More than 300 residents of Yaladro and Garampani in Tavua will no longer have to worry about crossing the flooded road to access Tavua town during the rainy season.
This after the recent de-silting carried out in the main drains and settlement drains by the Ministry of Waterways that will benefit close to 300 household, farmers and school children.
The advisory counsellor for the settlement, Mr Paras Ram Reddy, said Yaladro road which is used by the residents of Garampani and Yaladro often get flooded during the rainy days as the drains in the settlement were silted with soil and sand due to water runoff.
He said flooded roads would further impede the bus services in the community as a result of continuous rain for more than two days.
“Before this drainage assistance, the roads used to get flooded as water runoffs from the farms and gets clogged on the roads since the existing drains were all silted with soil which usually leads to flooding,” he said.
Mr Reddy said due to the flooded roads and the halt of the transportation services, farmers from the settlements get affected in the transportation of their produce to the market.
“Most of the residents from these areas are farmers and they mostly depend on farming for their household income.
“During the times when the area gets flooded, the produce does not reach the market and goes to waste which affects their family. Not only this, but school children also do not attend school,” he said.
The advisory counsellor said the drainage work will directly benefit more than 300 residents from the two settlements who access the roads for their daily activities.
To address these concerns, the Ministry of Waterways under the “Drainage for Rural residential” program has assisted the communities with de-silting works to safeguard their settlement from the threat of flooding and to also ensure that their daily activities are not affected.
The Ministry of Waterways has completed a total of 4000 meters of desilting works in the area to address the issue of flooding.
The Minister for Waterways, Environment and Agriculture Hon. Dr Mahendra Reddy said their services such as drainage works will continue despite various challenges faced by the Ministry due to COVID 19 restriction.
Minister Reddy said their agenda to protect and safeguard communities will not shatter but will remain as priority for Fijian to have access to all public services.
He said the core objective of the Government is to ensure that communities around the country are well protected from floods given the restriction of movement due to the pandemic.
Minister Reddy further stated that the Ministry of Waterways will continue to assist rural households with their drainage and flood mitigation program.