Nasinu Town Council (NTC) is one of the largest municipality in Fiji, but it is also one of the poorest.

The Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Local Government, Housing and Community Development yesterday, Premila Kumar, highlighted this in a meeting with the NTC and the Special Administrators at the council chambers in Nasinu.

Ms Kumar also said Nasinu had the highest number of informal settlements.

She said Government recognised that NTC was not well resourced in terms of rate collection and revenue generation.

“It is for those reasons the Government is also assisting the council,” Minister Kumar said.

“These are funds they can use in providing this service to the informal settlements in Nasinu.

“Unfortunately, I have seen situations in informal settlements where people are not taking ownership and that is a bit disappointing.

“I know in some cases, in some municipal councils we have not reviewed our fees and charges.

“We need to review fees and charges. We need to understand the cost of service delivery. What is required is the financial understanding of what we do so that we do it better. Without money, we cannot function.

“Today, the Government is committed to provide a better service to ratepayers and improve our cities and towns.”

Garbage collection

Ms Kumar said there were informal settlements where garbage collection was provided on a daily basis.

“Despite providing five days service, we have found residents are not able to put their rubbish out in a timely manner and they find it easy to dump it on the roadside or the creek,” she said.

“We already have a Litter Act and there are litter officers on the ground but they cannot be everywhere.”

She highlighted that garbage collection was an essential service and everyone should pay for that service.

“This will be the work of the team of special administrators where we will find the exact cost for garbage disposal,” Ms Kumar said.

Navua town/Nadi City declarations:

Ms Kumar said the declaration of Nadi Town as a city and Navua as a town had to be postponed.

This was because she had appointed the special administrators and wanted them to settle in.

“2019 is almost over, we should be looking at 2020 as a good year for Nadi to be declared as a city,” Ms Kumar said.

Edited by Percy Kean

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