Suliana Tinai is hopeful the Nadi Municipal Market will be operational so she can recover the recent losses her business suffered as a result of flooding on Christmas day.
Ms Tinai is a seafood vendor and had 26 bags of freshwater mussels (kai) on Tuesday to sell.
“I didn’t know that the flood would come on Wednesday morning, as I brought this stock right from Baulevu, Nausori,” she said.
The closure of the market and the recent flooding, she said, affected the vendors selling indoors with most having to take their boxes of produce out of the market as they tried to salvage what was left.
“I have lost so much of my stock, so I have to take it outside and try to sell what I have,” she said.
“I lost about six bags, some of the mussels will be open. So, I must go back home and do my stock taking and then check how many I have and recover the money.”
She said she spent $1850 on 26 bags of kai.
“I hope the market opens this Saturday so that I can recover some money.
“I have four kids and four grandchildren, and this is the only way we earn money. I sell, the money pays for the rent and water bill plus the kids’ school needs.”
