From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 3, October 1998.

Neiafu, Vava‘u is undergoing a $7 million pa‘anga face lift, and will soon have a new market, a new town jetty, and a wharf complex including a cargo shed and a passenger shelter.

The program also includes a Neiafu road project, a new town water supply system, and the tar-sealing of the Lupepau‘u Airport Runway.

Bill Young, of the Vava‘u Development Unit, the supervisor of the $7 million development program, said that the Fletcher Royco Joint Venture would build the $800,000 market, as well as the town jetty, the wharf complex, and the new water system.

The construction of roads and a drainage system was still being tendered.

The new market is being constructed on the site of the former ‘Utukalongalu Hall, and the town jetty will be directly facing the market from the sea but will cover the area from the existing Halaevalu wharf to the historical Vai Ko Lelea.

Bill said that most of the money for this development program would come from the European Union, except for a small  contribution from the Australian government for the new town water system.

The water project includes the drilling of 15 new wells in the area around the Experimental Farm, and the water will be pumped to two new reservoirs, one at ‘Atalilka and the other near Tailulu for the distribution to the whole Neiafu area.

All the roads of Neiafu will be tar-sealed, and there will also be a functional drainage system to stop flood water damage, during the rainy season.

The development program is expected to be completed by August 1999.