Ulamila Nawakelo is echoing the sentiments of Naitasiri farmers calling on the Agricultural Marketing Authority to buy their produce at the Sawani containment border.
The 51-year-old Udu villager made the comment as she braved the rain last Friday to sell banana, fiddlehead fern (ota), lemon and dalo.
“I have to get up at 3am and leave Udu by 4am to make it to Sawani by 6am, and then when I get here, I have to wait the whole day to sell my produce,” she said.
“And this is not just my story, it’s the same for all the people of Nagonenicolo district.
“We need the AMA to come and buy what we have so that we don’t have to spend all this time trying to make a living.”
Ms Nawakelo said the situation was different when they used to travel to the Suva Municipal Market to trade.
“In Suva, we sell our crops very quickly, people have to leave by 11am to make their way home because they live very far up in the highlands.
“We are facing a very difficult situation here and I am asking the Government officials to come and see the reality of life here.”
