Hazardous bus shelter

ANY bus shelter is warmly appreciated by the travelling public as a good percentage of the commuters rely on public transport.

The bus shelters will add to commuters’ comfort and accessibility to bus routes and the areas that has been prioritised are mostly in front of schools, health centres and busy intersections.

Our tropical weather is normally extreme during the summer months and more hours of sunshine are enjoyed and at times accompanied with constant heavy rain. I believe that the initiative taken by the Fiji Roads Authority some years ago was to construct another 84 bus shelters and most of it are now completed.

However, the focus of the organisation was only on the new ones and the existing bus shelters lacked repairs and maintenance and the deteriorated structures now is a potential hazard to the public.

There are a couple of the old wooden ones along the Suva and Nausori corridor that needs immediate attention but the one in front of the Fiji National University in Samabula is the most hazardous edifice. The entire structure looks weak and all the timber portion is in a decay and decomposing state.

I believe the corrugated iron roofing sheet is merely attached to the wooden rafters with a few large cracks that cannot contain the stormwater and do not provide any protection from the rain.

The metal seats have corroded and lost its bonding with the frame and sharp edges are protruding that can cause injuries.

The entire infrastructure has disintegrated. There are two iron rods welded from the rear of the bus shelter to the fence of the university and that is keeping the framework from collapsing.

If there are no plans by the Fiji Roads Authority to maintain the bus shelter and it must be demolished for public safety.