Plea: Listen, prioritise
has not been supplied for about a week or so.
“When they are not listening to community feedback they will not know how to prioritise.”
The call comes as the authority works around the clock to repair a major burst pipeline in Wailoku. Heavy rainfall for the past week forced a landslip which ruptured the water main pipeline on Savura Road in Wailoku, at around 6pm on Tuesday.
The authority, while pleading for patience, has admitted that it does not have enough water to cater for the request received from the Suva and Lami corridor.
Authority update yesterday
WAF chief operating officer Seru Soderberg is working with Flame Tree Development Ltd and had made progress in rectifying the affected pipelines.
“While acknowledging the surplus in water requests beyond our capacity, we assure the public of our utmost commitment to promptly address these demands, leveraging all available resources,” Mr Soderberg said.
“Our gratitude goes to communities for their patience and understanding during this challenging time.”
The WAF acknowledges the support extended by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) director in providing additional water carting trucks for affected areas.
However, the pace of progress is significantly influenced by the weather.
“To our customers being impacted there are water carting trucks available so please do call in. We ask for your understanding that some of you might be getting delayed services,” he said.
“There are some delays, but water carting will be provided as we work through carrying out this repair work.”
Questions sent to the Minister for Public Works, Meteorological Services, and Transport, Ro Filipe Tuisawau were forwarded to WAF as thousands of Fijian await some form of assurance from Government.
Yesterday, the Minister for Finance Biman Prasad was at the site in Savura inspecting the progress.
NDMO
The emergency committee met on Wednesday night which the Ministry for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Permanent Secretary, Isoa Talemaibua, convened.
This was to discuss plans by Government to ensure the restoration of water for affected citizens.
Line Minister Sakiasi Ditoka, said Hovernment’s priority was to return affected households to normality as soon as possible.
“We need to provide for them so that their lives can carry on as normal. I think that is exactly what we are all working towards,” Mr Ditoka said.
Fiji NDMO director Vasiti Soko also pledged support for WAF during the meeting with the provision of additional water carting trucks to assist water carting efforts in affected areas.