Scrap metal collectors in Lautoka have not sent their children to school because they have not been able to earn any money in the past three weeks.
Speaking on behalf of the collectors, Manueli Sovau said they had not been able to sell any scrap metal they collected during that period because of the closure of a scrap metal buyers’ workshop.
“The dealer who gives us the best scrap price was told to close and we could not sell the scraps we have collected elsewhere,” Mr Sovau said.
“Most of the parents who rely on selling scraps have not sent their children to school because they were not able to buy their stationery.
“A lot of us live in informal settlements and we have been in this business for many years because it provides us our daily needs.”
Mr Sovau said most scrap metal collectors had been struggling to make ends meet over the past few weeks as a result of the closure.
He said two other workshops in Lautoka paid very low prices — not enough to meet their basic daily needs.
Mr Sovau said the biggest challenge for collectors was the low price buyers paid.
A number of Fijians who reside in informal settlements on the periphery of Lautoka City rely on their earnings for their daily survival.
Mr Sovau, also a spokesperson for the California Lovu Seaside settlement, claimed they only sold scraps collected from the Vunato Dump and denied knowledge of the theft of government-owned infrastructure metal.
“We pay the Lautoka City Council $20 every month to collect scrap metals from the dump,” Mr Sovau said.
“This has been the practice for many years particularly for us living in settlements nearby.
“We do this daily and spend the entire day collecting scraps as it provides us our daily needs.”
