Building infrastructures in rural communities are often badly impacted during tropical cyclones.

The National Disaster Management Office revealed this as there is no binding enforcement to ensure that building codes and standards are maintained.

Director Vasiti Soko says the absence of building code enforcement in rural communities have been the reason for devastation as homes and infrastructures are not up to standard.

“Our historic analysis have indicated that majority of the homes that are affected during cyclones are the rural communities and our building code does not apply to them and so we are working very closely with our partners and key stakeholders to see how we can strengthen them.”

Soko says government is being proactive to ensure that all government entities can withstand tropical cyclones.

“Government is taking the lead role by building schools and government infrastructure in the past couple of years to a certain standard to ensure that it stands.”

Meanwhile, three tropical cyclones are in the forecast for Fiji in the 2023 -2024 cyclone season.

The Fiji Meteorological Organization predicts that at least one or two of these cyclones will be Category three or more.