The Minister for Transport is urging bus operators and drivers to ensure necessary pre-checks are carried out before the start of trips.

Ro Filipe Tuisawau made the plea following the bus fire at Olosara, Sigatoka, over the weekend.

He adds that it is important that drivers are trained on identifying risk scenarios and mitigation actions.

The Minister also urged members of the public to be cautious of incidents such as fires and other hazards when traveling on public transport.

Ro Filipe says the Land Transport Authority is committed to standardizing travel safety in public transport and ensuring that incidents such as bus fires and other mishaps are mitigated.

He says there are practices in place that assist LTA in enabling safe transit for the public, such as annual vehicle inspections, regulating the requirement of fire extinguishers on buses, quality assurance maintenance systems, and assessing electrical modifications.

Ro Filipe says the LTA will work with bus operators to ensure that other avenues of preventing such incidents are explored.