Praneeta Prakash 
[File Photo]
Navua will operate as a separate entity with the authority to levy its own fees and charges once granted municipal status says Lami Town Council Acting Chief Executive Azam Khan.
According to Khan, the Lami Town Council is currently spends approximately $15,000 per month to administer the Navua delegated area.
He highlighted this making submissions before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
Khan says Navua is not yet a municipality, and all payroll, financial management, and reporting are handled and supervised from Lami.
“It is not a municipality at the moment, the payroll, finances are all maintained at Lami and supervised and prepared from here. So there is an overhead in that area and also report keeping and making. And in the general operations, we would be spending also committing funds and altogether this would be standing on around $15,000 per month.”
Khan also confirms that the government heavily subsidizes the delegated area.
We are appreciative of the fact that the subsidy has been increased in the last budget. And we are working closely with the ministry to have Navua declared as a town.
The $15,000 monthly cost reflects both administrative overheads and operational commitments required to maintain services in the delegated area.
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