LAUTOKA Residents and Ratepayers Association president Narayan Reddy says the multi-million-dollar Lautoka swimming pool is close to being completed.
He said a few features remain to be installed before residents could finally enjoy the facility.
“Everything is there,” said Mr Reddy. “One of the things that is left to be installed is the filtration system. Apart from that, it is ready to use.”
Mr Reddy said the swimming pool had been a longstanding issue that needed to be resolved once and for all.
“I personally think that the only reason this project didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to be is because the money did not come to the (Lautoka City) council.
“So, really nothing went wrong, only the money did not come.
“We should be asking the people responsible for the money at that time, why it did not come?”
An account of how government funds for the project were distributed between 2017 and 2020 was revealed by former LCC horticulturalist Shri Charan recently.
Mr Charan said the amount being stated by the authorities was $12.6million when in fact only $5.5m was received by the council.
Questions sent to former minister for economy Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum have remained unanswered.
In a response to queries on the issue, Minister for Local Government Maciu Nalumisa said he would respond once more information was gathered about Mr Charan’s claims.
