Improved Lomaivuna area road connects farmers to market

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

23rd March 2017

Improved Lomaivuna area road connects farmers to market

Farmers from the key agricultural area of Lomaivuna can now transport their produce easily to the Suva and Nausori municipal markets after the four kilometre Lomaivuna loop road was recently repaired by Fulton Hogan Hiways (FHH).

FHH is working under the Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) maintenance programme to provide road access to the Central, Northern and Eastern divisions.

For rootcrop and vegetable farmer residing in Lomaivuna, Savenaca Tadra, the now improved road condition means, “I have peace of mind that my produce will reach the market in Suva.”

“Lomaivuna is a significant farming area. Our farmers feed the Suva market and when we can’t get our crops across because of a really muddy road that we can’t get through or if Naqali is under water, Suva eats rice (Ni luvu o Naqali, e kana raisi o Suva),” said Mr Tadra.

Public transport – buses and carriers, he added, refused to travel through the Lomaivuna loop road during or after a heavy downpour.

“Working under the FRA’s unsealed road rehabilitation programme, FHH is here to ensure that rural communities and generally, people without proper access, are connected to their destinations. For the farmers of Lomaivuna, it means getting them to travel with ease to their market of choice to earn a livelihood,” Rural West Area Manager, Elifasi Kirikiti said.

FHH Maintenance and Operations Manager, Patrick Keenan added: “In addition to the Lomaivuna road work, FRA has additional projects in the current programme on Nukurua Road (6km) and Nabukulevu Road (10km) that are in the early stages of progress.”

“These developments will see a great benefit to the communities of Serua and Tailevu and adds to Government’s rural roads initiative. These are challenging sites, but we are ensuring safety and quality are at the forefront of these works,” he added.

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