The Fijian government’s vision is to provide 100% access to clean and safe drinking water by 2031.
The Permanent Secretary for Infrastructure, Trade, Disaster Management & Meteorological Services, Taitusi Vakadravuyaca, in saying this, delivered opening remarks at the handover ceremony of the Ecological Purification System (EPS) which was held at The University of the South Pacific (USP) today.
“Currently 85% has been achieved thus far, “PS Vakadravuyaca said.
The EPS project was handed over to USP by the Japan international Cooperation Agency (JICA) which was constructed by the Department of Works under the supervision of the Department of Water and Sewerage.
PS Vakadravuyaca said the EPS was designed to make safe drinking water by use of natural ecological purification process without chemicals.
“In the case of Fiji, the EPS programme started way back in 2012 through a technical cooperation program between the Department of Water & Sewerage and JICA,” he said.
He added that the handing over of the EPS project to USP will be utilized as a research ground for the university students.
Furthermore, the Vice-Chancellor of USP Professor Pal Ahluwalia, who was also present at the event, expressed his gratitude to the Fijian Government saying that it has been a genuine partnership.
“We’re really thankful that we’ll be able to benefit from this and this will be a wonderful initiative not only for our students but for the university’s community as well,” Professor Ahluwalia said.
Also present at the event was the JICA Resident representative Ms. Yukari Ono.