Shania Shayal Prasad 
The government is reviewing the country’s vehicle imports to tackle growing traffic congestion.
According to Transport Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau, the nation can no longer afford to import an unlimited number of cars.
The new assessment will look at the number of private cars, rental vehicles, and second-hand imports as part of a larger plan to ease traffic and update our transportation infrastructure.
Ro Filipe says the review will also help identify gaps and improve planning.
He adds a comprehensive report will be presented to cabinet that will help draft a policy.
Ro Filipe also raised concerns about the rising number of electric vehicles in Fiji.
“As part of this assessment, the disposal of vehicles and the age of vehicles. Because when you talk about electronic vehicles, you have batteries and all that. And even with electronic vehicles, you need the infrastructure to back up these vehicles. Because there’s no point having huge numbers of EVs when you don’t have the infrastructure to support this.”
Land Transport Authority Chief Executive Irimaia Rokosawa, while responding to questions from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the 2021–2022 Audit Report this week, highlighted poor oversight on vehicle importation.
“We are mandated by the law to look into enforcement of vehicles, to look into traffic congestion. If we humbly plead, maybe the forum can also assist those stakeholders in terms of importation of vehicles to always consult the Land Transport Authority and also the Ministry.”
The government’s goal is to create a smarter, more sustainable transport system for Fiji.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
