Nadi drainage needs long term answer: Ali
The drainage problems within the Nadi town boundaries are in need of a permanent solution.
This comment came from Nadi Town Council special administrator, Robin Ali after complaints were highlighted to him about drainage problems faced by residents.
Mr Ali was responding because of complaints of a ratepayer who alleged that drainage problems which had been reported to the council had not been attended to.
One of the residents, 55-year-old Mehmuda Khan had been living with her family at Hospital Road in Nadi for more than 40 years.
“The blocked drains behind our home have been there for ages and despite asking the council to fix them they keep coming up with all sorts of excuses,” Ms Khan said. Their home is located on a seven acre native land lease and the family paid $490 annually for town rates. Ms Khan said this problem was not good for her renting flats because tenants were moving out of their flats.
“The drains are full of mud and as you can see that grass have started to grow in it, which blocks the flow of water which floods into our compound,” she said.
Mr Ali said that it was not the first complaint they had received but the council was looking at ways to deal with the problem permanently. “We are not ignoring them but we are working towards is trying to find a permanent solution, I have sent down workers to clean those drains but still it wasn’t enough to fix the problem, its needs a permanent solution.”
Humid weather to follow rains: Kumar
With the cancellation of the ‘heavy rain alert’, the public have been advised to keep hydrated as hot humid conditions will follow now. Director Meteorology Ravind Kumar said temperatures would soar to the mid 30s in some places. “With the moisture around and heating in the morning, expect hot and humid conditions to prevail in the coming days with daytime temperature rising to the mid thirties in some places,” Mr Kumar said. “The public are advised to keep hydrated and minimise exposure to the heat.”
Flooding caused by poor drainage: Tagicakibau
The flooding of most municipal areas in the Western Division was mainly due to poor drainage, says Commissioner Western Manasa Tagicakibau.
Mr Tagicakibau said the areas greatly affected were Rakiraki, Tavua and Ba. Infrastructure works in these areas have already begun. “Rakiraki town was the most affected; Tavua and Ba had flash flooding in some areas,” he said. “We saw that the municipal areas had drainage problems which is the main reason they were easily flooded. Right now we are working on fixing the roads and bridges that have been damaged.”
Edited by Rusiate Mataika