THE Fiji Government will need between $900million and more than $1billion to deliver the Nadi Flood Alleviation Project, a government official has revealed.
Ministry of Strategic Planning principal project co-ordinator Ravikash Reddy made the revelation during a stakeholder consultation on the proposed Nadi City Declaration on Friday.
His comments followed concerns raised by Nadi resident Esira Bosevakaturaga, who questioned how Nadi could be declared a city while some areas continued to experience flooding and poor drainage.
Mr Bosevakaturaga cited Nawaka and other flood-prone areas and asked whether the problems would be addressed before or after Nadi attained city status.
In response, Mr Reddy said the Nadi Flood Alleviation Project had undergone multiple studies since the 1990s, including feasibility studies and assessments of possible solutions.
He said the work had received support from development partners, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP).
“But to date to deliver this, the interventions that were outlined; we have just recently met with the development partners,” he said.
“And it will cost Government between $900million to over a billion dollars.
“So, as we all know our fiscal space and we have called for a permanent secretary roundtable meeting last week to strategise what can be delivered in the initial packages.”
He said the Government was considering recommendations for a revised project that would prioritise lower-cost interventions that could be delivered in the short term.
“For that, the drainage works and the old Nadi Back Road project to start off with.”
Mr Reddy said the Government could not immediately afford to implement a project costing about $1billion, warning that pursuing the full project without a more affordable approach could result in further delays.
“If we see that we need to deliver a project worth $1billion, immediately we cannot deliver and we will keep planning this project for another 10 to 15 years.”
He said the Government was shifting its focus towards starting work within a year, with the proposed drainage improvements intended to address flash flooding in areas where water flowed towards Namaka Public School and the Nadi International Airport.
