Office Accommodation and government quarters director Mr Setoki Galuvakadua is encouraging people in the maritime zone of Fiji to form their own companies so they can also bid for maintenance of quarters located on their islands.
Mr Galuvakadua said part of the reform of government quarters instructed by Cabinet was the out source of maintenance of these quarters.
Previously this work was carried out by the Public Works Department but it has been extended to the private sector.
“I know there are qualified carpenters in our villages like those that were trained by the CATD in Nadave or Monfort Boys Town who can be leading hands in the repairs of government quarters in the outlying islands like the Lau and Lomaiviti groups, Yasawa, Kadavu and Rotuma,” Mr Galuvakadua said.
“Once they register their company and the need for the repair of government quarters arises they are qualified to bid for the maintenance of quarters on their island.
“It is a good source of employment for people in the outer islands and making good use of the carpentry skills already with them.”
In a recent tour of the Lomaiviti Group, the director was able to assess firsthand the conditions of quarters in the province.
Currently we have almost 2000 quarters located in various districts in Fiji. For the Lomaiviti Group about 60.
“We have a provision of $1million for the maintenance of government quarters, $19m for the rental of office space of all Government office premises and about $1.9m for the rental of private accommodation for officials so altogether it’s more than $20m,” Mr Galuvakadua said.
“Our recent visit to the various islands in the Lau and Lomaiviti Group we managed to conduct awareness on this policy to villages and the response was very good in outsourcing of maintenance of quarters.
“We have just about 30 government quarters in Levuka, there are few quarters that are not suitable for occupation and we had discussion with PA Lomaiviti for him to provide three quotations for the renovation and maintenance of these quarters. So before the end of this month we should have those two quarters repaired and occupied within a couple of months,” Mr Galuvakadua said.
But overall the condition of quarters in Levuka are in better condition compared to those we have in Suva.
“I thank the housing committee in Levuka for the good work they are doing in maintaining these quarters in proper conditions,” Mr Galuvakadua said
“We had a tour to the Lau Group three weeks ago and followed by the Lomaiviti tour. I think this is a very good initiative, which allows not only the PSC to visit and have a firsthand assessment of what is on the ground and the condition of quarters.
“For Lomaiviti I wish to thank the people on the island for looking after those quarters and assisting government officials on their islands. Probably we need to visit other stations that have not been visited by government officials.”