Identification Of New Suva Port Costs $2.3M

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has given a $2.3 mil­lion ($US1.1m) grant to fund the feasibility study to identify the potential site for the new Suva Port.

This follows the Fijian Government’s seeking ADB’s sup­port to conduct the strategic review of its development options.

“Development options include identifying a new site to relocate Suva Port and or shifting some key operations to a new location,” ADB regional director Masayuki Tachiiri said.

The four key deliverables of this study include assessment of current Suva port condition and operations, review of existing maritime policy and regulatory framework, port de­velopment options and scoping, and project preparation activities.

Feasibility study

According to Mr Tachiiri intsed in August 2020 for the feasibil­ity study. Such is expected to be ready by April next year however, COVID-19 may cause some delays.

“The feasibility study is ongo­ing under the guidance of the high level steering committee formed under the project comprising of the Ministry of Economy (MOE), Fiji Ports Corporation Limited (FPCL) and ADB,” he said.

“Current and future require­ments work at the existing port and growth will define the size and scale of a new one.”

Meanwhile the project depends on fiscal space for major capital works.

Mr Tachiiri said from experience, projects of this scale take at least five to seven years for construction and to operationalise.

“Study will propose initial imple­mentation plan to Government to decide on phasing or implementa­tion approach until the feasibility study is completed and presented,” he said.

The feasibility study consultants are working closely with MOE, FPCL and other key stakeholders.

MOE is an executing agency of this project.

Workshops are planned at differ­ent stages of study to consult with stakeholders with the final work­shop penciled to be held in April 2021 where final findings of the study will be presented.

On the total cost of the relocation, Mr Tachiiri said it was too early to predict cost of the new Suva port but based on their experience in other countries it will be in a few hundred million US dollars.

Feedback: lusiana.tuimaisala@fijisun.com.fj