Taxi fare increase

I wouldn't normally side with the taxi industry, but I guess as everyone, they need a fair go. The Taxi industry's asking for a fare increase, and it seems as usual, they're facing stiff resistance.

Considering the increase in cost of living and generally the cost of owning a car and just generally being on road, I reckon it's a fair ask. What prompts me to write this is the following article which appeared in the Fiji Times, especally the comment in bold print.

As much as I agree with him on the point of quality of service and safety, I'd certainly not agree with him the emissions issue. A major part of the blame for the emissions lie fairly and squarely on the quality of diesel fuels available. Of course the road conditions take a heavy toll on the condition of the cars themselves.

The above is not to say that the taxi drivers are all saints and not responsible. Infact the taxi drivers in this country are quite simply the worst I've seen anywhere. I guess what I am trying to say, is that if the taxi industry is fairly compensated, some of the problems with service will disappear...

Council against taxi fare increase - Fiji Times Online: "Council against taxi fare increase
Wednesday, February 08, 2006

FIJI's consumer watchdog yesterday lashed out at the Fiji Taxi Union for wanting another fare increase without consulting relevant stakeholders.

Consumer Council of Fiji's acting executive secretary Josua Mudreilagi said it seemed the union was trying to fast-track a fare increase without considering the opinion of consumers.

'Any increase should be fair and take into account not just inflation factors but other non-price components such as quality of service, emission, safety, properly licensed taxi licence holders and so forth,' he said.

On the union's statement that there was no need for any public submission on their application for an increase, Mr Mudreilagi said it was an attempt by taxi operators to bypass consumer and public input and opinion on the matter, which contradicted the principles of consultation, transparency and good governance.

'The problem with the taxi industry is that there is no uniformity in standard of vehicles and services.

'While we have some good operators, we also have a large number of taxis in poor condition.

'The quality of the inside of taxis is not the same all around.

'There are vehicles with engines that emit high emission and pollutants that are health risks.'

He said it was unfair for taxi operators to attribute high smoke emission to the high content of sulphur in fuel.'There are factors such owning a second-hand car.

'To blame adulterated fuel is to ignore the low condition of taxis.'

Fiji Council Of Social Services executive director Hassan Khan said a fare increase would affect the industry because more people would prefer to travel by bus or minibus.

He agreed that the taxi service had not improved."

An account of Public Service driver behaviour.

Voice of the People - Fiji Times Online: "Defensive driving

The driver of a white Hilux twin-cab GM402 belonging to the Public Works Department in Nadi raced past me on the opposite side of the three-way Denarau intersection at Namotomoto towards Nadi Airport.

It turned sharply to the left in front of me to rejoin my lane hitting pot holes.

It continued at high speed turning left towards Navakai PWD depot.

The amazing thing is that I called at 8am to complain to the PWD supervisor about the crazy driving. He completely denied that the vehicle was in Nadi.

The supervisor did not know that I had followed the vehicle and talked to the person at the depot who identified the driver to me.

The supervisor said that he was with the driver at Navolau at the same time my wife and I saw and identified the vehicle.

Is it possible that this is what the L.T.A advertise as defensive driving?

With all the expenses being paid by the taxpayers we would expect better care of public properties.

It may be that the driver of the vehicle was the supervisor himself.

Semi Tuleca
Nadi"

Loud music an offence on Public Transport

Loud music an offence - Fiji Times Online: "Loud music an offence
Tuesday, February 07, 2006

PLAYING loud music in Public Service Vehicles is an offence and can result in serious penalties for drivers, the Land Transport Authority said yesterday.

LTA public relations officer, Veronica Malani said under regulation 46 of LTA's traffic regulations, taxis and buses found playing loud music were liable to pay a $25 fine.

'They can be issued with a Traffic Infringement Notice and any LTA officer has the authority to book them if they are found playing loud music in their vehicles,' Ms Malani said. She said playing loud music could be a contributing factor in road accidents and drivers needed to be cautious and more considerate of their passengers, and people and vehicles around them.

Fiji Bus Operators Association president, Pyara Singh said buses should not be playing loud music as drivers needed to be alert to hear signals from other vehicles and other warning signs.

'Music is good but it should not be played so loud that it becomes a nuisance. Drivers need to ensure their passengers are comfortable, happy and safe.' Mr Singh said people who had complaints regarding loud music in buses should lodge a complaint with the FBOA so the association could deal with bus owners.

Ms Malani encouraged the public to come forward and report such traffic offences to the LTA so appropriate action could be taken.

'Anyone who comes across this problem can report to our call centre through our toll free line on 0800 3342 886 while prepaid customers can text 582 and give information on the vehicle and incident.

Meanwhile, the Lomaloma road on the Labasa-Savusavu highway was partly open to light traffic yesterday while 15 roads in the Labasa and Seaqaqa areas remained closed to all traffic. Heavy rain during the weekend had also damaged some of the roads that were repaired by the Public Works Department last week.

Road engineer Fernando Amarapala said surveys were bein"

A Fiji Times Letter to the editor - Road conditions

"Road conditions

I THINK the cartoon (FT 4/2) hit the nail on the head.

I wonder if all senior civil servants watching the Wellington 7s paid for their way or were in Wellington for some official engagement.

With all the complaints about bad roads, the man responsible for roads was enjoying himself there.

Vimlesh Kumar
Lautoka"

Labasa Roads - turn tarsealed roads in gravel? Is it the solution

This could actually work.

Voice of the People - Fiji Times Online: "Labasa roads

THE roads in the Labasa Town Council boundary are in a pathetic condition and the council is mum on this issue.

They should do the opposite thing and 'gravel the tarsealed roads''.

Knee deep potholes would be filled, which would bring temporary relief to drivers and vehicle owners.

SALEND KUMAR, Labasa"

PWD, roads and water pipes

Voice of the People - Fiji Times Online: "Damaged pipes

THREE months ago PWD installed new water mains on Petrie Road in Tamavua along the roadside and forgot to seal it permanently with tar.

Constant rain has lead the pipes to bleed slowly and now the main pipes are visible.

To prevent it from further damage, urgent action is now required to prevent citizens' money from going to waste.

In contrast to the above experience, the private sector has invested heavily in improving customer services.

Now it's time for government agencies to play catch-up.

We the consumers have gotten used to a heightened level of customer service from private sector organisations and are applying the same service benchmarks to our consumption of citizen

services and would penalise administrations that fall short.

Perhaps the ultimate objective of public sector service delivery efforts is to remove the burden of compliance from the shoulders of citizens.

After all, the best type of service transaction is the one you don't have to make.

Param Singh
Suva"

LTA and roads authorities sleeping on the job!

I guess they're too busy trying to figure out how much profits they've made over the past year. Perhaps they've been helping police setup radar traps to catch people speeding in places that are safe to speed in anyway.

Since LTA is a profit making body, it's only right that they spare their efforts in the right direction. Communities needs are not their concern.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sigatoka roads too dangerous - Fiji Times Online: "Sigatoka roads too dangerous
(Sunday, January 29, 2006)

A SIGATOKA bus company has suspended services on two routes, citing pathetic road conditions.

Valley Buses Limited chief clerk Uday Narayan said they had suspended services indefinitely on the Nasau to Nacocolevu route as well as on Nabaka Road.

Mr Narayan said there was no gravel, just mud on the road, which made it very slippery and dangerous to travel on.

'We don't want to take a risk with the lives of passengers,' he said.

'These two roads have many hills and it's too dangerous for the buses to travel up because if it slips, there is no support on either side and it can fall off cliffs.

'Even if we send buses it won't go up these hills because they are too steep and very slippery. There's no gravel for the tyres to grip.' Mr Narayan said roads on some of the routes they serviced were overgrown with bush, turning them into single-lane roads.

He said that was dangerous as drivers could not see oncoming traffic through the thick bush and overgrown tree branches.

He said they had written to the West road engineer and sent a copy to Land Transport Authority in November last year. Mr Narayan said a month later when nothing had been done another letter was sent this time to the LTA Western office and copied to the LTA chief executive officer but still nothing had been done."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

LTA helping make the media and printing presses rich.

The article below goes to show how poor the planning of National Road Safety Council (NRSC) and the LTA efforts are, when it comes to road safety. The "Arrive Alive" campaign run by the NRSC last year, was a total failure. More people died during the campaign in the first month of this year then in the years past.

The failure of such road safety campaigns stems from the fact that the campaigns are a simple rehash of whats been done in the past. It only serves to make the media and printing presses rich, whereas the actual message remains boring, obsolete and commanding.

This idea of the putting bilboards will only serve to make riches for the winners of the tender process.

What is really lacking on our roads, are proper signage. I regularly drive between Nadi and Suva and I see fair number of old worn out and broken road signs all over the place. Not to mention the need for new ones which can become better guidelines for motorists. It somehow never factors in the blame list when an accident occurs.

On the other hand, why is it even LTA's responsibility for enforcement of road rules. They are not responsible for the roads themselves, so why should act like they have the god given right to patrol and penalise all the happenings on the roads.

A point that I shall discuss later is the LTA's criteria for issuing drivers licences. They constantly blame the driver attitude for accidents. Perhaps they should consider how they've issued licences to drivers with bad attitude in the first place.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Authority wants roadside signs - Fiji Times Online: "Authority wants roadside signs
(Monday, January 30, 2006)

THE Land Transport Authority of Fiji has decided to set up roadside billboards in an effort to remind drivers to follow road rules.

Authority acting chief executive Aptinko Vaurasi said a tender would be put out to contract a company to work on the billboards over the next few months.

'We have plans to put up billboards to pass on a good message. We need to put proper designs on them to capture the attention of drivers but it's a very sensitive issue because at the same time we don't want to distract drivers and let it affect their driving,' Mr Vaurasi said.

'We have to look at a way to send the message properly and so it needs to be done professionally.'

Mr Vaurasi said the billboards would carry LTA emergency hotline numbers that could be used to report illegal vehicles and drivers.

'We have been receiving a number of calls on these hotline numbers. They are against buses, taxi drivers, carriers and even private vehicles,' he said."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to blogging

Been away from blogging about the rotten state of our roads. Couldn't spare time writing for the last 6 months. Been really busy with work and all.

In that time, the road conditions have deteriorated even further. "Potholes" as word is probably the most frequently uttered word in this country.

Waimanu Road near CWM being repaired

Yep, just saw it tonight. The road near CWM hospital is under repair. Finally!

Thank goodness it is being repaired by the Highway Stabilizers and not the PWD. Hopefully it will be repaired better and faster.

I reckon they should next move to fix the Amy Street. One the most patched stretches of road in Suva and one of the worst I have to travel on, every morning. Sometimes it makes me want to hug my car, get down on my knees and seek forgiveness from it for having to put it through such toture...

Bend?

Thank you imageshack.com for hosting this image.

I can assure you that there are a series of bends for the next 4 km after this sign.

Let's do it as group

If you wish to post your thoughts on Fiji Roads by posting in this blog, please feel free to leave a comment below. I will get back to you...

The State of Fiji Roads

The state of Fiji roads is simply appalling! Much can be said about them but over the coming days and weeks, I will set about collecting pictures on this blog to show you what I am talking about.

Stay tuned.