Major plans to address flooding and drainage problems around the country have been announced by the government.
The government has established a new Ministry of Waterways to manage the maintenance of drainage systems and waterways in Fiji, including creeks and rivers.
The Ministry will be establishing new regulations to manage urban drainage systems and carry out specific tasks such as hydrological forecasting, rural irrigation and waterway dredging.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama will soon announce the new Minister for Waterways.
A total sum of $24.2 million is provided for the Ministry of Waterways in the 2017‑2018 budget, of which $19.2 million is capital related.
A key project that will be undertaken by the new Ministry is the Nadi River Flood Alleviation Project and $10 million has been allocated for this project.
The allocation will fund capacity development intiatives, geotechnical investigations, surveys and project management consultancy.
$7 million has been allocated for Drainage and Flood Protection which involves works to reduce flood risk in low lying agricultural farming areas by dredging rivers, carrying out engineering investigations and designs, constructing river bank boulders to prevent coastal erosion and conducting necessary environment impact assessments.
$1.3 million has been set aside for Municipals Councils to upgrade drains and creeks to mitigate flood risk in urban and peri–urban areas.
The Drainage Subsidy has been allocated $3 million.
This involves the rehabilitation of existing sugarcane farm drainage systems within the cane growing and major agricultural farming regions around the country to minimise flood risk and crop damage.
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