The Fiji Roads Authority has commenced work on the design phase of the Labasa-Savusavu link scenic road, before civil works begin while work on extending Labasa Airport has also started.
While responding to a supplementary question by Opposition MP Parveen Bala on whether the construction of Labasa Airport is part of the Tourism Development Program and if it is, then when is the completion time and on what basis the contractor was awarded the contract, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka says work has started where the terminal building is being extended right now.
Gavoka says it is now a matter of acquiring the land necessary and adds that the project is in the hands of very professional people from the World Bank.
The Deputy Prime Minister further says they are trying to shorten the drive from Labasa to Savusavu and make it more scenic.
While responding to a question by Opposition MP Jone Usamate on how this will be done, Gavoka says the drive is about one and a half hours or two hours.
He says only Labasa can take the bigger aircraft, ATR72 while Savusavu cannot even accept the full load and by developing the road, they want to make it quicker to commute between Labasa and Savusavu.
He says they are aiming to make it pleasant for a tourist driving between Labasa and Savusavu, given that some of them would have travelled quite some distance to come into Nadi and then Nadi into Labasa and then to Savusavu.
While responding to a supplementary question by Opposition MP Ketan Lal on hospitals in Savusavu, Gavoka says it's in the plans with the Minister for Health.
While responding to Leader of the Opposition of the Bloc of 16, Inia Seruiratu on whether there are any considerations for the development of the port facilities in Savusavu, the Deputy Prime Minister says there US$200 million is in three phases where this first phase will be the learning phase so it is in the dialogue.
