Ritika Pratap 
With the appointment of the municipal council officials, high priority infrastructure developments planned for Labasa Town has been highlighted.
On the priority list for the Labasa Town Council is to construct a multi-million dollar by-pass road, a bridge, and a multi-story car park
Minister for Sugar, Charan Jeath Singh, says the plan to build a by-pass road into Labasa Town was mentioned by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka last October, and they did not waste any time to put it into action.
Singh says the project will be done in two phases.
“The initial quotation that we have been given is for $30m for the entire road including the bridge. So we will do it step by step. Let’s do the roads first and then we will get some more funding to get the bridge done.”
He adds the Fiji Sugar Corporation owns the tramline land that will be used to build the road, they have been given the approval to continue using the tramline on both sides.
On the multi-story car-park, Singh says the proposed site is the current carrier stand and the old fire station lot, and the Council has been asked to make its submission to the government.
“We will still have the carrier stand on the ground floor, but we will have a four/five storey car park just like the Suva City Council has. The thing will be that at least we can provide a car park for those who have paid their monetary sums here. Apart from that we can also provide car park to the normal people who come into the Labasa Town.”
Singh further states that the plan to build the first gas crematorium in Labasa has also been approved.
He says they will be calling for tenders for this project soon.
