$90m For Nadi River Project

Nadi Town Council (NTC) board of administrator member Prem Singh con­firmed that a $90 million grant from the government of Japan would assist in the completion of the Nadi River diversion project.

The study was initiated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and is divided into three stages.

Mr Singh was responding to Nadi businessman Anil Gounder, who inquired about the Nadi River di­version study during a community and stakeholders’ meeting at the Nadi Civic Centre on April 27.

The meeting panelists comprised the Minister for Local Govern­ment Maciu Katamotu, Nadi Town Council chief executive officer Muni Reddy, Permanent Secretary for Local Government Seema Shar­ma and the Nadi Board of Special Administrators chair Saliceni Rai­walui.

Businessman Anil Gounder.

Mr Gounder claimed the study had been in the pipeline for the past five to six years .

“Phases A and B were the major ones since ‘A’ is being funded by JICA and they were very eager to start this project for the past three years but the ball is in Govern­ment’s court. They are not able to make decisions , I’ve been told,” he said.

“So, if that project goes ahead, it’s not only solving Nadi Town’s prob­lem. There is a major concern here which is blindsided by the top guys. The tourism entry is Nadi, not the hotels, it’s the roads and the nearby rivers. You can’t access Denarau because the roads are flooded. Why is there a delay, please move on and get it done to alleviate the flood in Nadi Town.”

Mr Singh said JICA was waiting for Phase 2 to be incorporated with Plan A in order to resume works on the project.

“I understand the concerns that people have on this and it has taken JICA and the relevant stakeholders years to come up with this idea of cost of funding. This is something that Ive asked the Minister to take up to the Cabinet-level,” he said.

“I’m reliably informed that there is a $90 million sitting with the Minister for Finance for this pro­ject given by the government of Japan, so fingers crossed, we await that and Im sure that something­will come up in this budget.”

Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president doctor Ram Raju said JICA had made a report that would help prevent flooding in Nadi Town.

As a result, Nadi Town had not had any major flooding since 2012, he said.

“This is partly because the Nadi River has been dredged and the bottleneck areas had been taken care of and retention dams have been built. That has helped in the prevention of flooding in Nadi Town. Stage two and three are yet to happen with a number of bridg­es left, straightening of the river and relocation of villages, so these are not yet there. Hopefully in the next couple of years, we will have those,” he said.

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