Street Hazards

Satish Nakched , Suva

It is noted with great concern that some footpaths in the Capital City have deteriorated which can cause injury to the pedestrians.

There are chamber boxes with a rusted top plate with sharp edges large enough for a foot to go through and these hazards are scattered everywhere notably in Mark Street and Cumming Street within the boundaries of the city area.

At places, the chamber boxes have a drop of about two inches from the surface of the walkway and had caught a lot of unsuspecting people and have caused discomfort. Suva has a huge working population, and this number swells towards the end of the week with the influx of the shoppers. On Saturdays along the popular shopping streets, it is almost impossible to walk straight and one has to go through by bumping and colliding while making your way through.

The situation worsens during the wet weather as it becomes very difficult to see a yard in front of you and one has to go with the pedestrian flow.

Due to the poor visibility, the risk of sustaining injuries is high due to the poor condition of the pavements at some locations. These hazards have been there for some time now and due to the neglect and with no repairs and maintenance the level of risk is escalating.

The undulating street footpaths and the pavement cracks stand out as a sore thumb for the public and it is noticed quickly and gives the city a poor image.

Apart from the locals, there is an influx of the tourist liners visiting the capital city and reflects on the infrastructure of the port of call.

The administrators of the city wish to convert the city into 'Destination Suva' theme and a lot of work must go into implementing the improvement process to make the streets of Suva safe again.