Govt considers adult bus fare issue

Government will be considering a long term arrangement to address the bus fare issue for adults.

In a statement released this afternoon, it stated that government is presently considering to address the bus fare issue for both adults and children in the 2010 budget.

This is in light of the announcement by Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama on the decision to pay for the bus fares of all school children, between Class 1 to Form 7 that commute to and from school by bus.

And as government officials work on the finer details to ensure that the historic decision made by the Prime Minister to have the No Bus Fare program for students travelling in school buses from next Wednesday, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said the decision had to be made to ensure that every child is educated in the country.

The decision made means that any student travelling in the school buses from next Wednesday will not pay bus fare while students travelling in normal buses in uniform other than the school buses will pay half of the normal fare.

The half fare will only apply in the areas where no school buses are running.

Commodore Bainimarama said based on the hardship faced by the parents and students, and the government fiscal surplus of $30 million, it has been decided that part of the money will be used to pay the bus fare of all the students travelling in school buses until the end of the current school year.