Fiji is pursuing a $328 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2024 for the Critical Bridges Resilience Project, reveals documents made public by the ADB.
The proposed project is designed to improve Fiji’s rural and urban transport connectivity by replacing bridges essential to the domestic transport network.
“The continuous economic development of Fiji has brought along an increase in transport traffic but despite steady economic improvement, the quality of infrastructure in Fiji continues to lag significantly behind,” states the ADB.
“The poor state of Fiji’s infrastructure is attributed to some historical factors including, insufficient infrastructure investment, inadequate or incomplete infrastructure plans and implementation programs, limited access to international expertise and constrained technical and management know-how in project preparation and implementation, and reduced sustainability due to lack of resources for operation and maintenance.”
The ADB states transport links are vital to link Fiji’s dispersed communities and enable people and goods to connect through road links.
“However, less than optimal infrastructure leads to higher economic cost, which in turn, undermines business potential and economic opportunities.
“Some impacts on the transportation systems are traffic disruptions due to flooding, an increase in maintenance requirements due to more frequent washouts and the inundation of bridge structures.”
ADB states damage observed in the transport sector included collapsed embankment, eroded slope protection, collapsed bridge approaches, clogged drainage structure, infrastructure degradation, causeway washout.
“A significant increase of heavy trucks on Fiji network causes accelerated deterioration of aging highway and thus imposition of restrictions on some bridges.
“The inadequate capacity of the existing bridges is one of the major factors contributing to the inefficiency of the road network.”
The ADB will carry out a feasibility study between July 8, 2024 and to July 12, 2024, and will provide a grant of $32.9 million towards the project.
