Peceli Naviticoko 
[Photo: PECELI NAVITICOKO]
New groundwater sources could be identified across parts of Vanua Levu when results of an Airborne Geophysical Survey are released in March.
Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Filimoni Vosarogo, confirmed this while commissioning a borehole project in Naua, Macuata.
He says many rural communities in the North still do not have access to clean drinking water because of their remote locations and the challenge of identifying underground water sources.
Currently, the Mineral Resources Department can take weeks to confirm groundwater availability before drilling begins.
Vosarogo says the new survey results will make that process faster and more efficient.
“So what that report will give us is, say for example, Valelawa asks for water, we can look at that report, and the report will tell us whether there is a groundwater source there or elsewhere that we can source it from. So it makes work a lot easier for the Ministry.”
Vosarogo says the survey was carried out in November last year over Vanua Levu through the Vuvale Partnership with Geoscience Australia.
Under the partnership, advanced airborne systems were flown over parts of Fiji to map groundwater and mineral resources.
The report, expected next month, is anticipated to significantly benefit rural communities without a reliable water supply by helping authorities quickly identify viable groundwater sources and fast-track borehole projects.
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