RESIDENTS occupying the condemned Public Rental Board housing along Mead Rd, Nabua, Suva, have officially been declared squatters.
PRB director Timoci Naleba said the residents had been given ample time to vacate the blocks after they were certified structurally unsafe.
The official notice was issued in September last year and the deadline was later extended to February.
However, only one of the blocks has since been fully vacated.
“We did not extend the timeline for those residents staying at PRB along Mead Rd,” Mr Naleba said.
“So right now, the residents are actually squatting.”
He said the PRB was engaging with organisations to assist the remaining residents, but could not disclose further details at this stage. Mr Naleba reiterated that the board had already declared all PRB estates drug-free zones amid concerns over recent incidents reported from the area.
“It’s a drug-free zone and we don’t condone the use or carrying or trading of drugs in our estates.”
Mr Naleba said residents found with drugs would be removed or evicted from PRB estates.
Minister for Housing and Local Government Maciu Nalumisa had earlier told this newspaper that some residents were unable to leave because they were facing financial difficulties or had nowhere else to go.
More details on assistance for the remaining PRB residents at Mead Rd, Nabua are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Board seeks relocation funds
THE Public Rental Board is trying to secure $200,000 to help relocate tenants who cannot afford to move
out of the structurally unsafe, Minister for Housing and Local Government Maciu Nalumisa said.
The ministry and the board gave tenants until December 2025 to vacate six of the seven blocks after the buildings were certified as structurally unsafe.
The blocks, which are more than 50 years old, initially housed 144 tenants. majority remain at the
site.
“The challenge for us is relocating the tenants,” Mr Nausima said.
“At the same time, the Public Rental Board is looking for vacant flats where. So, they will also be helping
those who would like to relocate to some.”
However, he said those who remained needed to be relocated before demolition
“So those who are still remaining need to be relocated and vacate those flats bbefore the PRB can go in and demolish those buildings because all the buildings have been certified to be structurally unsafe now.”
Mr Nalumisa said some tenants were willing to return to their villages, but needed financial
assistance to do so. He said the board was now looking for funding to assist those tenants who
remained at the Mead Mead Rd flats in Nabua.
The out PRB also carried socio-economic assessments to determine the financial households possible alternative capacity and of identify housing options. about moved 30 out.
