The Levuka Town Council has an important role to fulfill, as the main governing institution, in assisting ordinary Fijians and businesses.
This was highlighted by Minister for Local Government, Housing and Community Development Hon. Premila Kumar during her visit to Levuka Town earlier today.
“We also want to meet the people in Levuka and understand what their needs are. If the ratepayers are not there, then the Levuka Town Council will not exist. So we have to understand who our clients are,” Minister Kumar said.
“The council has to think, how you can assist the business community, how you can assist the common man on the street, so that they all become productive and they can contribute to the development of Levuka.”
She added that as the council is governing the municipality, they have a really important role because there aren’t many Government institutions based in Levuka.
“How are we going to do things differently. That should be the focus and not the way we have been doing things for the past so many years.”
“There would be some of the challenges that I'll be putting across to you, and you need to rise up to the challenge.”
Minister Kumar also urged Fijians in Levuka to download the careFIJI app to help revive the tourism industry.
“It's a $2 billion industry and the number of tourists coming to Fiji was far more than the population of our country, for the first time, the number exceeded a little more than the population of Fiji first time in the history of Fiji.
“That is how good our tourism sector was and now we have lost our $2 billion industry.”
Minister Kumar said the budget focused on economic recovery for not only recovery of the businesses, but for workers and those who have been affected by COVID-19.
Minister Kumar visited sites such as the Levuka Fire Station, PAFCO, Levuka Hospital, Baba settlement access road, dump site at Natokalau and many heritage sites around Levuka.