n October 2022, with Fiji’s debt mounting and an election looming, Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum floated a bold idea: a $1.5 billion Suva‑Nadi freeway, plus a $100 million Nadi‑Lautoka four‑lane road. He envisioned a 107‑kilometre tollway with a 110 km/h speed limit, cutting the commute to one hour. Land values in the interior would rise. Lives would become easier.
The reaction from all political parties was swift and dismissive: election gimmick. Too expensive. Wrong timing.
But look at that proposal again today. It wasn’t a gimmick. It was intergenerational visionary thinking – exactly the kind we now praise the current coalition government for, albeit in other sectors. The same government investing millions in aging water infrastructure and drafting a Water Sector Strategy 2050. The same government pushing EFL toward nearly 100% renewable electricity by 2035, moving off imported fossil fuels.
So let us pause and give credit where it is due: the coalition government has embraced strategic, long‑term projects. But it has conspicuously stayed silent on highways – the very arteries that every Fijian and every business uses every day.
The Roads We Have, and the Roads We Deserve
Anyone who has travelled the Queen’s Road or King’s Road since independence knows the truth: traffic has outgrown the asphalt. What was once a leisurely drive from Suva to Nadi is now a grinding crawl through bottlenecks, potholes, and overloaded single lanes. Every Christmas, every Diwali, the caravans of frustration stretch for kilometres.
We have had fifty years to build upon our highways in Viti Levu. Successive governments – of all stripes – chose not to. No use crying over spilt milk. But the consequence is clear: our economy bleeds time and fuel in traffic, and our people pay the price.
The Quad Port: A Geopolitical Chess Move
Now comes the news Tuesday evening from New Delhi. The Quad – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – has committed to building a deep‑sea port in Fiji. The language is careful: “trusted and resilient infrastructure,” “port infrastructure and associated activities.” But everyone knows what this is. It is dual‑purpose, meant to counter China’s growing infrastructural influence in Fiji and the wider Pasifika.
No local announcement. No parliamentary debate. No public consultation. Decisions about Fijian sovereignty, announced by foreign ministers who answer to Washington, Canberra, Tokyo, and New Delhi – not to the people of Lautoka or Suva.
And yet, we need infrastructure. We need ports. We need roads. So the question is not whether to accept help. The question is: who decides, and on what terms?
A Radical Proposal: Play Both Ends Against the Middle
Let me suggest something unconventional – something that would require nerve, diplomatic skill, and a clear vision of Fiji’s self‑interest.
Instead of passively accepting the Quad’s port (and whatever strings are attached), the Fiji government should turn the tables. It should approach both the Quad and China and say:
“You both want influence in the Pasifika. You both talk about infrastructure. Here is a project that every Fijian will use, every single day: the Suva‑Nadi toll highway. $1.5 billion. 107 kilometres. Four lanes, built to last 50 years. Whoever puts forward the best offer – lowest cost, fewest conditions, fastest construction – gets the contract. Or better, you can co‑finance it. But Fiji will own it.”
This would be a geopolitical masterstroke. A massive infrastructure coup. And I am not naïve about who is best positioned to deliver.
Why China Would Rise to the Challenge
China has the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Silk Road economic vision. It has built thousands of kilometres of highways, railways, ports, and bridges across Asia, Africa, and Latin America – often faster and cheaper than any Western competitor. Chinese state‑owned enterprises have experience with large‑scale toll roads in challenging terrain. Importantly, China’s approach in the Pasifika, so far, has been characterised by no political strings attached – infrastructure for infrastructure’s sake.
Moreover, China has “its heart in the right place” regarding what is genuinely good for the country – not just for geopolitical positioning. The BRI, for all the Western criticism, has delivered tangible assets that local populations use every day. A Suva‑Nadi toll freeway would be exactly that kind of asset.
Would China pick up the challenge – and the tab? I am pretty sure they would. Not out of charity, but because demonstrating that China can deliver transformative infrastructure where the Quad talks about “resilience” is a strategic win Beijing would find hard to resist.
The Quad’s Port vs. China’s Highway
Let us be honest: a deep‑sea port in Fiji is primarily about maritime security, naval logistics, and great power competition. It may have civilian spillovers, but its centre of gravity is strategic. That is not necessarily bad – but it is not what ordinary Fijians wake up worrying about.
A Suva‑Nadi highway, by contrast, is about daily life. It is about the mother rushing her sick child to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital. The farmer getting produce to market before it spoils. The tourism worker reaching the resorts on time. It is about decongesting our towns and unlocking land value in Nadroga, Navosa, Serua, and Namosi.
Which one is truly “trusted and resilient infrastructure” for the Fijian people?
A Final Word
We have a rare chance here. The Quad wants a port. China wants influence. Fiji needs a highway. Instead of being a passive venue for other people’s rivalries, we can be an active architect of our own development.
Let the Quad build its deep‑sea port – with proper transparency, local consultation, and a clear agreement that it serves Fiji’s interests first. And let China build the Suva‑Nadi freeway. Or let them both contribute. But let it be Fiji that decides.
The spilt milk of fifty years of neglected roads cannot be reclaimed. But the next fifty years can be paved – literally. And if we play our cards right, that pavement might just be laid by the very competitors who now circle our shores, each hoping to win our favour.
Let them compete. We will build.
Pasifika Talanoa by a traveled ITaukei Fijian 