Poor road access continues to pose serious challenges for women vendors of Magodro Village in Ba, forcing many to travel long distances on horseback and spend days away from home just to earn a living.
Villager Alena Natui said women farmers often travel up to 20 kilometres to their farms, many of whom are located in the Nadi Highlands, because road conditions make vehicle access impossible.
“We face a lot of difficulties with the road conditions,” she said.
“We are not only women vendors at the Nadi market but also farmers in the Nadi Highlands.”
Ms Natui said women left their homes as early as 4am every Monday and camped in the forest for several days while harvesting turmeric and other vegetables.
“Because of the condition of the road, we have to stay three or four nights at the farm,” she said.
“We use tarpaulin for shelter while our children and grandchildren are waiting for us at home.”
She said many of the women were sole breadwinners for their families.
“Even though we have our husbands there to plant, we can also use our hands to plant,” she said.
Ms Natui said the situation worsened during wet weather, when the road becomes slippery and muddy, making travel even more dangerous.
“I feel sorry for us women, walking 20 kilometres to get turmeric and selling them for $1.50 at the warehouse, and we are having sleepless nights,” she said.
She added students attending Bukuya High School also struggled with the road conditions, sometimes missing classes as a result.
Ms Natui has called on relevant authorities to urgently address the road issues. Questions have been sent to the Minister for Infrastructure Ro Filipe Tuisawau.
