Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo has called for urgency in the development of Nabouwalu Township as the people of Bua have been waiting for long.

It’s been six years since the initial plan and groundwork began and no construction has been undertaken yet.

In his inaugural tour of Vanua Levu as the new Minister for Lands, Vosarogo yesterday heard firsthand the progress and delays of the project.

These include the delay in the approval of the phasing design drawings by the Fiji Roads Authority, delay in the approval of the passenger terminal project and the lack of funds in the budget to carry out the needed works.

Vosarogo says there is a need to identify the delay traps and do something with it.

“The hurdles that are there to get the first brick on the ground is easy to resolve. Some of them are just picking up the phone and coordinating properly. There’s a couple of ministries Lands and Itaukei etc. ”

Vosarogo says there needs to be an inter-ministry working committee guiding the development as the people of Bua have been waiting for the development.

“We need something done this year. We can’t let the people of Bua continue to hope that they will have a town. They should have a town. Rightfully. People are going to be interested in Nabouwalu town because it’s its a melting port. People are traveling to and from Suva.”

There are two phases in the development of the township.

Phase 1 involves the development of the town center and Phase 2, a passenger terminal for boat travelers.