Public bus owners with their drivers should both be criminally charged if there is evidence of the use of defective transport that compromises road safety.

That is the view of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Customs and Revenue, Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio in an exclusive interview with the Samoa Observer this week, following the bus crash at Malifa on Monday this week which claimed the life of a 66-year-old man. 

"There needs to be regular registrations and inspections to check the conditions of these buses and whether they are fit to be on the road," said Tuala. "They may be checking just the engine of the bus, but they also need to look at how the bus is built and the body of the buses whether it's secure and safe to be on the road. 

"This [bus crash] has happened so often, I already asked for a report from L.T.A. [Land Transport Authority] and Police about this incident. I believe that if these buses are not fit to be on the road, they should never be allowed to be on the road. 

"Accidents happen because there's no enforcement of the law to ensure that if the owners of these buses are not complying with the regulations, then they should not be on the road. These can save many lives and avoid any similar accidents from happening again. I also believe the driver and the owner of the bus should be charged criminally."

Tuala said tougher measures should be introduced by the Land Transport Authority (L.T.A.) to regulate the use of Samoa's iconic wooden frame public buses and for crashes to be thoroughly investigated.

"Accidents such as the one that happened this week and recent similar accidents should be investigated," said the Acting Prime Minister. "This has happened far too often and the L.T.A. should make it their top priority and responsibility to check the body of these buses. 

"They should also review the process of registration and how often they carry out inspections in a year."

The L.T.A. Chief Executive Officer, Galumalemana Titi Tutuvanu-Schwalger said in an email on Tuesday this week in response to questions from this newspaper that public transport buses are inspected four times a year, which ensures their "warrant of fitness" are regularly checked. 

She also revealed that the bus that crashed with over 30 passengers on Monday morning at Malifa was not supposed to be on the road as it failed the authority's inspection. 

"The enforcement of vehicles including buses abiding to our traffic laws are the responsibility of the Police. L.T.A. are only responsible for the inspection of vehicles as part of our vehicle registration functions," said Galumalemana. "The bus with license plate number MO123 that was involved in a crash at Malifa on 2^nd October 2023 around 8 am, has failed L.T.A. inspection.

"The certifying officers have inspected the bus thoroughly in accordance with their check sheet. There were four (4) items on the inspection sheet of the bus (license MO 123) that did not meet the required standards hence the bus did not pass the L.T.A. inspection."