The Electric Power Corporation (EPC) has come under fire for uncompleted projects associated with the Alaoa flood control multi-purpose dam. 

The State-owned company held consultations yesterday with residents where their unfinished projects were criticised.

EPC was asked to complete them before moving to discussions on the building of the proposed dam.

 “Why did even you start these projects when you couldn’t finish them?” asked Punaoali’i Fetulima Malopito Kopelani, who is the village’s female representative. 

But the EPC Chief Executive Officer, Tologata Tile Tuimalealiifano, said they had asked families in Magiagi for portions of their lands to use to complete the projects but their requests were knocked back. 

“Back then, we asked the pipe-side residents for parts of their lands that needed to be used, but they refused and we couldn’t get any positive feedback. That’s one reason why we stopped,” he said.

Tologata also added that the projects couldn’t be completed due to the exhausting of funding. 

“We also couldn’t finish these projects because the work had to depend on the budget and the budgeted money could only fix what we had fixed and so we’re waiting for another budget to finish these unfinished projects,” he said.  

The Government depended on overseas donors for funding, he said, and such projects could not be realised without the support of donor partners. 

On the security level, Tologata urged residents living in the lower ground area to move to higher ground for their own safety. 

He also added that the EPC will fix the other Government-owned main road in Magiagi to ensure transportation was safer for the residents.