The sealing of Kalekana Road, three kilometres outside Lami Town, has been referred to by a Kalekana elder as “a change” they had been looking forward to.

“The change has been long coming and we are pleased with the development,” said Vava clan chief in the settlement Kilioni Banivalu.

The rehabilitation work was carried out by Fulton Hogan Hiways (FHH), a company contracted by the Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) to carry out its road maintenance programme in the Central, Northern and Eastern divisions.

“We may not be materialistically wealthy, but this is something that will make our lives easier whether it’s travelling in a vehicle or walking in wet weather with bags of groceries to our homes,” Mr Banivalu said.

The sealing of the complete length of the 830-metre community road will benefit more than 1000 residents of the densely populated Kalekana Settlement.

Fiji Roads Authority acting chief executive officer, Robert Sen, said that FRA had a programme to seal other unsealed roads in the near future as per the planned programme for the 2017-2018 Financial Year.

FHH Project Engineer Richa Pillay said that the unsealed surface was “sealed and shaped to achieve a suitable crossfall or shape with an overlay of 150 millimetres to allow for shape correction.”

The 12 men crew also upgraded the drainage system along the full length of the road and installed new culverts to allow for improved storm water discharge.

Ms Pillay said work included the “widening of the existing turning area to allow access to all vehicle types.”

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