THE Ba Town Council defended its decision to straighten the Namosau Creek in Yalalevu, Ba.
Municipal authorities decided to straighten a bend in the creek after residents complained that the normal flow of the river caused flooding in the area last month.
At a Secretariat for Pacific Communities workshop last month, acting director of SPC land resources division Inoke Ratukalou said human activity had a significant role to play in unsustainable land use practices and development without thought to environmental impact.
He said after the floods in the Western Division in January and March this year, someone came up with the solution of straightening rivers to ease the flow of water out to sea.
"However, as we have seen, this did not produce the desired effect," he said.
Ba special administrator Arun Prasad said the creek had caused problems for the residents for many years.
"We're doing what we can to fix this problem," he said.
"We're also removing silt and soil that has built up over the years because that has also been contributing to the floods."
He said work on the creek would take a while.