Fiji's Public Works Department has admitted that its water supply system could be responsible for more than 10-thousands cases of stomach ailments in the country.
Fiji TV reports that the cases of gastro-enteritis are estimated to have occurred between 1995 and 2000 at the rate of over 2000 a year or nearly 170 a month.
Gastro-enteritis causes diarrhoea and sometimes vomiting as well.
The senior water engineer, Steve Blake, says gastro-enteritis is always water related but recent cases of typhoid cannot be attributed to the public water supply.
The revelations come as the Public Works Department starts a major reform programme which includes better testing of water quality.
