A mother of seven could not hold back her tears as she watched her children play for the last time at their Veiraisi settlement home before it was dismantled.
Alisi Voliwaqe said they had lived in that settlement in Nadera for the past 17 years and seeing the faces of her children witnessing their eviction broke her heart.
Hers was one of 40 households being evicted from the settlement by the Nasinu Land Purchase and Housing Cooperative Ltd.
“Seventeen years ago, we had gone to a man, who was supposedly the owner of this land, with money, whales tooth and other Fijian traditional artifacts to ask if we could be given a piece of land,” Ms Voliwaqe said.
“He brought us here and specifically pointed out this land saying that we could stay here and build our house here.
“So we were quite shocked when we started receiving eviction notices to vacate this land as the owners were going to develop it.”
With tears in her eyes, she said what made matters worse was her children having to watch all this unfold.
“I have always been telling my kids to work hard in school because this should not be our permanent residence.
“Little did I know that my kids would witness a day like this where we were told to pack our stuff and find another place to move to.”
Ms Voliwaqe requested the Government to intervene and give them a piece of land or even money to help them relocate their house materials and belongings.
Questions sent to relevant government ministries on the issue remained unanswered when this edition went to press.
