Nadi Ratepayers Owe Council Million Plus

Nadi residents owe $1.8million in town rates, says Nadi and Sigatoka special administrator, Adish Naidu.

Mr Naidu said the ratepayers in Sigatoka and Nadi had been given options to pay their town rates.

He understands that the situation of Nadi ratepayers was the effect of COVID-19 which continued to be a hindrance in their lives.

There are 246 ratepayers in Sigatoka and 2900 in Nadi.

“For Sigatoka, they are okay with only a few taking their time to pay. They have made arrangements with us,” Mr Naidu said.

“In Nadi, there are arrears of $1.8milion so we are still in collecting mode. The rates are from about five years ago leading up to 2020.

“We are trying to help them until a given date because COVID-19 had come in and we know everyone is struggling.

“COVID-19 has obviously been in the way for many of the businesses here and of course ratepayers who also run businesses were also hurt but we give them an opportunity to make arrangements for payment.”

He said a special rates payment had been offered to all ratepayers.

“If they pay their rates within the first month then they get a special seven per cent discount and if they pay before the second month they get a five per cent discount.

“We must collect these payments because we have to run the council otherwise we cannot provide council services,” he added.

$1m in rates pending in Ba

Ratepayers also owe $1million to the Ba Town Council.

Council’s chief executive officer, Priya Singh yesterday said there are a total of 1666 ratepayers in Ba.

“A lot of ratepayers have delayed their payments due to cash flow issues,” said Ms Singh.

“However, quite a number of them have submitted their payment plans to clear their dues.”

She said while the effects of COVID-19 continued to take its toll, Ba residents were being urged to make use of the opportunity the council had offered in providing a discount to pay their individual rates.

“Ba Town Council has offered a seven per cent discount on current rates and it will be applicable only if the current rates and the arrears are fully cleared by September 30,” she said.

She said they were not charging garbage fees and continued to provide the service to all ratepayers.

She urged Ba residents to pay their rates to allow the council to carry out their respective services.

Edited by Losirene Lacanivalu

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