Some people have complained on social media about Day One of the e-transport initiative.

But as always there are two sides of the coin.

This is a new initiative which will modernise public transport travel in Fiji.

As with all new projects, new initiatives, new programmes, some minor hiccups are to be expected.

e-Ticketing is no different.

But that is no justification for us to condemn the initiative.

In fact, some of the issues are of our own making.

People complained about long queues last Saturday which was a day before e-Transport became compulsory when getting their cards.

But we had known about this for months now.

Why did people have to leave it till the last day to go out and get their cards?

Secondly, bus operators need to sincerely get on board with this.

This will help them get their correct daily takings.

It is a shame that 40 consoles had been tampered with and deliberately damaged at the start of its nationwide installation.

This is sickening and this mentality and attitude will cost us dearly in the long run.

Bus drivers cannot be allowed to see e-Transport as all evil.

They should be supporting it because it will record all transactions throughout the day.

It absolves them from any claims of dishonest practices.

It therefore protects their integrity.

Their opposition therefore does not make sense and if they feel their grievances are genuine, they need to disclose their reasons publicly.

Some people gave up on this initiative on the first day.

One hiccup does not mean it’s the end of the world.

When all the things that went wrong or could have gone are fixed, we will all agree it’s a great idea.

We are very quick to condemn when something goes wrong.

Just as everyone becomes a rugby expert when our team loses, everyone has become an expert on why this will not work.

This has been successfully implemented in many countries like Australia so why can’t it also work here?

Why should our public transport industry not move on with the times?

Why should this be seen as something which will not work here?

In countries where more than half their population travel daily by trains and buses, e-Transport is a success.

This will help bus companies earn their correct takings, they will invest that money back in their buses which will mean better buses for us.

This will help Fiji Revenue and Customs Service gather correct tax from the bus operators and this in turn will be invested back into the country, into better roads and better social welfare schemes.

Before the usual naysayers continue with their melodrama, stop and think for a moment whether such modern forms of travel can only be implemented in developed countries and not in a small island state like Fiji.

And why not give eTransport a fair go.

Jyoti Pratibha

Feedback:  jyotip@fijisun.com.fj