Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Waterways Dr. Andrew Tukana [File Photo]

Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Waterways Dr. Andrew Tukana says they faced challenges and delays in completing their projects during the 2017-2018 financial year due to the tender processes.

Dr. Tukana stresses that they are still facing some issues with the tender processes.

He made these comments while giving an update on the five major projects undertaken during the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

While responding to questions from the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, he mentioned that the projects included Mosi Flood Retention Dam 3 in Nadi, Vunibau River Protection Works in Rewa, Qawa River and Labasa River dredging, and Rewa River dredging.

Dr. Tukana says that to address the delays in tender processes for these projects, they are currently improving all the processes in-house first.

“And at the moment, we have identified many bottlenecks, and we are working on those. We are also reorganizing our organizational structure, putting the right people in the right places, and reviewing job descriptions to ensure they match what needs to be done. In addition to addressing tender processes and red tape, these are areas we are focusing on.”

Dr. Tukana says that to ensure the projects are executed efficiently, they are aligning the implementation of their work programs with their annual work programs.

He stresses that this will ensure projects are not done on an ad-hoc basis and that they are able to monitor progress and expenditure effectively.