A dredging project in the Ba River has increased efforts to safeguard the township of Ba and the neighboring communities from flooding.
The dredging works will mitigate flooding with an increased amount of water discharge capacity that would benefit the business sectors in Ba town, sugarcane, crop and livestock farms along the river.
A total of 19 kilometers of river dredging works will be undertaken by the Ministry of Waterways under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Vanua Ko Ba Holdings.
While commissioning the river dredging works in Ba yesterday, Minister for Waterways, Environment and Agriculture, Dr Mahendra Reddy said that dredging works will increase the water discharge capacity of the river during heavy rain.
Minister Reddy reiterated that due to the constant flooding, the water discharge capacity has been diminished and this has caused flooding in the Ba town and adjacent communities.
“The current discharge capacity of Ba River now is around 1570 cubic meters per second which have been reduced to almost half due to the silt material in the Ba River,” he said.
Dr. Reddy further noted that upon the completion of the 19 kilometers of dredging works, around 3.8 million cubic meters of silt would be removed which will increase the water discharge capacity to around 2180 cubic meters per second.
He said this will allow water to quickly move out during the flood.
A spokesperson for Tui Ba and the director of Vanua Ko Ba Holdings, Mr. Manasa Litidanu, said that constant flooding in the Ba town during the annual rainy season has created risks for businesses in the Ba town.
He further expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Tui Ba as the dredging works would provide relief to the communities and farmers adjacent to the river.
"We would like to thank the government for assisting us to dredge this River, as you know, over the years we have been suffering because of floods," he said.
He acknowledged the continuous support from the Ministry of Waterways in their drainage programs and now the dredging of Ba River which will safeguard their farms and homes.