Updated: 7:18am – Deforestation, poor forest management and drainage are being blamed for the massive and frequent floods Fiji has seen in recent years.
Sashi Kiran runs the organisation FRIEND which uses sustainable practices to help people in the countryside earn a living.
She said the scale of floods seen recently was different from before and it couldn’t all be down to climate change.
“We saw creeks and even rivers changing direction, taking over homes, which they never had. Somebody needs to take a study and really look at where did all that water come, why did the banks break, what’s happening in the upper hills?
“What drainage system has changed? Are there man-made factors?”
Sashi Kiran said the floods brought down a lot of debris from poorly managed forests which was damaging roads and bridges.
If dredging was done on time, drains weren’t blocked and there were tree root systems to slow the water flow, heavy rain would not wreak such disaster, she said.
“Where are we going to get the money to keep building these bridges? We can’t carry on taking loans.”
-RNZ
Featured image: Photo: supplied
