LAUTOKA Ratepayers and Residents Association president Narayan Reddy says the replacement of the Sabeto Bridge and Viseisei Bridge has been long overdue.
Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel yesterday announced that civil works are expected to commence in the new financial year on the replacement of four critical bridges — the Lami Bridge at Suvavou, Medraukutu Bridge near Delainavesi, Sabeto Bridge, and Viseisei Bridge linking Nadi and Lautoka.
He said a total of $41.5 million is budgeted for the project in the new financial year.
“The full project cost is estimated at around $400 million ($US170m), and funding has already been secured through the ADB (Asian Development Bank) and the World Bank,” Mr Immanuel said.
“These bridges are critical assets that connect our major towns and cities along the Queens Highway.
“We are ensuring that these new bridges are future-proofed and resilient. The new designs include wider spans, increased load capacity, and, most importantly, enhance climate resilience.”
In response, Mr Reddy said apart from the long-overdue maintenance work for Sabeto and Viseisei bridges, there were also other bridges that needed urgent replacement in Lautoka.
“These two bridges – Sabeto and Viseisei bridges – have been long overdue, but what happened to the Vitogo and Matawalu bridges,” Mr Reddy said.
“If you look at Matawalu and Vitogo bridges, every year they do the repair work for these two bridges.
“Vitogo Bridge, the railing has been missing for the past one and a half years. The bridge will have a big pothole where you can see the water flowing underneath every now and then and Fiji Roads Authority will just come and patch that up.
“That even is not enough for the budget to look after the bridges in Lautoka.”
