A LAB dedicated to testing the quality of road materials will be set up under the new Public Works Department.
Minister for Public Works Ro Filipe Tuisawau said this would be a vital component of the new look PWD.
“There used to be a lab in PWD that used to test the quality of road materials et cetera but that was removed during the removal of PWD,” said Ro Filipe.
“We are working on bringing back those in terms of assessing and monitoring the quality of road works because now they are admitting that it is not up to standard in some areas.
“Maybe some are but that is something that we are working to improve and also be part of the revival of PWD.”
Ro Filipe said FRA would also have a monitoring unit.
“They will include the monitoring and evaluation unit to monitor the quality of materials. It will have a separate budget line with the FRA which was not there before.”
He added that government agencies such as FRA and Water Authority of Fiji would also need to work on managing their resources wisely.
“Even though there is allocated funds for roads and water, it is how we use our resources and how efficiently and effectively we manage them is critical.
“The governance structures or the organisation structures which need to support these works was dismantled over the 16 years.
The overall governance structure to monitor the deliverables of operational organisations such as FRA and WAF is something we are also looking at.”
