Wreck Blocking Ramp Frustrates Boat Owner

A boat owner in Suva who regularly uses the University of the South Pacific’s (USP) boat ramp in Laucala Bay, is not happy that a boat wreck is blocking the ramp.

It is believed that the wreck has been blocking the ramp for almost a month.

Ramesh Kumar, 72, who owns a boat and uses the ramp, said he had seen the wreck at the ramp weeks ago but was frustrated that no action had been taken to remove it.

“I saw the man who was responsible for towing the boat to the ramp and upon asking him what he was doing, he replied that he was just making money,” Mr Kumar said.

“I have been going fishing for most of my life and I like taking care of the space around the property since that’s the access to the sea and we’ve got to protect it."

“I believe USP must have seen it since it’s their property and it’s there for over a month now, yet nothing has been done to remove it. We can’t use the ramp until the boat is removed.

“The boat is simply old, junk and I doubt it can be repaired, something should be done about it soon.”

He was also concerned about the disposal of rubbish around the property.

“This seems more like a place for a dump now with the amount of rubbish scattered everywhere. People are just misusing this space.”

Suva City Council

Suva City Council Health Inspector, Ashley Lal, said they would liaise with USP to get the boat removed as soon as possible.

“The boat needs to be removed. There are other boat owners who need to access the ramp. We will ask USP to make arrangements for it to be cleared. We will ask them to locate the owner as soon as possible and if they can’t USP will have to get it removed at their own cost,” Mrs Lal said.

“We had a meeting with USP Estates and Infrastructure, and it was cleared that anyone willing to enter the property in terms of parking their boat or anything, they are supposed to go to the Estates & Infrastructure office and follow their procedure to access the property."

“Our next course of action was for USP to put a gate in front of the property and have security, but till now nothing has been done and that is the reason for such condition of the property.”

"She said the area belonged to USP and they cannot take care of the rubbish collection and grass cutting -the whole responsibility is USP’s.”

USP said the area was open and free for the public to use.

“The university has not received any such complaint yet and If there are complaints, University Security will handle them in accordance with the Security Policy and Procedures,” the university stated.

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