Long distances and high taxi fares are making it difficult for families in remote parts of Bua on Vanua Levu to register their children’s births.
Justice Minister Siromi Turaga said a couple from Lekutu, Bua, was only able to register their five-year-old child after registry services were decentralised to a nearby village.
Mr Turaga said this highlighted the challenges many parents faced in registering the birth details of their children.
“The distances between villages are long; from one village to another, from the main road, and along field roads.
“Taxi costs are high. It costs villagers from Nabouwalu $80 to travel to Lekutu.
“Fares aren’t regulated, so people don’t always have the means to travel.”
He said some people as old as 70 still did not have birth certificates. He stressed that birth certificates wre essential, as they enabled children to access education and health services and were a fundamental right.
