Assistant Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Sakiusa Tubuna says Fiji is in a termite infestation crisis as this enemy has caused millions of dollars of damage and impacted many Fijian families and businesses.
While opening the Termite Task-force meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office, Tubuna says Fiji is under attack from an unlikely enemy that is both stealthy and ruthless with its attack.
He says termite infestation has affected Fijians in the Western and Northern Divisions for far too long now and he has also witnessed this devastation when he visited the West.
Tubuna says he was dumbfounded to see how huge the problem is and around 150 termite-infested properties have already been identified in Lautoka.
The Assistant Minister says the situation is so dire that some houses will need to be demolished because the termites have already compromised the integrity of the structures.
Tubuna says experts suggest that termites can devalue a property by around 25 percent and reduce property-life, making repairs more costly over the years.
He says the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji under its mandate and national obligations has taken charge for the containment and control of the Asian Subterranean Termite (AST) infestation and has also put in place measures to prevent the spread of termites from the Lautoka and Labasa districts to other parts of Fiji.
The Assistant Minister says government has provided budgetary support to BAF for both operational and capital and has allocated $6.3 million from 2018 to 2019.
He highlighted that because of the lack of government action to deal with this issue, termite infestation have become a significant problem for the economy.
Tubuna has also called on stakeholders present that attended the meeting to discuss new solutions that can tackle this problem because it has been going on for far too long.
He says the time to act is now as they are a group that will make a difference.
Attending the meeting were representatives from the Ministry of Housing, Ministry for Agriculture, Ministry of Rural and Maritime, Biosecurity of Fiji, Rentokil Initial, Fast Kill, United Nations Development Programs, CEOs, directors and experts.
