WHILE thousands across the country are preparing to receive free water under a new Government initiative, people in a rural community in Ba are relying on dirty river water for their daily needs.
In Nabatolu and Nakavika in Ba, animals bathe upstream while residents collect water for drinking, cooking and bathing downstream using horses, bullocks and carriers.
Representatives of about 200 families from both settlements said they had made numerous requests to the Government over the past few years for assistance but to no avail.
Umesh Sandeep Singh, a labourer who lives in the area, said there had been no piped supply since indentured labourers first settled the area.
“We have made requests for so many years. I have lost count of the number of letters that have been written and people we have seen about our water problem,” Mr Singh said.
“Health Ministry officials came to visit us during the dengue fever outbreak last year and saw the struggles we went through on a daily basis and made recommendations to the District Officer Ba for a borehole project.
“The paperwork including quotations were done in 2013 and since then, we have not heard anything.”
A team from The Fiji Times witnessed men, women and children involved in the arduous task of collecting dirty river water into drums and containers when the news team visited the area on Monday.
Ironically, across the river from Nabatolu and Nakavika, Vatusei residents enjoy access to piped water from a nearby reservoir.
At Nakavika, the issues people face in accessing water on a daily basis are further exacerbated during the sugarcane harvesting season, says resident farmer Deo Datt Singh.
The sardar said there had been no piped supply since he was born there 50 years ago.
While some residents have small wells or boreholes, most of the residents collect water from rain or a nearby river for their daily needs.
“The wells and boreholes dry up during the dry season,” he said.
“So we all have to use the river and this is a problem when it’s harvesting season because the lorries that we use are all used up taking cane to the Rarawai mill.”
Mr Singh said health risks were quite high from the water sources they had access to.
“When we collect rain water in drums, there is a big chance that mosquitoes will breed there and the river water is quite polluted because animals use it too.”
Ba provincial administrator Laitia Raisua said as far as he was concerned, the Government had done its bit by establishing a good water source for Nabatolu and Nakavika residents.
“It is now up to the residents in these areas to form a working committee and collect the annual fees to purchase pipes as per the requirement for these types of projects,” he said.
