A MUSUNIWAI St resident in Lautoka has been battling termite infestation in his home over the past week.
Rakesh Chandra said he spent more than $3500 to replace damaged walls and partitions at his double-storey home and he now needs help.
"I only found out about them (termites) when the walls started to fall to pieces," said Mr Chandra.
He said this was the first time termites invaded his home.
The concerned resident said when removing the battered walls last week, he was surprised to find large nests behind the wood.
"The nests were larger and covered almost the whole inside wall," said Mr Chandra.
He said it was becoming more difficult to get rid of the pests.
"Mortein hardly works on them.
"It takes a long time to get rid of them with fire because while some may be attracted to the fire, it doesn't guarantee that all of them will be destroyed by it.
"I was told that there is a specialised chemical that kills them but even that is not readily available to everyone."
Operation Kadivuka, an exercise set up to survey the extent of infestation and carry out the rehabilitation of homes, was suspended late last year.
Last week, Biosecurity Authority of Fiji chief executive officer Elvis Silvestrini explained that termite swarming was common during this time of the year because it was part of the termite life cycle when they developed wings and flew to other areas to start new colonies.
Mr Silvestrini said the BAF had made submissions to government for more funding before the start of the third phase of the operation.
In the initial phase of the operation, BAF officials were brought in to survey affected areas and were trained to administer the special chemical - Termidor - used to kill the pests.