Three New Zealand firms have been awarded the contracts for a major overhaul of Fiji's roads, under a restructure of the government's roading authority that will result in all work being outsourced.
The head of the change management process at Fiji Roads Authority, Mike Rudge, says because of poor records it is not clear how many staff the department employs.
He says 717 permanent employees will receive redundancy payments but 318 temporary workers will not.
Mr Rudge, who works for the civil engineering consulting firm MWH Global, says competent staff with the right attitude are likely to be rehired.
"There are some people that are very, very keen to change and have been frustrated by the existing organisation and so the majority of the staff will be coming from local. The contracts have requirements around building local capacity, both for employees and for their subcontractors."
Mike Rudge says the upgrade of Fiji's roads and bridges will take several years and the interim government may have to double what it has been spending to cover the cost.