Truck canopy

Satish Nakched, Suva

It is noted that in the rural area including the maritime zones there are no bus services. The main mode of transportation between the town centre and the villages are the trucks. Without it life would probably be difficult.

The three-tonne trucks have an iron constructed frame that is covered with a tarpaulin in the shape of the house to keep the passengers protected from adverse weather conditions and hot sun.

These trucks can carry more than 20 passengers, together with other goods and commuters are charged the bus fare rates. Some centres are more organised that they have scheduled trips, which are convenient for the commuters. There are also padded seats suspended from the canopy frames for passengers to sit on during the journey.

In the morning and afternoon are the school runs and this type of transportation is the heartbeat of the small communities, greatly appreciated by the people. However, there is great concern about the safety of the travelling public who are exposed to a hazardous situation in the poor construction of the truck’s canopy.

Most of the canopies are locally constructed and made without any architectural drawing and do not have any engineering input to determine the load barring capabilities and crash impacts. There are no calculations done to establish the compact resistance should the vehicle be involved in an accident and the degree of the protection provided to the passengers. Most of the trucks have a few iron pipes that cannot sustain the weight of the canopy structure while in motion creating a lot of vibration that will weaken over time. The Land Transport Authority has regulatory policies for such truck canopy construction that needs an approved architectural drawing.

I believe that this safety issue is not enforced vigorously to protect the passengers.

There needs to be random inspections and checks enforced to monitor such mode of transportation.

The LTA needs to engage more and implement proactive measures to keep our roads safe everywhere in the country and not confining their operation around the larger towns and cities. The rural communities are more vulnerable to these types of risks.