A representative from the Ministry of Health has told the Water Authority of Fiji that an in-depth assessment has identified that leakages from WAF’s wastewater system within Suva are a contributing factor to Typhoid.

The representative pointed this out during the WAF’s annual customer forum earlier this week.

He says a letter was also sent to the Water Authority of Fiji for a response to the issue, particularly the mechanisms in place to identify and address these leakages.

WAF Chief Executive Dr. Amit Chanan hints that the leakages could be from households not connected to their system, but he assures WAF will look into the concerns raised.

“The point I should still make though is that 77 percent of Suva has no access to a wastewater network at all, and all that sewerage goes into a septic system, and there are no regulations for it. No one has asked any residents to empty those sewer systems; they are getting into something I don’t know where, so in terms of regulation and absence thereof, I think it is important to look at that as much as the 23 percent of Suva.”

Dr. Chanan says WAF is however happy to work with the Ministry of Health on this issue.

He, however, adds that, from a global understanding of the situation, the non-sewerage areas are the bigger problem in the context of environmental health.