Timely payments have been made, Kuruleca confirms – FBC News

The Ministry of Education has paid Vodafone Fiji Limited the difference in bus fares under the new fares that came into effect on September 1.

This was confirmed by Permanent Secretary of Education Selina Kuruleca.

Kuruleca said the hardworking team at the ministry has gone through the necessary financial and legal processes to ensure they meet the timely payment of the difference in rates.

He says as agreed between stakeholders, this will be made to Vodafone Fiji at the end of each month.

Kuruleca assures parents, guardians and children that payment has only been made after the reconciliation of the number of ticks for both the blue and yellow bus cards has been completed.

She highlights that when the new rates came into effect in September, the verified reconciliation data was sent to the MoE in the first week of October.

She stressed that after further verification processes within the MoE guidelines, payments for the difference in rates were completed on October 15.

Kuruleca adds that as they move forward, they will continue to work with all our stakeholders to improve our operations.

As of Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 103,321 students were assisted through the Transportation Assistance Program.

There are 62,988 students receiving e-transport assistance on the Blue subsidized cards, while 40,333 are on RSL transportation assistance.

Top-ups of blue subsidized cards by eligible Blue Card holders for term 3 2024 were open from September 3, 2024.