Minister for Infrastructure, Jone Usamate says the provision of water into the Rewa Delta is not a function of the Ministry of Infrastructure and it is a role carried out by the Water Authority of Fiji.
He highlighted this in Parliament today while contributing to the debate on the Review of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport 2016/2017 Consolidated and 2015 Annual Reports.
Usamate says the Ministry of Infrastructure is responsible for policy regulation and oversight and anything to do with water is for WAF where they tell them what to do and they have to do it.
He says some issues were also raised about rural water supply where WAF has the responsibility to get water supply into the rural areas and work is also done by the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Ministry of Mineral Resources when boreholes need to be dug.
Usamate also confirmed they are in the design stage to the construction of the Lomaloma Jetty and if the financial situation allows, it could be put into the budget in the near future.
He adds it seems like Ro Teimumu Kepa was suggesting that because they did not have the Principal Regulatory Engineer position at the Ministry anymore, they did not have water supply in the Rewa Delta.
The Minister says the position is not there but the responsibilities are still being implemented by the team in coordination with the Director of Water and Sewera
