VILLAGERS of Vatutavui in Tavua are at odds with the village headman Niko Sucuvakaivalu over the ban on water carting services.
The village is located about three to four kilometres outside Tavua.
Villagers said their families were receiving water on a rotational basis, leaving the rest without water for days.
Ulamila Komaisavai, 41, said the village borehole is solar-powered, and most of the time families staying further down do not receive water from the borehole.
Ms Komaisavai said houses located on elevated parts of the village had access to water daily, while 15 families in the low-lying areas received little to no water.
“The headman is doing his part by opening the borehole for the water supply, but certain families cut off the water supply to us so that their families receive the water first,” she claimed.
“It has reached that extent because people are in dire need of water.”
Kolaia Nabaro said some households have sickly members, children, or are nursing infants.
“Some children have not been able to go to school, or people walk for about half an hour to the other water source to take a shower,” he said.
“A few adults don’t go to work, or they just change their clothes and go to work without having a shower just to be on time.”
Mr Nabaro claimed the interference of the village headman in the operations of the village’s drinking water committee was impacting community members.
Naelesoni Ravato said he was rationing water wisely for his family of six since their water tank was only a quarter full.
“We need to maintain cleanliness, so we’ve requested that electricity be used to power the borehole because there isn’t much force in the pressure coming from the solar panels,” he said.
Questions sent to the Transport and Public Works Minister, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, and the Water Authority of Fiji have remained unanswered.
