Usamate acknowledges WAF

MINISTER for Infrastructure, Meteorological Services, Lands and Mineral Resources, Jone Usamate has acknowledged the efforts of the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) in restoring normal water supply to the Rewa Delta.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Usamate said WAF staff members conducted thorough investigations and repair works in response to complaints of low pressure and in some cases, no water at all along the delta in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasa.

“WAF had to mobilise its teams to walk the lines, to follow the pipelines along the distribution lines and see whether the water was being supplied and look at areas that needed to be repaired and attend to them,” he said.

“As we speak now, water has been restored at Lomanikoro Village, while burst mains at Lokia Village, Debulu Village and Vanuku Village had been identified and repaired.”

Mr Usamate said WAF staff members had to wade through swamp land to identify pipe leaks, which were causing intermittent water supply to villages such as Nadoi, Nasilai, Vutia and Tavuya.

“I went there and saw what they did and I tip my hat off to the WAF workers for it is dirty work but they still managed to do it.

“There have been a lot of disparaging comments about WAF but seeing how they have worked, I am very thankful that they have been able to restore water to the Rewa Delta.”

WITH the online COVID-19 registration roll, Opposition spokesman for Health Dr Antonio Lalabalavu told Parliament the concern was for people in rural areas who did not have access to the internet because of poor connectivity.

The Health Ministry, he said, should ensure that face to face registration was done in places where people could not access the internet.

“The question then is about those who do not use the internet on a daily basis due to connectivity and do not have a smartphone,” he said.

“I hope the registration process, especially face-toface, is rolled out to the rural areas where 44 per cent of our population resides.”

In his ministerial statement, Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said they anticipated vaccinating frontliners and other vulnerable individuals.

He said an additional 88,800 vaccine doses was expected soon.