HIGH unemployment among the youth population has led Namoli Village elders in Lautoka to seek divine intervention and a community-based approach to address the issue.
Village headman Joji Satala said villagers had been in discussions with various authorities including Government to begin large scale projects on their land.
“We want to focus on the use of our land,” he said.
“We’ve got a few land developments that we want to pursue which we are in discussions with TLTB (iTaukei Land Trust Board).
“They’re all very large scale projects and we hope that we can reach a suitable agreement that benefits everyone especially our youths.”
Mr Satala said they wanted to change the mindset of youths in the village by encouraging and empowering them.
“A lot of people assume that just because we are situated right next to a city, it means that we do well for ourselves.
“That is not the case with Namoli.
“A lot of our youths are unemployed and they need to be directed to the right people and right places.
“We have been engaged in a spiritual cleansing of our community over the past few weeks.
“We have been praying over our people for God to bring about some much-needed changes.
“We are starting to see those changes but now we want to see the fruits of our prayers by taking some necessary actions.”
