Participants at the 10th National Transport Consultative Forum (NTCF) were informed today that Fiji’s amended Marine Act will be in place by February next year.
Speaking at the forum, Chief Executive Officer for the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF), Neale Slack said that the Marine Act in the last 25 years had not undergone an extensive review to modernise and harmonise the Act with international and domestic legislation.
“The new Marine Act will assist MSAF to serve the seafaring community of Fiji more efficiently and effectively, result in modern, practical and adaptable legislation for the maritime industry, continuously support improvement in overall maritime safety and operations, ensure vessel owners are more responsible and allow authorities to set applicable charges, fess and penalties,” he said.
“Some of the positive outcomes include the factoring in of current pressing issues, and the forecasting of future changes in the industry.”
Mr Slack also said that the MSAF was fortunate to have the support of the Ministry of Works, Transport and Public Utilities to drive the reforms of the industry which included the recent approval by Cabinet to review the Fiji Marine Act of 1986 which will result in a more modernised and more practical revised legislation.
“The objective of the review is to identify and resolve gaps in the current maritime legislation, proactively seek out stakeholder engagement, input and recommendations, update Fiji marine laws with international standards and bring it into harmony with relevant local legislation,” he said.
“The review also has the objective of achieving an updated and effective principal marine legislation that will cater for the current and foreseeable future needs of Fiji’s Maritime sector and public demand, seek stakeholder involvement in policing of principle marine legislation and establish a mechanism for ongoing review and update of regulations to ensure relevance.”
Highlighting some of the constraints faced with regards to the review of the Marine Act, Mr Slack said that there was a lack of will in the previous years to review the Act, lack of foresight and expertise and abuse of authority by some Fiji Island Maritime Safety Authority staff.