MUNICIPAL councils are responsible for the maintenance of roads within their towns and cities until January 1 next year.
This was the message from Adam Jackson, network maintenance manager at the Fiji Roads Authority.
He made the comment while meeting with Lautoka City Council special administrator Praveen Bala on Thursday.
"The FRA will maintain FRA roads and the Lautoka City Council will maintain council roads but as of January 1, 2013 all roads will come under the mantle of the FRA and they'll be maintained by one contractor in each particular division," he said.
"This is a massive change for Fiji roads starting next year and we're going through that process at the moment.
"The roads all over Fiji have been neglected for a very long time and Lautoka is not isolated in this regard. This change is being brought about to address those problems and to address the backlog as well.
"We are aware there are a lot of problems and a lot of areas that need a lot of work. Part of our job is to prioritise which areas need work first and we're looking at rehabilitating areas that will give the most benefit to the most people."
Mr Jackson said road repairs in the Western Division and Lautoka would continue until January 1.