Shania Shayal Prasad 
The Fiji Roads Authority lost up to 50 staff last year, with many leaving for jobs in Australia and New Zealand.
In response, the FRA is overhauling its internal structure to improve efficiency, compliance, and service delivery under a new strategic plan.
Chief Executive Apisai Ketenilagi says the review will realign roles and introduce new technical capacity based on clear operational needs.
He says the restructure is long overdue and follows years of internal challenges, including persistent recruitment issues.
Ketenilagi notes that despite advertising both locally and internationally over the past two years, the Authority has struggled to fill key engineering positions.
As a result, the FRA is now turning to foreign recruitment agencies and donor-supported capacity-building initiatives to bridge the gap.
“Part of that process, under our new loan that we engage now with ADB and World Bank, we ask them to assist us in part of the capacity building to implement some kind of capacity building within part of the loan component. So we introduce a project management unit. They will support us in that.”
Ketenilagi adds that the restructure is being guided by KPMG, which presented its initial design framework to the FRA board this week.
A final round of KPMG-led workshops will take place next month, with the new structure expected to be approved and implemented later this year.
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