The Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) is calling on politicians to stop misinforming Fijians regarding water supply in the country.

This comes after the National Federation Party provisional candidate, Sashi Kiran, insinuated that water meant for Abaca Village, was being sent to Lautoka instead of the village.

She has been labelled by the organisation as irresponsible for this reason.

Authority Chief Executive Officer, Dr Amit Chanan, said a piped water system was installed at the village and this was funded under the Rural Water Supply System in the 2017/2018 Financial Year.

“The village is located approximately 10.8km from WAF’s end of the water main in the Tavakubu Area, and is around 418m above sea level, compared to WAFs highest and biggest Reservoir, which is 115m above sea level,” he said.

“Despite these geographical challenges, the WAF team still ensured that it fulfilled its lease obligations with the local landholders by installing a Rural Water Supply System.

“Ms Kiran’s recent comments appear to be misrepresenting the situation by omitting extremely crucial and relevant information when saying that Abaca Village as resource owners are not being provided water, implying that water is being diverted from them to Lautoka residents.”

Don’t Politicise Issue

Because of this, Dr Chanan is requesting all politicians to refrain from spreading misinformation, adding it would lead to unnecessary and unjust anger towards WAF ground teams.

He said these were hardworking men and women who trek through rough terrain, sometimes over days, to install these rural water systems and maintain our infrastructure.

“We have completed projects like our Waiwai Water Treatment Plant in Ba, and Savusavu and Nabouwalu Water Treatment Plants in the Northern Division, increasing our supply capacity for these areas, directly addressing water issues,” he said.

Apart from these projects, the upcoming Project Viria, funded by the Government to the tune of $270 million, will be completed by mid-next year.

“We have inherited decades-old infrastructure with legacy issues, yet our teams have continued to do an excellent job maintaining these systems,” he said.

“Every single day we strike a balance between maintaining the existing system and investing in new infrastructure to ensure service delivery to Fijians.”

Story by: josefa.babitu@fijisun.com.fj