” Mr Rokosawa said.
He acknowledged a major regulatory gap, noting there was currently no formal framework governing when vehicles should be permanently removed from circulation.
“We are working with the ministry through the transport master plan to ensure these are embedded in the regulations to bring an end-of-life.”
Mr Rokosawa also revealed that emission standards were under review. At present, regulations only cover diesel engines, with no specific standards for petrol or LPG vehicles.
“The only emission standards currently in the regulation is diesel. We have nothing on petrol, and nothing in LPG. Now we are going down the pathway of electric vehicles so we should consider that.”
The LTA is collaborating with Dayals recycling plant in Ba to manage derelict vehicles while broader reforms are developed under the transport master plan.
The authority says regulatory updates must keep pace with vehicle growth to ease congestion and safeguard Fiji’s road network.
