YAKO Village in Nadi is being threatened by rising sea levels, Minister for Waterways and Environment Dr Mahendra Reddy was recently told. The issue was highlighted by village headman Ratu Emosi Taku.
He said about 80 households were under threat by the eroding village boundaries.
“We have a lot of houses near the shore and most of them have salt water entering their homes during high tide,” he said.
“It’s even worse when there’s a bad weather and we have to deal with large waves.
“We approached Government to help us either move or build some kind of boundary protection around the village especially for the homes that are being threatened.”
Dr Reddy said his visit to these vulnerable communities highlighted some of the work needed to be done by Government.
“The major problem they are facing is salt water intrusion and what we need to do is find out an outlet to transfer the salt water from the village back into the water,” he said.
“One of the options we have evaluated is to put up a barn protection for the village which is basically to build a barrier to stop the water from entering the village.”
He said the situation needed immediate attention.
