Tabar: Major overhaul in PMV system looming

Caption:  Transport Minister Malachi Tabar

By MATTHEW VARI

Wednesday, July 30, 2014 (Midweek Chronicle, PNG)

IN response to recent queries by the media on plans and preparations by the Department of Transport, in terms of addressing the issues associated with the Public Motor Vehicle (PMV) system in Port Moresby.

Minister for Transport Malachi Tabar has revealed his department’s plans to improve the transportation system in the nation’s capital in light of the hosting of the 2015 South Pacific Games, the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, and other international meets in the coming years.

The conference follows the outcomes of a meeting with PMV and taxi operator in Port Moresby last week Friday, where the department revealed new plans and requirement as the legal regulator of the sector in the country.

“The government has done its best to put in policies and guidelines, and with the RTA (Road Traffic Authority) being passed through to look after the functions of all road traffic activities, the PMV system needs to change also,” Minister Tabar said.

“We have met with operators and informed tem of the changes we want to make, which will occur if they comply and are a part of it.”

“We have got so many complaints of lack of cleanliness of PMVs and taxies- we have to improve the efficiency and effectiveness.”

He said that such was the state of the public transport system that companies have begun their own transportation fleets for their workers because of the unreliable PMV system.

“The PMV transport system is very much the same to when I first came to the city in 1979,” Tabar said.

New initiatives to be undertaken in the coming months to revamp the system will include:

· PMV owners will now have affiliate in a franchise arrangement with four of five companies that are planned to be setup to run the day to operations of vehicles placed under them- to fuel, repair, provide communication systems, and maintain quality service under the banner of the various operating companies.
· Department to instruct the eventual replacement of the familiar 25 seater buses and encourage the bigger 70 seater bus models, similar to what NCDC is running in the city.
· Designated lanes to be given to PMVs to operate on.
· In a strict change to be initiated- all vehicles will undergo 6 monthly inspection requirements at government run depots to ensure transparency in vehicle checks- something the minister said was abused by most private inspection stations.

Minister Tabar called on all operators to work with the department through the new Road Traffic Authority (RTA) to work with the new guidelines that will be implemented in the coming months with awareness on the new changes.