FINAL WAF 2022 ANNUAL CUSTOMER FORUM HELD IN FRIENDLY NORTH

After two successful customer forums earlier this year in the Central and Western Division, the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) held its final Annual Customer Forum for 2022 in the Northern Division, at the Hotel Takia in Labasa on Monday (08/08/22).

WAF CEO, Dr Amit Chanan, said that he was glad to have the opportunity to speak to WAF customers in the friendly North and engage with them directly.

“Our customer forums reflect the rich spirit of traditional talanoa sessions and allow us to have a direct and open dialogue with customers. It gives them a chance to tell us their issues and make suggestions for us to improve our service delivery, and in turn, we can provide them with updates on our current projects and developments in the North,” Dr Chanan said.

Similarly, the customers in attendance commended the forum for giving them the platform to speak to and raise their concerns with WAF Executive Management on water supply issues and customer service matters, as well as being able to make requests.

One attendee, Mr Paul Jaduram, who happens to be the president of the Labasa Ratepayers Association, president of the Labasa Prison Association and Vice-President of the Labasa Chamber for Commerce thanked WAF for holding the forum in the Northern Division.


“We all are very proud of WAF for holding a forum of this nature – your coming here provided the opportunity to customers here to have their questions which they had previously asked, answered in person. Our members were very happy with the forum,” said Mr Jaduram.

In addition, information on the progress of WAF’s current projects in the region, such as the completion of the Rice Mill to Wailevu Pipe extension project — which will address intermittent supply in the Tabia area – was provided.  The attendees were also updated on other ongoing and future projects funded by the 2022-2023 National Fijian Budget aimed at improving WAF water and wastewater services.

Dr Chanan also briefed the customers on the recently completed Pressure Reducing Valves program that was funded under the 2021-2022 Revised Fijian National budget and saw the installation of 5 valves in Labsa network. These valves are critical in ensuring proper pressure management of the pipe network and minimising pipe bursts.

WAF has also recently completed nearly 30 Km of old AC main replacement over the last 3 years in Labasa, which would minimise frequent pipe bursts due to ageing pipes.

The forum was split into two sessions, one for business customers in the morning and one for residential customers in the afternoon. These sessions allowed discussions to focus on issues relevant to each group of customers.

The business segment accommodated business representatives, operators, and business owners from Labasa Town, while the second session which accommodated residential customers also consisted of District Advisory Councillors, as well as Community Leaders from the Northern Division.

The forum also featured updates covering customer service delivery, including WAF’s ongoing digital transactions development. Finally, the forum discussed the release of a new WAF mobile app that enables users to manage their accounts, easily access relevant information, and communicate with WAF.

-Ends-