The four new air-conditioned buses for Sunbeam Transport Limited which arrived in June.
By FARISHA AHMED
First came new buses. Now comes a new depot.
Major bus operator Sunbeam Transport Fiji Limited says it is investing about $2.5million in a new bus depot in Samabula, Suva, as a result of the expansion of its fleet.
Sunbeam general manager Zahid Ali Wahab said, excavation works are currently underway by General Machinery.
“Preparation of the land is almost complete,” Mr Wahab said.
“Some regulations are yet to be met before the actual building construction will start.
“Our contractors need to submit plans and it needs to be approved. We are anticipating that the site should be ready early next year.”
Fleet Expansion
The company has already invested heavily in getting new buses, Mr Wahab said.
“Sunbeam is heavily involved in fl eet upgrade for the past year,” he said.
“Government has been very generous to the industry and duty concessions have allowed Sunbeam to import numerous coaches from overseas.”
He said the company is looking at investing in more coaches in the future.
“Sunbeam definitely has intention to import more coaches. Currently our preference has been Scania Models,” he said.
“We are negotiating with a China-based company to supply us MAN model coaches.”
The company’s confidence has been boosted by both the concessions the Government is giving to improve fleets and the major work on improving roads.
“This means for us that there is almost zero repairs on them for the first
10 years. Only carry out regular wear and tear and the coaches are good to go.”
Sunbeam is also working with the
Land Transport Authority to get an accreditation for Quality Assurance and Maintenance System (QUAM), the code of practice for the bus industry.