“It hurts to see that we have been ignored.”
The frustration in Jone Waqaituinayau’s voice was hard to miss as he relayed to The Fiji Times the plight of vendors at the Suva fish market.
As president of the Suva United Fish Market, Mr Waqaituinayau said he spoke on behalf of at least 80 members that the body represents.
“First of all, we don’t have toilet facilities where we are located,” he said.
“There’s also the issue of leaking roofs in the stalls we pay to occupy, and on the busiest days of the week — Fridays and Saturdays — we face a lot of competition from other sellers who don’t pay for table expenses but come to the market to sell.”
He said as a direct result, he and other vendors were often forced to dispose of spoiled fish in the Nubukalou Creek next to the market shed and this meant financial losses for paying vendors.
“We pay $3.50 per table every day. There are 48 tables in total, and whether they are occupied or not, we pay the Suva City Council for all the tables.
“The Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa, came to the market to officiate at an event in 2023, and we invited him to meet with us so he could hear from us and witness what we’ve been experiencing.
“We met him twice already, but we’ve never heard back from him. It hurts to see that we’ve been ignored. The members depend on me, and I have tried, but no one has listened or done anything about our issues.”
Questions sent to Mr Nalumisa more than a month ago and numerous follow-ups in the weeks following remain unanswered.
Suva City Council acting chief executive and special administrator Tevita Boseiwaqa also failed to reply to questions sent to him two weeks ago, and repeated efforts to reach out to him for comments remain futile.
