More than 200 Nabitu villagers have been facing intermittent water supply for the past three years, with water coming through their taps only two hours a day.
Village nurse Alumeci Rokotovoni said she was concerned about the health implications and inconvenience faced by the Tailevu villagers.
“Water will come on at 4am then go off at 5am, and the next time it comes back on will be at 8am then it goes back off again at 9am,” Ms Rokotovoni said.
“In the mornings, we try to fill as many buckets and bottles as we can to help get us through the day, but sometimes it is not enough.
“It’s only when we call the Water Authority of Fiji to send trucks then they do. If not, they don’t come at all.”
She claimed that once a week, two water trucks would visit the village.
“Two water trucks are not enough. There are over two hundred villagers alone here in Nabitu.
“At times, before the water truck even reaches the houses at the end, there’s no more water in the trucks.
“Once the water is finished, they go for good and don’t come back and those who come with the water trucks would say ‘aye next time eh’.
“It’s really sad because the homes who miss out are really in need of water.”
Ms Rokotovoni said most times they were forced to go down to the river to bathe.
“It’s a norm for us now because we’ve learnt to live like this. When there’s no water at all and when no trucks visit, we take ourselves and our families to the river, where we wash our clothes and bathe.
“At times, we even have to carry water from the river to use for our cooking and drinking. We know that it is unsafe, but what can we do when we don’t have water in our taps?”
She said the Nabitu people had discussed another option.
“We’ve been thinking of building a well, but the water always turns out dirty.
“Our plea is if we could have tanks, that would be helpful. At least we can harvest rainwater.”
