Passengers and students will not be able to travel on buses from today if they do not have funds in their e-transport card.
Fiji Bus Operators Association President, Nisar Ali Shah says this will also include school students who receive assistance from the Ministry of Education.
Shah claims thousands of students have not received their travel funds from the Ministry of Education and numerous operators have had to carry these students for free in the past three days.
He says one operator estimated his buses carried up to 2000 students free on Monday and Tuesday because funds had not yet been credited to students’ cards.
Shah says the delay in crediting students’ cards has further affected struggling bus operators because of the loss of revenue through carrying students free of charge.
He adds this cannot continue to happen.
Shah adds that they empathize with the affected students and their parents but the delays by the relevant agencies in ensuring cards are topped up has forced them to take this action and they hope for a speedy resolution to this issue.
We have sent questions to the Ministry of Education and are awaiting their response.
