A Regional Training Collaboration and Awareness Centre is expected to be constructed by the end of next year. This announcement was made last Friday by Harish Pratap, Acting Director of the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), during a Meteorological Observation Training session at their Nadi headquarters.
The initiative, backed by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will have an estimated budget of USD 12 million (FJ$ 24 million). Mr. Pratap indicated, “We are working on a project called a Regional Training Collaboration and Awareness Centre.”
Currently, preparations are underway at the designated site behind the FMS headquarters. Mr. Pratap noted that a team from Japan is scheduled to visit Fiji from the 19th to the 23rd of this month to finalize the structural design of the facility. He expressed optimism, stating, “We expect our ground preparation to be completed by 2024, with construction commencing either at the end of 2025 or early 2026.”
Takashi OBA, JICA’s assistant resident representative, confirmed the project’s preparatory phase, mentioning, “We are implementing a preparatory survey for the new grant aid project for the construction of the new training centre.” He reiterated that it is still in the preparation stage and that the Centre will be built within the FMS compound.
On the same day, fourteen participants successfully completed a training program focused on Meteorological Observation, which was sponsored by JICA in collaboration with FMS. The training aimed to enhance participants’ skills in data interpretation and weather forecasting.