Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development appoints Western and Eastern Divisional Commissioners

The Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development today announced the appointments of Mesake Ledua as Divisional Commissioner Western and Vitale Varo as Divisional Commissioner Eastern.

Ledua has commenced duties as Commissioner Western from yesterday while Varo will assume his role as Commissioner Eastern from 24th March 2020.

Minister for Rural and Maritime Development, Mahendra Reddy, says the structure of the Ministry which includes the Commissioners is very important in rural development and disaster risk management.

Dr Reddy says the people’s priorities are their priorities and these are in the areas of water, sanitation, roads, education, health, and electricity.

He added that the Divisional Commissioners needed to fast track development in these priority areas without compromising quality of service to their rural and agricultural customer base.

Permanent Secretary for Rural and Maritime Development, David Kolitagane says the Ministry was glad to fill these vacant leadership positions after a robust recruitment process based on the Open-Merit Recruitment and Selection system.

Mesake Ledua has 30 years of experience through various positions and executive roles at the Ministry of Education, iTaukei Land Trust Board and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His most recent roles include iTLTB Regional Manager South Western, First Secretary at the Fiji Embassy Brussels, Belgium and the European Union and Deputy Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ledua holds a degree in land management and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, both from the University of the South Pacific.

The new Commissioner Eastern, Mr. Vitale Varo, has had 23 years of extensive experience in various roles at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services culminating most recently as the Divisional Health Inspector within the Central Division for the past 7 years.

He holds an undergraduate degree in environmental health from the Fiji National University and a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Management from the University of Western Sydney.