Drainage works resolve flooding woes for residents of Nasoso Settlement
With the rising effects of climate change and aftermath of recent cyclones in Fiji, residents of Nasoso Settlement, Nadi commended the Government for their efforts to safeguard their households and farms.
This comes after the completion of a drainage and flood mitigation works by the Ministry of Waterways for Nasoso residents in Nadi. It is expected to benefit more than 30 households and at least three farmers.
Responding timely to addressing the flooding woes of Fijian communities in the rural and maritime settlements, the Ministry of Waterways continues to prioritise the safety measures for these rural households to further address flooding concerns.
The ministry under the “Drainage for Rural residential” programme has been assisting communities and villages all around the country to ensure that households are safe guarded and agricultural production is not affected. According to 57-year-old Rajesh Kumar who is also an advisory counsellor, the drainage works carried out by the Waterways Ministry provided massive relief from flooding for the communities.
“The drainage works have really solved the concerns for flooding for the residents here in this settlement and even during the recent flooding, there was less water in the settlement compared to what it used to be before during the normal rainy season,” he said. He said when there was continuous rain, the drains get blocked because of silt, which allowed water to enter houses. At times about 15 houses got flooded due to improper drainage.
Mr Kumar said residents and farmers were now happy with the works done, which allows them to continue their farming activities.
Mr Kumar further acknowledged the Government’s continuous effort to assist them and their communities in terms of safeguarding them from the recent floods.
“We all are satisfied and we thank the Ministry of Waterways for providing such a relief assistance for us here. However we understand that since last month the country has been facing circumstances of natural disaster and during this, we were relieved because there was less flooding,” he said.
Meanwhile the Minister for Waterways, Environment and Agriculture Mahendra Reddy said safeguarding and protecting communities remains a key priority for the ministry. Mr Reddy said the core objective of the Government was to ensure that communities around the country were well protected and equal opportunity was provided to them in terms of their growth and development in their agenda.
Mr Reddy further said that the ministry would continue to assist rural households with their drainage and flood mitigation programme and ensure that no communities were left behind.