Investigative Report: Death trap on wheels

The traditional wide-open buses at the Suva bus stand. Picture: MONICA AGUILAR/WANSOLWARA

By MONICA AGUILAR

PASSENGERS on a good number of buses on Fiji’s roads are at risk in the event of a fire because of multiple hazards such as flawed design, lack of exits, overcrowding, and highly inflammable material used for bus construction, says a major local bus operator.

The managing director of Fiji Transport Company Limited, Anil Singh, has urged Government to re-examine policies for the types of buses imported into country, the materials used in their construction locally, and their design.

Fiji Transport Company Limited is a service provider that operates 30 buses. Vodafone, which administers the compulsory e-ticketing system on local buses, says more than 400,000 people, including thousands of schoolchildren in every district, are registered e-card users.

Concerns have been raised by a spate of bus fires around the country in recent years. In August 2008, 12 out of 63 people travelling from Suva to Nadi in a packed Raiwaqa bus were trapped and burnt alive.

An article by the Fiji Sun quoted the then director of Traffic, Ramend Raj, saying “the passengers faced great difficulty in trying to escape” as passengers made a panicked dash to get off the smoke-filled bus. Among those who died were two children and their pregnant mother.

On August 2017, a Tebara Transport Limited bus caught fire in Nausori. No one was hurt or injured but the videos uploaded on social media showed the entire bus engulfed in flames within 2-3 minutes, with the passengers in an apparent state of shock.

Another report by the Fiji Sun (07/05/19) highlighted the experience of a tourist from Mexico, who was on a bus that broke down. A replacement bus that came to pick them also broke down shortly after.

According to the article, the tourist claimed “smoke started billowing inside the bus, causing widespread panic as people rushed to get off the bus and had to wait for the driver to open the door”.

The Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) findings indicate that most bus fires are caused by electrical and mechanical problems.

Mr Singh says decades ago, bus fires were rare because aluminum was used as a base for building the buses, but nowadays, most parts of the bus, including the hood and the rear, are made of fiber, which is cheaper, but flammable. Industrial glue is also used to stick the body parts together.

Mr Singh said although there were legislative standards for local bus builders, there were no clear standards for the electrical components. He claimed a lot of the parts are imported from China, such as wires and cables, had not been tested and proven to be safe.

Mr Singh said the engine compartments generated a lot of heat, causing the electrical components to deteriorate and perish over a period of time.
According to Mr Singh, the fire risk was compounded by poor design.

Traditionally, most Fiji buses were designed with open windows. Nowadays, many buses have sliding glass panel windows, with seats accommodating three passengers on one side and two on the other side. When all the seats are taken, the passengers stand in the aisle.

As part of our Wansolwara investigation, this reporter and USP Journalism staff travelled on three of the commonly used buses — one with sliding panel windows and the other with the traditional, wide open windows.

The buses may have passed safety checks but the risks were obvious to this reporter in light of the interview with Mr Singh. There were at least seven windows on most closed buses on each side.

The gap between the windows of the buses this reporter travelled on was about 20cm or at least half an arm’s length. To reach the ceiling fire exit, one would have to be tall or be assisted to climb up.

The strongly-embedded sliding panel windows would also require some force and time to break in the event of a fire. Moreover, the narrow gap between the windows would make it difficult to squeeze through.

There are some completely closed buses with airconditioning and glass windows. These buses have an exit door on the rooftop only. Passengers would have to break the glass windows to escape or reach the rooftop.
This reporter also found that in an open, two-three seater semi-full bus, it takes at least 120 seconds for all the passengers to disembark.

If the bus is filled to capacity with a maximum of 60 people sitting, it takes between 180 and 200 seconds to disembark. This is partly because of the limited aisle space. However, if the bus if full and has about 15 people standing on the isle, it will take double the time to escape, compared to an empty bus.

In the event of a fire, and the ensuing rush and panic, disembarking could take longer. Precious seconds could be lost trying to squeeze through the glass panel windows because of the barriers which most buses have. There could be further delays if the aisle is occupied by standing passengers. This is also the risk of a crush by panicked passengers.

The LTA requires every bus to carry a 2.5kg fire extinguisher while buses with sliding glass panel windows are also required to carry axes.
Mr Singh says Fiji does not have a separate legislation that regulates the design of the buses.

The local manufacturers follow the general rules, that is, the measurement of the spaces between the seats, the width of the window and emergency doors. Most of these buses have a maximum of 60 seated adult. Although majority of the buses are locally made and follow the general design standards set by LTA, there is still a need to re-examine whether imported buses are suitable for Fiji’s roads.

This raises another branch of discussion, which ties down to what the bus operators can provide with the revenue they earn from their business. According to Mr Singh, there is a lack of qualified bus drivers in Fiji and claims authorities issue the license to any “Tom, Dick and Harry”. Another issue is the alleged lack of qualified and ethical bus drivers in Fiji.

Mr Singh says not all bus drivers are trained to use the extinguishers, and that some passengers would steal the extinguishers or axe. The only two local bus manufacturers in Fiji — PA Lal and Ba Body Builders — did not respond to interview requests.

According to Mr Singh, most bus operators were barely making enough money to survive. Attempts to get comments from the Fiji Bus Operators Association (FBOA) and National Fire Authority proved futile.

However, according to a report by Fiji One News early this year, Fiji’s bus industry recorded an annual revenue of $150 million per annum, with 4-5 concessions that Government had placed to decrease their expenses.

Although FBOA did not confirm whether the annual revenue given by Fiji Revenue & Customs Service is true, the Association said they were barely making enough money for their businesses to survive, thus an application for a bus fare increase was lodged with the Fijian Competition & Consumer Commission.

Reaction: Land Transport Authority

Responding to Wansolwara, LTA said they had investigated about seven bus fires with, the National Fire Authority and police from 2012 to September 2018.

LTA said electrical and mechanical problems were some of the causes of bus fires as per the investigation findings and safety checks for buses were conducted annually and bi-annually.

“Non-compliant issues during our safety inspection for buses are addressed accordingly with relevant bus operators to ensure it is addressed accordingly before buses are allowed to provide service to the general public. We will discuss findings of the bus fire incident first with the bus owner and relevant authorities before taking any action,” LTA said.

Fitness and safety checks are also conducted by LTA to ensure proper equipment such as fire extinguishers are installed. So far, 1663 buses and 62 bus companies are registered with the Land Transport Authority as of September 17, 2018.

*Monica Aguilar is a final-year journalism student at The University of the South Pacific’s Laucala campus. This article appeared on the front page of Wansolwara‘s 2019 Issue 1.