A large crowd from Mama’s Place in Caubati, Nasinu, lined up yesterday for Government food rations, and in the queue was 80-year-old Champa Kali.
She said the assistance was timely because her family was struggling.
“My son is the only breadwinner in the family,” Ms Kali shared. “He has not worked for the past three weeks.
“Life has become so tough that elders sometimes miss their meals just so the children can eat.”
Acenaca Qiwa, 68, said she was standing in line because they had run out of food.
“There are 10 of us in the house,” said Ms Qiwa, who was thankful because her daughter has not been working for a few weeks now.
Meanwhile, at Topline, Caubati, many families said despite sending their request to the food helpline on *161#, they did not receive any food ration.
Joytika Vikashni, 43, said there were many single mothers in the area.
“Most of us have sent our request on *161# but we are not sure when we’ll get the food ration,” she said. Deepak Satish Chand also raised similar sentiments.
“I saw people getting rations in Mama’s Place but they haven’t come to us. We are waiting from the morning,” he said yesterday.
Economy Ministry manager and co-ordinator, Infrastructure Sector, Budget and Planning Division, Kamal Gounder said they had sufficient packs for distribution.
Teams from the Ministry of Health, DISMAC, Ministry of Agriculture, the Land Transport Authority, the disciplined forces and the Water Authority of Fiji are assisting in the distribution.
