The complete and utter neglect of wastewater over the last 16 years is nowhere more obvious than in the wastewater infrastructure, says Public Works Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, he said the previous government developed Fiji’s National Development Plan 2017-2036 and the plan promised they would ensure improved sanitation – “promising 78 percent of the population will have access to centralised sewage system by 2036.”

Ro Filipe said as of today, “only 17 percent of urban residential customers have access to sewage sanitation infrastructure, a staggering 78 percent of residents rely on septic systems.”

“However, Fiji currently has no infrastructure in place to receive and treat septic faecal sludge from the systems,” he said.

“The current state of wastewater infrastructure suggests that while the previous government had developed the National Development Plan, they were not serious about investing in wastewater infrastructure.”