The Nadi business community is calling for a review of nightclub hours along Martintar, one of the busiest stretches in the region.
Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dr Ram Raju said several residents had raised concerns over a long period about being disturbed by drunkards and loud music.
“NCCI had at one stage supported the calls by nightclub operators to have extended hours of operations and we felt the 1am closure was a bit early,” he said.
“Prior to COVID in 2019, the nightclubs were allowed to operate till 5am which actually surprised us.
“The permit to allow until 5am was incomprehensible.”
He said in a meeting held with the operators in 2017, the nightclub owners guaranteed that they would ensure crowd control.
“Some of the operators mentioned that they would ensure patrons will be ferried to their respective homes and none will be allowed to loiter around.
“COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise when all the nightclubs had to close.
“Not a single issue and everyone enjoyed their early morning workouts and early morning shopping.
“Now that is no more with the return of early morning closures of nightclubs. Fiji is perhaps the only place in the Pacific at least that allows such late opening hours.”
He added churches and other organisations had shared similar views in the past.
“Any sane person will also agree that the nightclub operating hours have to be reviewed with some urgency. The nightclubs continue to serve drinks till the wee hours of the morning and some nightclubs are so dark that you can hardly identify a person a foot away.”
