No extension of the age of buses on roads

This was learned from reliable sources of Le Matinal with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Transport.

Individual bus operators are, in fact, make a request to the ministry so that buses could operate beyond sixteen years on our roads. The reason: to renew their fleets of vehicles in the best conditions.

The Department of public infrastructure is stressed that extending the age of the buses on our roads could create a safety issue for passengers because many critics have been issued on the condition of some buses on our roads.

Jeenarain Sunil, secretary of the Mauritius Bus Owners Federation (MBOF) stressed that such a policy from the ministry "unwise" because there are buses that individual over the age of sixteen years and can always continue to roll. He added that there are many buses that are not used to their maximum capacity because some routes are unprofitable. It was, he says, consider the mileage of buses rather than taking a decision on the age of buses. He will also say that individuals experiencing financial difficulties to renew their fleets, because within two years the cost of purchasing a bus fell from Rs 1.6 million to Rs 2.6 Mr.

A decision to not grant an extension of the age of a bus could create serious problems for the transportation of passengers as the average age of individual bus turns around twelve years, says Sunil Jeenarain.

He invites the Government to reconsider the request of individual operators because "statistics show that this is not the old buses that are involved in road accidents."