Suva commuters welcome move by Govt

This is great news, says Penina Ledua, 43, when asked to comment on the decrease in bus fares from next year as announced by the Land Transport Authority.

The mother of six from Lau has lived in Wailea Settlement, Vatuwaqa, for more than 30 years with her family.

“This is a great move by Government for people living below the poverty line,” Ms Ledua said.

“We have been waiting for a decrease in bus fares for quite a long time and the last decrease was years back; I can’t even remember.”

She said out of her six children, four go to school and the decrease in bus fares will help her and her husband a lot.

The Fiji Sun also received positive feedbacks from families around Suva yesterday.

Newtown, Nasinu resident Bijend Prasad said decrease in bus fares had come at the right.

“Before the bus fare from Suva to my home was 75 cents, then it increased to 85 cents then to $1.15; now it will decrease again and it’s good news,” he said.

“Now we have something to look forward to when 2016 begins and we thank Government for considering people’s financial problems.”

His father in law, Dalip Chand, also shared the same sentiments thanking Government for the initiative.

“I travel to work every day by bus so this will really help with my everyday travel expenses,” Mr Chand said.

Sushila Devi, 54, of Wailea Settlement said Government should be thanked for decreasing bus fares as it would help many families around the country.

Decreases for adult and children students’ fares are recorded for all the 40 zones. They range from savings of two cents (Stage 1) to $2.80 (Stage 40) per trip.

The decreases for adult and student fares are based on the reduction of VAT (Value Added Tax) from 15 to nine per cent.

The decrease in bus fares was also announced by the Minister for Finance, Aiyaz Khaiyum in his 2016 Budget address.

Edited by: Manasa Kalouniviti

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