Head of the independent bus fare review committee, Joel Abraham has refuted claims that they’ve delayed proceedings of bus fare review.

Abraham says they have on more than one occasion called on the Fiji Bus Operators Association to submit their complete financial records.

On Wednesday, the FBOA met with Abraham to discuss their proposal to increase bus fares across the board by more than 15 percent.

“They came to us, they said they feel that we have been delaying this, ah, we’ve said the request for full information.  I said to them, personally I owe a duty of care to the Fijian people, to all workers, to children, to Fijian families that use public transportation as a means of travel.  I owe a duty to them to ensure that fairness exists.  That whatever fare is decided is correct.”

The review committee was initiated in October, 2017 and were tasked to consult with the FBOA and release new fares in early 2018.

However since then, consultations on the issue have reached a stalemate with this week’s meeting, only the second in three years.