The acting chief executive of the council of flood-hit Ba, Arun Prasad, says Fiji's interim prime minister has promised dredging of the river and drains will start this year.
Ba province was most severely affected by last month's flooding in the Western Division, with the town suffering up to five million US dollars' worth of lost goods and damage to infrastructure.
Ba last experienced severe flooding in 2009 and Mr Prasad says there's definitely been a change in the global weather pattern.
But he says the interim government is committed to minimising the damage from future floods.
"It was a good encouragement when the prime minister was here last week. He has promised the people of Ba that this dredging of drains and the river will start this year and I think that is going to really minimise the level of the flooding. When I say level, that means height. When we have got six to eight feet of water, maybe it'll be only two to three feet of water."
Arun Prasad says many of town's drains and culverts have already been cleaned.
