Authorities must get ‘pirate vehicles’ off our roads

The continuous rise in the number of private vehicles being used as taxis around the country and especially in the Western Division has got to stop.

People are now hiring rental cars and using them as taxis and it may well seem that part of the income is used to pay for another day of hiring.

Most small rental firms do not charge a bond when hiring and bigger companies waive this bond if a customer is well known.

In the Central Division for places like Suva, Nausori, Nasinu and Lami these illigal operators are called “pirates”.

In Lautoka one only has to go down at night and see the amount of private vehicles that congest the roads around the junction of Drasa Avenue and Namoli Avenue.

Forget about trying to get a parking space there to buy bread or go to the shops along Drasa Avenue at early evening or night because you will be lucky to find a parking space.

Of course people need to find a way of making a living.

The law is clear and that it is illegal to use private cars as public service vehicles.

However, if you ask all the drivers of these private cars as to who the vehicle belongs to, at least 90 per cent belong to the real culprits sitting comfortably at home watching television or enjoying the evening. These are the people who should be taken to task. Some of them own two or more vehicles and their drivers have been given a certain income to achieve, some daily and some weekly.

The Fiji Revenue and Customs Services could look into this because this business undoubtedly comes under the so called ‘black money’ saga.

The car owners are receiving cash with no worries about having FRCS on their backs.

This is income besides what else they are doing. The FRCS must come down heavily and penalise these car owners who really do not give two hoots about the law.

They know the authorities turn a blind eye to the business and that is why they continue to flout the law.

Even during the day and especially during shopping days on the weekends, you will be lucky to find parking space in front or around supermarkets. If you take a walk around, you will see the drivers of these vehicles, which includes vans, sitting in their vehicles at expired parking metres.

When they see a metre attendant coming, they quickly insert a coin in the meter so imagine if an attendant come past every four or five hours. The municipal council should use its enforcement vehicles to check metres while travelling around and book on the spot before the drivers can get out.

This is the only way to teach these drivers a lesson, but then again, if they know the attendant, then they are sometimes left alone.

There needs to be a curb on these activities done right away because the public who are doing everything in a legal way are left to the mercy of these culprits.

Get those who own the vehicles, get them to pay tax and you will see less of these vehicles on the road.