No pending legal issues in pool saga – Nalumisa

There are no pending legal issues in relation to the controversial Lautoka swimming pool project with all parties involved withdrawing their cases against the Lautoka City Council, said Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa.

He has stated this in a written response to a question that was tabled in the March Parliament sitting on the current legal status of the publicly funded Lautoka swimming pool project that had an initial budget of $2 million in 2015 which increased to $12.6 million two years later.

“The variation in the cost of the project arose when the initial concept was amended. The initial project was for two swimming pools with a FINA-compliant competition pool (50m x 8 lanes) and a community pool of 25m x 6 lanes,” said Mr Nalumisa.

“The estimated cost for the initial project design was $2 million.

“The budget for the new concept proposal after several site visits and site meetings increased to $3 million and then to $7.8 million.

“The Lautoka City Council and the lead consultant executed the consultancy agreement for the swimming pool development on 18 December 2017, when the project cost had escalated to $12.6 million due to further changes in scope.”

He said in 2020, LCC had terminated the contract of the Project Consultant and Contractors due to the delay in work and not meeting project timelines for completion.

“Since 2020, there has been no construction undertaken at the site, as all the parties involved agreed to have a peer review exercise undertaken.

“In 2022, the peer review was done and the report is currently with the Fiji Government, which is being discussed with LCC to formulate a feasible way forward for the completion of the project.”

Source: The Fiji Times (16 April, 2023, 2:07 pm)