Fiji has a moderately well-developed transport infrastructure, with a reasonably comprehensive system of bridges and highways on the main islands. However, more than half of Fiji’s population live in rural communities, and whilst the main road network is well developed, these communities are geographically isolated and served by roads which are heavily affected by tropical weather systems – heavy rainfall and flooding – as well as natural disasters. This causes damage to the infrastructure, disruption to the transport network and impacts rural access for local communities.
The Fiji Roads Authority (FRA), which is responsible for planning, developing and maintaining Fiji’s road infrastructure, has plans to improve 100 of the most critical bridges across the country over the next few years.
Organizing emergency logistics operations for delivery and distribution is a challenge in Fiji due to the remoteness of outer islands, access conditions to affected locations on the main islands and operational constraints in entry ports facilities. Suva Port is equipped for container operations but faces congestions issues. Lautoka Port is also equipped for containers management and whilst not prone to congestion in normal times may face congestion problems during emergencies as access to the port may be blocked. All other ports, even if having adapted wharves, are not equipped to operate containers, therefore transhipment operations are necessary in main logistics hubs if they are to be used as primary entry / dispatching points.
The only airport sufficiently equipped to operate significant emergency operations is Nadi International Airport. Suva’s Nausori Airport can only host planes to B737-800 size and has no cargo handling equipment. All other airports will only operate ATR42 or Hercules and have no cargo handling equipment.
Some agencies (UN, NGOs) have their own storage capacities but cannot be shared due to volume limitations. Private companies (land transporters, FF & shipping companies, sugar and garments factories, flour mills) have storage capacities that may be used temporarily during the initial phases of emergency operations (first 72 hours, until a longer-term solution is developed).
