MANU KOROVULAVULA ..... r Hobbies - In my spare time when my mind is congested, I usually walk into a cinema and concentrate on the theme of the film to empty my mind and come out after the movie with fresh mind. I also like writing stories, music and song (I compose songs and sing them too). I also play rugby, basketball, badminton, boxing and athletics. r Inspiration - When I enlisted in the 1st Battalion Fiji Infinity Regiment and leave Fiji for Malaya in 1952 that I was prepared to die there for my country. This is my attitude toward life. r Ambition in life - To be successful in whatever I do. r Achievement most proud of - My establishing the Road Transport Department in 1974, Vo-Ko Industries Limited in 1984 and the Land Transport Authority in 2000. r Most passionate about - To listen to the singing of Dean Martin, Pery Como, Nat King Cole, Harry Belafonte, Don Ho and Melaia Dimuri r Most valued possession - My most valued possession is my bible to me by the late Mesulame Nainoca, and the advice of my grandmother Ivamere Korovulavula. r One person I want to meet - Ganga Shankar, my colleague, legal advisor and fearless lawyer. r Best advice received - ‘When God created man to be of His image, the last thing he gave to the man is his Holy Spirit which is your conscience. So do not forget your conscience is God’s conscience. Believe and have faith in what it tells you and do it without hesitation and his Spirit will help you.’ r Achieving work-life balance - When return from a hard day’s work to my home I want to be in harmony and in serenity with my soul to enjoy the equilibrium of my mind.
Compiled by RACHNA LAL
Welcome to Hard Talk, where we pose questions to both top executives and budding entrepreneurs on some of the major issues involving business.
Since the implementation of the electronic-ticketing system, a lot has been said by all related stakeholders.
But what has been neglected is the voice of people – those who are in fact affected by the implementation of the e-ticketing system.
In Hard Talk this week, we spoke to a man whose entire career has basically been devoted in the transportation sector, sometimes as the Land Transport Authority boss or interim Minister for Transport.
Manu Korovulavula, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, turns 79 years old today, but his passion for the transport sector remains.
For someone who has devoted 61 years of his life in the transport sector, and the brains behind establishing the Land Transport Authority in 2000, it is only relevant to get his thoughts on the e-ticketing system.
Questions for Manu Korovulavula, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee:
1. What is your view about the e-ticketing system?
The introduction of the e-ticketing system in my view is not appropriate for Fiji because when a system or a means to en end is introduced by entrepreneurs or business concerns, its main objective is to make profit.
The passengers’ interest who travel on buses are not considered at all. The beneficiaries of e-ticketing system are the bus operators and the smart card provider.
The passengers who paid for the smartcard and the bus service costs are not benefiting from the e-ticketing system at all and to make it worse, the bus fare increase have been based and calculated on the basis of weighting cost index model which is a technique for measuring the changes in the output of an organisation over time.
It is used particularly for Government Departments and other bodies that do not operate in a market place, hence normal means of measuring output cannot be used. Had the Government on its volition introduced the e-ticketing system, it would have considered first of all the interests of the passengers. This is a moral civil consideration that the citizens would benefit from deservingly.
2. Is Fiji prepared for such a big transition in terms of technological advancements?
In my considered opinion it is not. The reason is this, according to the latest report published by the European Metropolitan Transport Authorities based on the information collected from the working group members representing the following cities/region: Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Helsinki, Bilbao, West Midlands, London, Vilnius, Stockholm and Frakfurt region.
Judging from the major studies carried out on the e-ticketing system by the working group members in most of the major cities in Europe and the Orient in order to protect the interests of their citizens, they cautiously implement them between the years 2000 and 2009.
However, did Foneology – Vodafone carry out a study, trial and experiment one of the four distinct fare e-ticketing systems:
l Zonal fare
l Route fare
l Flat fare
l Distance-based fare?
If they have not, they have completely ignored the interests of the bus passengers and the Land Transport Authority went ahead and approved the e-ticketing system to be implemented from the middle of 2012 – on what basis?
3. What are three issues that have risen with the introduction of the e-ticketing system?
(i) Bus passengers’ interests are neglected
Briefly, if anyone examines closely the causes of dispute and rationale explained in public by the Fiji Bus Operators Association (FBOA), the current providers Foneology – Vodafone, Land Transport Authority management, the authority’s board and the Ministry of Works, Transport and Public Utilities, one will realises they have been concentrating on the e-ticketing system based on captured bus fare tariffs.
The e-ticketing system is merely a means to an end. The FBOA is accusing bus drivers for syphoning bus fares for their personal financial gain. The bus drivers are denying the accusation.
Foneology-Vodafone have nothing to do with the bus fares but the goods and services they provide to the bus companies not to the FBOA because the FBOA does not own a single bus therefore does not care about the social benefits of the passengers. This is even though they are the payload who provide income to the bus company which is the source of its business viability.
(ii) Market is opened for e-ticketing system
Now, the e-ticketing market is open for other solution providers to participate in.
The conspicuous omission from all the named stakeholders are the bus passengers who are bus patrons and sole provider of income for all the bus companies. The stakeholders talked about the bus fares received from buses and the adaptation of e-ticketing system.
Not an iota of social consideration was given to the interest of bus passengers who are the source of their life blood.
(iii) Public transport user of e-ticketing
The uniqueness of the bus industry in Fiji is that all heavy public service vehicles are private owned bus companies. They are not owned by Metropolis or municipality of the state. The e-ticketing system research carried out in May 2008 were based on European Metropolitan Authorities Final Report included cities in Europe – Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Paris, Helsinki, London, West Midlands and Stockholm. Basically, of these 9 major cities studied, six of them or 66.6 per cent applied zonal fare system.
In Fiji, the bus fare system is based on unit costing. The bus routes approved to a bus operator is based on the distance of the route graduated in kilometres and fare stages are identified along the route. The two fare systems are not homogenous.
The zone fare system is based on an area distinguished on the basis of a particular characteristic, use, restriction etc for example, the metropolis or Municipality or state boundary. Whereas the unit cost fare system is based on road distance of the bus route, graduated in kilometres to produce unit cost fare system in cent per kilometre.
4. What sort of loopholes do you in the current bus fare model?
The current bus fare increase calculation was based on the weighting cost index model. Weighting is the system of giving greater emphasis to certain items in the construction of an index number, literally, index is the forefinger, a pointer or the measuring instrument something that indicates a sign.
For example, the number of cars is an index of prosperity. In the context if bus operation, it literally means schedule public transportation on hourly bus service, the time, route of a bus fare.
Sometime towards the end of 2002 and first quarter of 2003, the fluctuation of the price of fuel increased to approximately between 20 per cent to 30 per cent. It was an opportune time for the Fiji Bus Operators Association to use the weighting cost index model and lodged the application to the Land Transport Authority for a bus fare increase, and take advantage of the 20 per cent to 30 per cent increase of the fuel price.
The weighting cost index model is used particularly for Government Departments and other bodies that do not operate in a market, hence normal means of measuring output cannot be used.
As the result of the work of MichealBacter and Alwyn Prichard, the weighting costs index model is being used increasingly by the office of the National Statistics in United Kingdom, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and many other Statistical Offices, in preference to the traditional method of equating output (i.e. the number of staff employed plus volume of output).
The traditional method is much easier to use, but has the disadvantage that it cannot measure changes in efficiency.
5. What can be done to improve this?
There are three important actions that are needed to be taken:
l The cash bus fares should continue
l E-ticketing system to be terminated as soon as practicable.
l Old system of issuing ticket should be brought back for bus drivers and bus operators to verify cash and tickets issued (be better co-ordinated)
The two systems of bus fare payments should not be permitted to operate in parallel concurrently.
6. People have to pay for the e-ticketing card which has been made compulsory. Do you think it is fair to make people pay for this?
To pay for the e-ticketing card is not prudent and is unfair to the travelling public and be depraved when they are put under duress by law.
In addition to the cost of a smartcard, there is friction cost to be added to over and above the bus fare to be paid by the passenger, there is no consolation for this in the Land Transport (Omnibus Electronic Fare Ticketing) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (Legal Notice No. 92).
7. What is your view about the accusation against bus driver’s syphoning bus fares?
The accusation made by the bus operator against the driver of its bus is an ongoing dispute for so many years. When such dispute continues for that long or even shorter period, it is obvious that either of the parties is not honest to confess and tell the truth. Metaphorically, they are married to each other.
The schedule trips cannot be serviced without the driver. The operator (employer) can only receive the bus income for the day when the driver drives the bus. Regrettably, neither the operator nor the driver (employee) considers the cardinal role of the passenger who pays bus fares and he is the heart which pumps and regulates the flow of the life blood of a bus company.
“Shall I or shall I not, dismiss the driver of the my bus?” This is the question which usually crosses the mind of the bus company proprietor day and night.
8. One would say the e-ticketing system has been introduced to remove pilferage from the bus industry. Do you think there was any other alternative to remove the pilferage other than e-ticketing?
No, the e-ticketing system was not introduced to stop the leakage of bus fares income. The introduction of the e-ticketing system was the initiative of Telecom Fiji Limited. They saw the opportunity to make money and submitted their request to Government. A tender was advertised. They put in their tender and was awarded to them for the supply, installation and management of electronic ticketing system in October 2010.
Consequently, on April 17, 2012, Telecom Fiji Limited requested the Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Industry and Trade to issue to them the appropriate legal instruments for it to be exclusive e-ticketing consoles importer in Fiji.
On April 18, 2012, Telecom Fiji Limited in pursuant to Section 31 (2) of the National Trade Measurement Decree of 1989 was granted the Fiji Pattern Approval Certificate No. 449/2012 dated 18.04.2012 in respect of the instrument: Blue Bamboo Wave CT100 Contactless Terminal, subject for review on and after 18.04.2017 and then every five years thereafter.
So the ploy given by the FBOA that the e-ticketing system was introduced to remove pilferage from the bus industry is false. The only way the bus operator could remove pilferage is to appoint its own bus conductor.
9. How would you sum up the e-ticketing system looking at it from a passenger point of view?
The e-ticketing is merely a means to an end that co-ordinates the service provider and the bus that provide the service to passengers at a fare. The e-ticketing system has created several difficulties and hardships to bus passengers and intending bus passengers.
It is evident from the geographical dispersion of the 348 e-ticketing top up locations in two cities and 12 town council centres, the solution provider published in the Fiji Sun May 4, did not have any time to carry out discussions and trials before the implementation of e-ticketing system.
As a result, there were some buses installed with consoles even before being examined, tested by the Inspector of Weights and Measures, certified and approved by the chief Inspector of Weights and Measures. That is one aspect of the e-ticketing system. The other is training of the bus driver to guide and assist the passenger on entering the bust what he or she has to do with the smartcard before taking a seat.
As a regular bus passenger, my view on the e-ticketing system is that it is not appropriate for the bus passengers in Fiji. The concept of e-ticketing system has been partially implemented haphazardly to capture the market available for the bus industry.
Had each road route license holder exercised his own discretion and casts his eyes on the conditions of his own road route licence, and not listen to the advice of the FBOA which has no road route licence to lose nor have a single bus in its name, and be strong enough to make his own deliberate decision and protect his company’s business interests, he would not be trapped in the e-ticketing system like a boat without a rudder.