The ice plant in Labasa has been down for months, forcing fishers and vendors to rely on costly private suppliers and affecting fish storage and supply in the Northern Division.
Minister for Fisheries Alitia Bainivalu said “the technical services team of the ministry are working to change the ice plant in Labasa.”
She said once the work was completed, the team would then move to Vanuabalavu for similar maintenance and upgrade works.
She said the ice machines used in Labasa, Wainikoro, Vanuabalavu in Lau and other centres are Taylor brand machines, which the ministry was in the process of phasing out.
Labasa fish vendor Letila Kowau said the ice plant had been repeatedly breaking down for years despite continued repairs.
“It’s been like this for years. They fix it and it goes bad again,” Ms Kowau said.
She said there were growing concerns that the facility may require a completely new plant rather than being subjected to ongoing repairs.
“The Wainikoro fisheries ice plant has also been affected, with maintenance issues and delays in obtaining gas needed for operations contributing to disruptions.”
She said the prolonged outages had left vendors with limited options, forcing them to buy more expensive ice from private suppliers in Labasa.
, which had increased costs and affected livelihoods.
