Jitesh Patel: Prioritising a Cleaner, Safer Suva

The Suva Retailers Association is actively working to build a cleaner and safer Suva City. Association president, Jitesh Patel says improving the condition of the streets in the city is a leading priority for his organisation.

“The footpaths are in very bad shape,” he said.

“When we walk through Cumming Street, for example, it looks filthy.

“We’re the hub of the Pacific, but the city is not clean.”

Mr Patel says that the Ministry for Local Government has been quick to respond to the issue.

“We were very happy that the Minister for Local Government came down to the streets to look [at the problem] for himself,” he said.

“We went through Cumming Street and Mark Street, and the Minister himself was concerned with the state, so he directed Suva City Council and the relevant authorities to see how we can solve this issue.

“We have a lot of tourist ships coming in, and with 3000 people in Suva, it’s not a good image.”

To help improve the visual appeal of the city, Mr Patel says that his organisation is engaging with the Suva City Council to request some business owners to paint their buildings.

Crimes to be deterred 

Mr Patel also provided an update on the project the Suva Retailers Association embarked on to install CCTV cameras in key business areas to tackle an emerging crime and drug problem in the city.

“It’s a $65,000 project with a major partnership with Bondwell,” he said.

“We negotiated with Bondwell for more than six months now. They are contributing more than 60 per cent of the funding. The rest is provided by the Suva Retailers Association.”

Mr Patel says that the cameras will be installed along Cumming Street, Mark Street, Waimanu Road, Renwick Road, and Nina Street, to support the local police in their efforts to crack down on crime.

“We want crimes to be deterred,” he said.

“Hopefully by the second week of September, we’ll have all these cameras up and running.”

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