The Nadi River Rehabilitation Project was unsuccessful when The People’s Alliance party leader Sitiveni Rabuka was Prime Minister because of lack of accountability.

Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said in Parliament that the river diversion project in the 1990s was to realign the Nadi River, however, that did not eventuate.

He also used the example of a building in Nadi Town where the then Government in the 1990s allowed it to be constructed on top of the main drainage system which was now causing flooding problems.

He noted that a number of consultations had recently taken place in relation to the current Nadi flood mitigation project, which was divided into three parts.

Works on the project could not continue during the COVID-19 pandemic because of lockdowns and restrictions in overseas travel by consultants and contractors.

In the 2019-2020 Budget, $7.9 million was allocated for the project which was revised to $5m in the COVID-19 Response Budget.

Of this, $1.6m was utilised.

In the 2020-2021 Budget, $5m was allocated.

One of the components of the project include river widening from Narewa Village to Votualevu.

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