Taste Fiji Could End Operations Due to Road Closure, Management Say
The owners of a popular cafe in Nadi is unhappy after the Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) said the access road is being closed.
Taste Fiji lies in Namaka near Namaka Public and Mount Saint Mary’s Schools.
It is popular with both tourists and locals alike.
But the closure of the access road, which is off Cawa Road, may force it to cease operations, says the cafe’s director and head chef Lee Acreman.
Mr Acreman says they would then have no option but to let go of the 20 staff members employed at the cafe.
The cafe’s management on Friday alleged on Facebook that they were not given any time to prepare for the closure. Minister for Local Government, Housing, Environment, Infrastructure and Transport Parveen Bala referred all questions to FRA chief executive officer Jonathan Moore. Mr Moore disputed Mr Acreman’s claim, saying a written notice was issued months ago on the road closure near Taste Fiji Kitchen to construct a new children’s recreational park.
Mr Acreman says three authority officials approached him on Friday without any written formal notice.
“They said it’s no longer going to be a road and they are going to make it into a children’s play park so we now have no access to our premises and we can’t run the restaurant like this,” he said.
“The manner in which they notified us was unprofessional because they just walked into our restaurant to inform us that the road will be closed and now vechicles cannot deliver goods to our restaurant any more.”
In response, Mr Moore said that most of the information by Mr Acreman on the road closure was inaccurate.
He said a notice was issued a few months ago that the road access to the restaurant near the Queens Road would be closed.
“We’ve received information from my officials in Nadi over the road closure and i will be releasing a statement to the media on Monday,” Mr Moore said.
“The road is closed because we’ve seen that it is dangerous for the new children’s recreational that is planned to be built there.”
He added that plans to develop the road into a recreational park were expected to start soon.
It is understood that the cafe’s management are concerned that bringing supplies to the restaurant will become difficult if the road is closed.
They are also worried about the potential revenue loss since customers will no longer have a place to park in the current car park but will have to use Cawa Road.
Mr Moore disputed Mr Acreman’s claim, saying a written notice was issued months ago on the road closure near Taste Fiji Kitchen to construct a new children’s recreational park.