FIJI has to ensure that river and rainfall monitoring systems are compatible. And most importantly the data produced has to reach the relevant authorities as quick as possible.

Regional Integrated Water Resource Management project co-ordinator Mark Wilson made the comment while visiting the Fiji Meteorological head office in Namaka on Monday.

"We already have a compatibility problem with the Japan International Cooperation Agency setting up a totally foreign system of rain and river gauges in Ba despite us asking them to use the systems similar to what we have set up here in Nadi," he said.
Mr Wilson also pointed out that data retrieved from the Ba River was first sent to Japan for analysis and local authorities had to access this information via the internet after a significant amount of time.

Visiting senior adviser on International Waters for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Doctor Alfred Duda said while it was good to see information systems in place, it was imperative that data was sifted through channels and reached people that made decisions in real time.

"Fiji has to ensure that all river catchment areas have similar software and hardware. Its all got to be similar and compatible so that relevant authorities can make important decisions with as much information as possible," Dr Duda said.

Source: Fiji Times - 20th July, 2011