The Suva City Council has urged Parliament to build a stronger, clearer framework for coordinating public health as lawmakers consider amendments to Fiji’s public health laws. Appearing before the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Suva City Council Special Administrator Tevita Boseiwaqa told MPs that public health cannot be left to a single agency and must be managed through deliberate, legally backed cooperation across local government, water authorities and environmental agencies.
Boseiwaqa told the committee the proposed Bill should do more than set broad objectives: it must define how institutions communicate and work together, and establish linkages from community-level systems through provincial and divisional structures so measures reach all Fijians. He warned the draft legislation lacks a clear definition of “public health,” leaving implementation and accountability open to interpretation at the time of enforcement.
Officials from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services acknowledged the gap in the Bill, telling the committee that public health is understood to encompass the science and practice of protecting and improving community health through disease prevention, safe food and water, health promotion and emergency response. While Boseiwaqa welcomed that clarification, he said the Bill should explicitly require collaboration between agencies responsible for essential services such as water, sanitation and environmental management — not leave such cooperation to informal arrangements.
In a formal submission to the committee, the Suva City Council issued a suite of recommendations it says are necessary for an effective legislative overhaul. Those recommendations cover the composition and remit of a Central Board of Health, clearer standards on overcrowding in housing and facilities, tighter controls on waste management and environmental pollution, stronger enforcement powers and penalties, and explicit provisions to protect and monitor water safety.
The council framed these interventions as practical measures to close implementation gaps that emerge when roles are unclear. Overcrowding, unmanaged waste and contaminated water are recurring drivers of infectious disease and environmental health incidents in urban areas, Boseiwaqa argued, and the law must give local authorities the tools to prevent and respond to such hazards quickly.
The submission from Suva comes as Parliament weighs broader changes to Fiji’s public health architecture. The Standing Committee on Social Affairs is taking oral evidence and written submissions as part of its review. How the committee incorporates calls for clearer definitions, mandated interagency coordination and the specific regulatory and enforcement provisions sought by Suva will shape whether the amended law strengthens on-the-ground public health capacity — particularly at municipal and community levels.
The push from the Suva City Council follows recent visible public health activity by the Health Ministry, including participation in Civil Service Week cleanup efforts earlier this year. The council argues that legislative reform provides a timely opportunity to translate such activities into a predictable, multisectoral system with legally backed roles, resources and penalties that can improve routine prevention and emergency response across Fiji.