Motorists and residents in Cakaudrove are facing mounting challenges as potholes and unauthorised road humps continue to threaten safety on local roads.
Infrastructure Assistant Minister Naisa Tuinaceva said concerns about road conditions had been raised repeatedly.
He said he would escalate the matter to higher authorities at Fiji Roads Authority.
However, he said, he does not know whether proper procedures were followed when road humps were made in villages.
“Road humps must go through the FRA process – whether that process is being followed or if people are just creating their road humps, I’m not sure,” he said.
Savusavu taxidriver Farookh Mohammed said there was a danger of encountering unauthorised road humps on both gravel and tarsealed roads.
“While driving on gravel roads, I have noticed many places where people are creating their road humps,” he said.
Mr Mohammed said the humps could cause an accident.
“There are no signs, cones or height limits. Even within villages, we come across three or four unofficial road humps. On tarsealed, some even put thick ropes across the road, which makes driving very difficult.”
The Hibiscus Highway has also been under scrutiny for its poor condition.
A concerned citizen, Rodney Simpson, said that despite recent resealing, potholes are appearing just weeks after the work was done.
“It seems like sealing the road is a waste of time if potholes come back so quickly,” he said.
Mr Simpson said there was a serious need to address this.
“If engineers and contractors are properly monitoring the road, it should last several years.”
Fiji Roads Authority Savusavu manager Tevita Waqatoga said they were aware of the issue and had taken steps to address it.
“We use a treatment called to fix potholes. So far, we have treated about 10.8 kilometres,” he said.
Mr Waqatoga said contractors were required by contract to return and fix any problems at their own cost if potholes reappear after resealing.
