FIJI’S construction sector has recorded a major surge in development, with building permits issued over four years representing $1.82billion in declared construction work, Parliament heard on Wednesday.
Minister for Housing and Local Government Maciu Nalumisa told the Parliament that 5094 building permits were issued between 2022 and 2025, with the value of permitted work rising sharply during the period.
“The annual value of permitted work increased from approximately $306million in 2022 to $630m in 2025,” Mr Nalumisa said. He said the figures demonstrated the scale of physical development taking place across Fiji’s towns and cities and the need to ensure infrastructure kept pace with growth.
“Planning is not intended to prevent development.
“Its purpose is to ensure that development occurs in appropriate locations, meets proper standards and can be supported by the infrastructure and services that communities require.”
Mr Nalumisa said the rapid expansion was creating demand not only for housing but also for commercial developments, roads, drainage, water, wastewater and transport networks.
He said Government was developing a strategic master plan for Viti Levu and detailed plans for major urban corridors to better coordinate land use and infrastructure investment.
He said the Government was also moving to modernise building approvals through the building permit approval system, aimed at replacing fragmented and largely paper-based processes with a coordinated digital system.
He said more than 74,000 physical planning files, some dating back to the 1960s, were held by the Department of Town and Country Planning, with more than 2500 already scanned as part of the digitisation program.
