A BUS company servicing an area of 500 families stopped operations yesterday citing bad road conditions.
Tebara Transport Limited stopped bus services from Tawakelevu junction to Lokia landing in Koronivia, Nausori, saying it will only resume services when the road is repaired.
Company general supervisor Krishna Maharaj said the road had been in bad condition since last week.
"Six of our buses servicing the area have faced constant damage as a result of poor road conditions. Fixing the buses costs a lot of money," Mr Maharaj said.
Lokia resident Petero Kaveni said children attending school and villagers taking their produce to the market were facing a lot of difficulties.
"They will have to walk nearly five kilometres every morning to catch the bus. This will be very difficult," Mr Kaveni said.
He said as a result some parents had decided not to send their children to school until bus services resumed.
The Nakaikogo Sanatan Dharam Primary School in Koronivia confirmed that about 180 students from Tawakelevu junction to Lokia landing attend the school.
Another resident, Sera Moce, said there were a lot of senior citizens and sickly people living in the areas and would face a lot of difficulties going to hospitals. Meanwhile, Fiji Road Authority spokesman Mark Rudge said they awarded a contract to Fairdeal Earthmoving Contractors Limited to carry out improvements to the road.
"They have started the work and have completed some of the preparatory work down to the landing. We have now instructed them to concentrate their efforts on the worst sections before proceeding with the overall completion of the project," Mr Rudge said.