Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am informed by the National Land transport Authority (NLTA) that there are currently six vacancies at the Administrative and Management Level of the NLTA namely in the post of – (i) Deputy Road Transport Commissioner; (ii) Transport Planner; (iii) Transport Controller; (iv) Chief Vehicle Examiner, and (v) Administrative Manager. As regards The Inspectorate and Enforcement Department of the regulator, I am apprised of some 40 vacancies spread over the posts of Chief Road Transport Inspector, Principal Road Transport Inspector, Senior Road Transport Inspector, Road Transport Inspector and Traffic Warden including some 30 vacancies at the level of the Road Transport Inspector per se.

72 I wish to highlight that while some of the vacancies at the Management Level date back to 2019, those in the Inspectorate Cadre have occurred since 2023. The situation, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, undoubtedly showcases a lack of succession planning at the NLTA. The absence of senior officers at administrative and management level impacts significantly on the overall operation of the department, endearing delays in the processing of applications, attending to public complaints and grievances and solving the problems of customers calling daily at the NLTA office. We have seen many articles and outcry among the public in respect to this state of affairs. The state of affairs resulting in the lack of inspectors is even more severe and is reflected everyday in the numerous complaints received from the travelling public in respect of the poor level of service being provided by bus operators along most of the routes throughout the island. My colleagues in the House will know what I am talking about. Kan sat pa la, lera danse. The bus operators are taking advantage of the absence of inspectors to either not observe their established timetable of operation or even not to operate their buses while claiming the full amount of their free travel compensation and other subsidies which I remind the House, amount to some Rs2.5 billion per year. With regard to part (b) of the question, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am informed that all vacancies have already been reported to the Public Service Commission and same will be filled as and when decided by the latter and subject to funds being made available as well. Moreover, what is more surprising is that, since 2023, nothing has been done in respect of the post of Road Transport Inspectors. I am informed that it is only after the dissolution of Parliament on 04 October 2024 that applicants were called for interview by the then Commission which is outright against the principle of good governance and unfortunately, the recruitment exercise will have to be conducted afresh for obvious reasons, therefor entailing further delay in the process notwithstanding the fact that these Road Traffic Inspectors are much needed to redress the state of affairs of the regulator and to assist in the improvement of the poor level of bus transport services across the island like I mentioned earlier. Nevertheless, my Ministry will ensure close follow up for the filling of the aforementioned vacancies within the best possible delay. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to put on record that since I took office at the Ministry, I have had several meetings regarding the shortage of staff at the NLTA and the latter has been urged to come up with concrete

73 measures wit a view to facilitating the recruitment process while ensuring the right person at the right place. I wish to reiterate to the House that my Ministry has already initiated procedures to enlist Management Support Officers (MSOs)to strengthen the NLTA inspectorate pending the recruitment of substantive staff. This is not quite a given because MSOs are supposed to work in office but now, we are deploying them onto the site. So, there is a process to follow to get the approval for this. These MSOs will be daily deployed on bus stations and along bus routes to ensure NLTA presence and Compliance with the schedule of the bus services. Thank you.

The hon. Third Member for Pamplemousses and Triolet! FISHERMEN CARDS – NORTHEN REGION BENEFICIARIES