FRA and its plans for bad road conditions

Fiji Roads Authority’s Acting CEO, Kamal Prasad says they are ensuring the road contractors are carrying out road maintenance at their own cost if they find the contractors are not doing the job properly in the first attempt.

Prasad says there is no Fiji way of doing things as some people would think.

He says if the road contractors fail to meet the required standard of road works, they will have to re-do the works for free and this is part of the contract.

Prasad says for Karsanji Street, the road contractor applied the seal late which resulted in pot-holes and the contractor had to re-do the work for free.

He says when payments are made to the contractors, a retention sum and a performance bond are kept by the FRA which means the contractor cannot just run away after not doing proper road rehabilitation.

Prasad adds they follow international standards for road works and expect the contractors to do the same.

Acting CEO of Fiji Roads Authority, Kamal Prasad says the budgetary allocation they get from government are for roads that come under the FRA Act and not for maintenance of roads that are built for housing subdivisions like Naivorovoro Road which is just past Rups Mega Complex in Nakasi.

Prasad says these roads which are part of new housing developments are not covered under the FRA Act.

He says there are too many roads in new housing subdivisions that have not been properly handed over to the FRA as they have not been built based on their standards.

Prasad says the CEO of the Housing Authority of Fiji has held initial discussions with the FRA and they are now trying to reach a solution.

He says the FRA can get their contractors to re-do the road in these housing subdivisions and the Housing Authority will have pay them for the works.

The FRA’s Acting CEO adds they are accountable for the taxpayers money they use and cannot just use the money on roads that the FRA Act does not allow them to.

Fiji Roads Authority’s Acting CEO, Kamal Prasad says they have a plan to fix the bad road conditions around the country, particularly in the greater Suva area where a number of roads are in a deplorable condition.

It has been noticed that roads in Samabula, Flagstaff, Nabua, Raiwaqa, Toorak, Nasinu and sections of Kings and Queens Road have increased number of potholes and need urgent maintenance.

Prasad says they used to have only one contractor looking after the roads in the greater Suva area and have now brought in five more contractors to re-build a number of roads.

He says they are not only patching pot-holes but re-building them.

Prasad says they are targeting the roads where the use per day is about 5,000 vehicles.

He says they have a lot of complaints from the Samabula area and one contractor is dedicated to fix roads there.

Prasad says complaints are also coming from motorists using the section between Veisari and Monfort Boys Town on Queens Road that tyres are getting punctured because of bad road conditions. He says one contractor is working on this section.

He says they have contractors at right locations including in Suva City where Pratt Street is currently undergoing major maintenance work.

Prasad says following works on Pratt Street, the contractor will move to Amy Street next week which will be re-sealed. He says the contractor will then do re-building work on Brown Street, Milverton Road and Grantham Road.

He says another team is at Ono Street and Kabara Street in Samabula and will move to Fulaga Street, Lakeba Street, Vunakece Road and Sukanaivalu Road.

Prasad says another contractor will soon start road maintenance work in Kinoya.

He adds one contractor is carrying out works on Kalokalo Crescent in Makoi.

China Railway Fifth Group, Dayals Quarries, Flame Tree Developments, Fairdeal Limited, Hiway Stabilizers and Hot Spring Limited are now doing road maintenance work in the greater Suva area.

He says the contractors are working day and night to get the roads back into good condition however it will take time as they cannot be fixing roads during rainy weather.

Prasad says the budget provided to the FRA is sufficient for all road upgrades.

The FRA Acting CEO says they expect about 1 and half kilometres of roads to be re-sealed every week on sections that are in bad condition.