With Fulton Hogan’s parent company being one of the largest road maintenance businesses in New Zealand, Fiji gets great benefit on the expertise that is not always available in Fiji, says Bill Caradus.

The Fulton Hogan Hiways joint venture general manager was speaking about team of five New Zealand road workers who are specialists in sealing techniques.

They are presently working on a 7.5-kilometre stretch of road at Lodoni, Tailevu and will be in Fiji for two months with further jobs in both Suva and Ovalau planned before returning to New Zealand.

Mr Caradus said while their first priority was the work, they were also in Fiji to build capacity for the 11 joint venture crew who are working alongside them.

“This is an excellent opportunity for our staff; this is a highly technical business that is becoming more sophisticated and access to this information will definitely improve our performance,” he said.

Mr Caradus said the NZ crew was impressed with the locals.

“To further this capacity-building, the company expects to send two of our road foremen over to New Zealand next year to gain further experience that they would share with the crews on their return,” he said.

Capacity-building is of major importance at Fulton Hogan Hiways and they are working closely with the Fiji Road Authority towards this end.

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