Options being considered to deal with bird poop nuisance at Namaka Market

Several options are now being considered to stop the nesting of birds especially pigeons who have created a poop nuisance at the $5 million Namaka Market Complex in Nadi which was opened in February this year.

Local Government Minister, Premila Kumar says it was built on an open concept so it allows birds to freely move around at the top and also nest.

Kumar says they have tried to remedy the problem by providing steel netting and also consulting a company that provides sound-emitting devices that act as bird deterrents.

She says both options are not working and she has seen it herself.

Kumar says they were already dealing with the issue even before it was highlighted by Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry.

When asked why the problem was not taken into account during the design process, Kumar says she wouldn't call this a big design fault.

Kumar says there was no ceiling provided in the complex in the initial stage to reduce the construction cost.

She says now that there is a need to do the ceiling, they will do it.

FLP Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry says the bird problem at the Namaka Market is a health hazard.

In a statement, Chaudhry says the brand new market is marred and stained by the ugly, unclean and unsightly collection of pigeon stool on the steel rafters and beams at the top and the floor below.

He says vendors are concerned that the poop nuisance is so bad that there is no knowing when it will fall on the head of a person shopping below.

Chaudhry claims the eatery in the market is also not attracting customers due to the bird poop issue.

He says ultimately, the problem lies in the design of the building and one must ask what was the need to build the Namaka Market to such enormously high proportions with the large open space between the roof and the ground floor wasted.

The Namaka Market complex has two floors of selling space, offices and 288 vendor stalls.

Its construction was funded directly by the government to the tune of $4.8 million, with another $400,000 provided by the Australian Government through UN-Women.