30 Jan 2013

Fiji Roads Authority highlights need to cope with floods

6:27 pm on 30 January 2013

The new Chief Executive Officer of the Fiji Roads Authority says the country's roads have been neglected for a long time and need to be properly equipped for flooding.

Neil Cook says four New Zealand companies have been awarded tenders for work on Fiji's roads, but he is still looking for technical staff and is advertising jobs.

He says part of his project is to train up local workers and, once the quality of roads have improved, to ultimately source a local chief executive who can take over his work.

He says after dealing with the main arterial roads such as the Queens Road and Kings Road, the authority will work in major towns and then move out to the villages.

He says the effect of flooding on Fiji roads can be minimised by firstly improving road drainage.

"Where possible you take care of your drainage where you're minimising the flooding effect. The second way to minimise the extent of damage is to have decent roads in the fist place and that's a big part of what we're doing."

Chief Executive Officer of the Fiji Roads Authority Neil Cook.