By SHALENDRA PRASAD

THE Nadi Flood Alleviation Project (NFAP) has been a sitting duck for a number of years, says Nadi Chamber of Commerce & Industry president Lawrence Kumar.

He said, despite securing the $400 million funding for the proposed project from the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), there has been no physical progress on the ground so far.

“People of Nadi continue to suffer and business houses in the township are incurring huge losses due to flooding,” Mr Kumar complained.

He said the recent floods which have brought huge losses to the Nadi business community could have been easily avoided if the NFAP, which is expected to be implemented in two stages, was carried out in a timely manner.

Mr Kumar said the Nadi River should have at least been dredged if there was a delay in the NFAP as this would have cleared up the Nadi River mouth enabling a better flow of flood water thus avoiding the recent floods experienced in the last couple of days.

“As far as I see, there is no strong will to move this project forward. I have been following up on the project update for more than four years, right from the time the previous government was in power and the current government but have only been given false assurances so far.

“With no coverage for flood insurance, businesses continue to risk incurring more losses during the cyclone season which is the time Nadi is prone to floods every year.”

The NFAP is aimed at strengthening flood prevention measures and reduction of flood risk by constructing, among others, drainage facilities, embankments, and reservoirs for Nadi town located in the lower reaches of Nadi River.

The project will involve a combination of structural and non-structural measures to achieve, in a cost-effective manner, a level of flood hazard protection for the Nadi town and the lower Nadi River floodplain that is desired and accepted by stakeholders.

It is the largest climate resilience project for Fiji which will reduce economic and social losses to the economy given Nadi’s strategic role in the tourism sector and a main gateway for Fiji to the world.

Meanwhile, Mr Kumar is seeking an update on the NFAP progress work from the Ministry of Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways, Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Local Government and the Nadi Town Council respectively.

ENDS…