On June 17, 1969, The Fiji Times reported that islanders of Vatoa in Lau begged for water from a passing ship because they were running low on fresh water supply.
The article added that 600 people on the droughtstricken island in southern Lau were reported to be down to their last few pints of fresh water.
The Marine Department’s landing-barge, Duiyabaki, was to sail from Suva to Vatoa carrying 70 tonnes of water for the islanders. It was due to arrive on the island two days after leaving the mainland. When the inter-island ship Uluilakeba called in at Vatoa the week before, scores of people paddled out to beg for water.
“They came with their buckets, bottles, cans and tins, and anything else which could carry water,” an officer on the ship said in Suva.
“All the wells they depended on for water have dried up and there has been no rain for about three months.”
The Uluilakeba gave the islanders a tonne of water – all that it could spare. The officer said that the water supply at Fulaga was also becoming critical.
At other islands in southern and northern Lau visited by the Uluilakeba to assess the situation, it was found the issue was serious but well water was still obtainable. Serious
The then Minister for Social Services, Jonate Mavoa, said that the Marine Department would obtain an emergency water supply service throughout the drought season and supply islands whose supplies were exhausted.
The minister returned to Suva after a 13-day, 13-island tour of Lau.
“Most of them have had no rainfall for three to four months and the water shortage is becoming very serious,’’ he said.
At Naroi, Moala, he had seen a new water supply just completed by the Public Works Department under the United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF) scheme.
The supply was serving the school as well as the village, and the minister commented that it was one of the best he had seen. In Suva, there was still a strong likelihood of water restrictions.
The Suva Water Supply engineer, R. Carr, said that although some rain had fallen in the catchment area during the weekend, the rate of inflow was definitely dropping slowly.
He did not know whether restrictions would have to be imposed.
