Poor drainage is a cause for concern for a man in Baulevu as his farm, which is located near the Rewa River, is prone to flooding.
Iliaseri Koroituicakau, a 59-year-old farmer who has been leasing a 15-acre lot in Baulevu for more than four years, said he faced the full brunt of heavy rain and flooding.
The crop and vegetable farmer is a supplier to Agro Marketing, Ben’s Trading and local markets.
He has requested the Ministry of Lands to transfer his lease to a much safer zone, but he claimed there has been “no positive outcome”.
Three cyclones hit Fiji in 2021 and affected his farm in a big way.
“I will never forget that year, all three acres of my dalo farm were affected,” he said.
“I suffered a huge loss and faced delays in my payments with the bank.
“I had taken out a loan with FDB and my payment was delayed because I had no dalo to supply to exporters. I lost more than $20,000.
“Whenever there is heavy rainfall, the Rewa River banks overflow and flood my farm and my property.
“Right now, I’m concerned with the weather, I have taken all precautionary measures, but all current solutions are just temporary.”
Mr Koroituicakau said he had also pleaded with the Ministry of Agriculture to improve the drainage system in the area.
