24 Nov 2015

Number of imported vehicles in Kiribati drops

12:29 pm on 24 November 2015

The number of imported vehicles in Kiribati has dropped this year.

A road in Kiribati, taken by VSA volunteer 2014-2015

A road in Kiribati Photo: Shifani Sood

The two main councils, Tarawa Urban Council and Betio Town Council have attributed this drop to the ongoing road rehabilitation, and the fragile condition of the road.

On South Tarawa alone, motor vehicles, which also included motorcycles, was around 1,158 in 2012. That number has dropped to 1,013 this year.

As for the Betio Town Council, there were 372 motor vehicles last year but it decreased to 272.

The two councils say they are aware of the need to control the number of imported vehicles, because the roads are very narrow, but they say there is no law to give them power to do that.

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