Maciu Nalumisa [Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]

The Minister for Local Government is hoping that they will be able to complete the Lautoka swimming pool project at a minimal cost.

Minister Maciu Nalumisa says when he took over the office, there was a lot of misunderstanding about the incomplete Lautoka swimming pool.

He says the Ministry, along with the Lautoka City Council, is expected to relook at the Lautoka Swimming Pool project with the assistance of a project manager.

Nalumisa says that for the first six months of this financial year, they were trying to finalize the legal issues regarding the work that was not completed by the contractor and the project manager.

The government has set aside $1.5 million for the Lautoka Swimming Pool in the 2024–2025 national budget, while $4.5 million was allocated in the 2023–2024 national budget for the completion of the project.

“Now the money allocated for this financial year is to assist the Ministry and Council in relooking at the project all together after the appointment of a project manager through the tender evaluation process, so once that is finalized, it will be up to the project manager to review the whole project again. So based on whatever amount we have, we are confident that there will be some re-scoping of the whole project and that we will be able to complete the project at a very minimal cost.”

The concept of the Lautoka Swimming Pool was approved in January 2017, with construction to begin in 2018.

The initial project was for two swimming pools, which included a competition pool with international compliance and a community pool with associated facilities, at an estimated cost of $2 million.

However, the initial budget escalated by almost ten million dollars from the initial budgeted amount of $2 million to $12.6 million following changes in the scope of work.

In 2020, Lautoka City Council terminated the contract with the project consultant and contractors due to the delay in work and failure to meet project timelines for completion.