Back in History | Dredging saves farms from flooding

Massive destruction of crops and livestock could have occurred in the Navua area during a flood had it not been for the extensive dredging carried out by the Government in the Navua River in 1986.

These words were echoed by a large cross-section of the farming community in the Navua basin, according to an article published by The Fiji Times on May 2 that year.

The article stated that harvesting of mature rice and other crops had been in progress, and some farmers had worked from dawn until dusk. There was no visible significant damage to the Navua River, with the overall picture being particularly encouraging.

Greg Blakeney, who was the manager of the Navua commercial farm, Consolidated Agriculture Fiji Ltd, said the dredging allowed water to get away much quicker than it normally did, and the river did not break its banks.

“Drainage works, flood protection banks, and floodgates built by the Government had a significant effect on reducing flooding in the area,” Mr Blakeney said.

He said his company had been catching up with crop harvesting to recover the time lost during flooding and was confident of recovering most mature crops by using mechanised equipment.

The Navua Advisory Council said hundreds of hectares of valuable rice crops were saved because of the present depth of the Navua River.

“Farmers took precautions by moving their harvested crops and animals to higher ground as soon as warnings were issued,” the council said.

“Many families, because of experience with previous floods, moved quickly to evacuation centres.”

Prominent Vunibau farmer Jone Waqanidrola said at the time he was confident of harvesting all his Uttam rice crop.

Mr Waqanidrola thanked the Government for dredging the river and for the introduction of the dwarfed Uttam rice variety, which withstood strong winds and heavy rain.

He said it was a miracle that floodwaters did not reach his village of Vunibau, although the village is situated close to the Navua River bank.