LTA RESPONDS TO RAKIRAKI SCHOOL’S TRANSPORTATION PLIGHT
LTA chief executive officer Samuel Simpson was responding to Liwativale Primary School head teacher Anasa Nasedra’s concern that students often travel by carrier from the main road near the Nasau Road junction in Ra, Rakiraki.
The school is in the interior of Nalawa, Ra and a one-hour drive from the junction.
“Students pay $15 for a carrier to bring them to school because there were no bus services on that route,” Mr Nasedra said. He highlighted this during the Rakiraki heads of schools meeting with Ministry of Education officials at Ra High School last week. Mr Smith said assessment reports must reflect the need for the extension of bus operations, where the LTA will advise the operator after consultation with Fiji Roads Authority and stakeholders.
“Firstly, the applicant has to write a letter of request to provide Road Route Licence with details of the route to service,” Mr Smith said.
“LTA will assess the request against existing operators’ routes and timetables and decide on the best option available to meet public demand.”
He said bus services were provided to Burelevu by the Flying Prince Transport company and licensed carriers provided services from Nakorovou and Namara to Liwativale Primary School and return.
“Our Rakiraki office has not received any licensed carrier application from residents of Nasau to
Liwativale Primary School. We urge the public to contact the LTA to arrange an alternative mode of transport to service the area,” he said.
“Also upon the request from the community, the LTA calls for an Expression of Interest (EOI) to provide public transport service for a particular area if all existing operators fail to apply or seek to formalise operation through normal PSV permit application.” He said another factor was whether the road was public or private “Public road will require FRA consent while the private road will only be serviced by a licensed carrier because there are risks involved if a bus is provided without the consent of FRA,” he said. Members of the public are urged not to travel in vehicles not authorised by the LTA to provide public service and to report such issues to LTA through the mobile platform 582.