GOVERNMENT is looking at the possibility of relocating electric powerlines underground to reduce the impact of cyclones on infrastructure.
Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said access to funding for climate resilience projects was one of many areas the country would benefit.
He cited the burying of powerlines near the Nadi International Airport as an example of climate adaptation that could be extended to other parts of the country.
“Those of us who have visited the North West of Viti Levu, for example, you would have seen the electrical poles, either they were snapped out or tilting to one side,” he said.
“As the CEO FEA had talked about, that 9000 kilometres of electrical cables needed to be checked before they could go live.
“The reality though is, if you put those poles back up again and if we have another Cyclone Winston in two years’ time, we will be doing the same thing over again.
“In terms of resilience, in terms of adaptation, we are looking at measures to how to perhaps go terrestrial. In other words, go underground.
“We cannot underground all the cables at once because it costs a lot of money.
“The reality is as we have done, for example, underground cabling when you come out of Nadi airport, you do not see any overhead electrical cables.
“Similarly, we need to do that with the trunk roots.
“It is an expensive proposition but in the long run, it could turn out to be inexpensive because you are not going to be always repairing poles.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum was responding to questions in Parliament last week from the Opposition about how Fiji will benefit from signing the Paris Agreement.