HUNDREDS of students on Taveuni could be left without transport on Monday after the island’s only bus operator announced plans to suspend its school bus services because of an ongoing dispute over fares.
Taveuni Buses general manager Jaswant Kumar said the company had decided to suspend all school trips from July 20 after repeated requests for a review of student fares were not approved.
Mr Kumar said under the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission’s authorised fare review dated August 24, 2024, student fares on Viti Levu and Vanua Levu were adjusted to 100 per cent of adult fares.
“Despite our repeated presentations and written submissions to the FCCC, requesting uniformity in student bus fares, no equivalent adjustment has been made on Taveuni buses,” he said.
He said the company had been waiting since August 2024 for approval to introduce the same one-to-one student fare ratio that applied on Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.
“From August 2024 till today, there has been no approval to have student fares on Taveuni at a one-to-one ratio with adult fares as in Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.”
He said operating buses on Taveuni was significantly more expensive because of the island’s geography, poor road infrastructure, higher fuel prices and increased logistical costs.
“Our services in Taveuni incur significantly higher operating costs due to challenging geography, poor infrastructure and higher fuel prices when compared with Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.”
He said the situation had been made worse by a recent increase in Vodafone’s commission on bus fare transactions.
“This has been further compounded by the recent increase in Vodafone commission to 5.5 per cent from 3.5 per cent on adult fares and 2.5 per cent on school fares, for which no fare consideration was made.”
Attempts to obtain comments from FCCC, Education Minister Aseri Radrodro and Transport Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau remained futile when this edition went to press.
Questions were sent to the FCCC on Thursday.
However, the email sent by this newspaper was acknowledged by FCCC communications officer Emosi Koroi, who said the team was working on a response and would provide it once it had been finalised.
