The Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has directed that over half a million dollars in unpaid water bills on the island of Rotuma be waivered.

The debt had been accumulating for decades

WAF Team Leader Rural and Maritime Water and Sewerage Sakaraia Radovu says government’s intervention to clear the debts accumulated by Water Authority of Fiji customers on Rotuma now allows for continuous water supply.

The bills here on Rotuma had accumulated when the Water Authority was still the department of Water and Sewerage under the Ministry of works and transport, so all the bills had accumulated that until 2010, those were the ones that were wavered on the 14 million or so that was given by the government.

Radovu says part of the reason the unpaid bills accumulated was because there was no official on the island to oversee the operations there.

It accumulated from bills from the whole island and that comprised of 639 customers which were 660 thousand dollars had to be paid off for.

WAF customers on the island who have left for Viti Levu have had their meters disconnected, while some more have just had their meters connected.