Villagers of Natanuku in Ba have never had running water since their ancestors settled there.

But, that will be a worry of the past now that the Government, which has learned of the villagers’ water woes, promised to help them out.

Minister for Local Government, Urban Development, Housing and Environment Parveen Bala gave the assurance while visiting and officiating at the Natanuku Village fundraiser that was held on Friday.

“We are working on that and we are hoping to start as soon as possible, but in any case the FijiFirst Government will do anything for the Fijian people,” Mr Bala said.

“This will be done through their expansion programme where the water main will come in from Khalsa College in Ba right to the main roads.

‘Once that is done we will have these areas including Natanuku Village catered for in terms of water supply.”

Natanuku Village headman, Timoci Veisamasama Nakete, they had been without water since their forefathers resided in the area.

“We used to depend on boreholes, but the pumps just went bust over the years, and the problem with the boreholes is that it dries up during dry season,” Mr Nakete said.

“Another thing is in these parts, it is dry all throughout the year so they are basically dry for most parts of the year.”

He said at present they being supplied 10,000 litres of water every 10 days by the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF).

The WAF fills up their two water tanks situated at strategic places to cater for 96 houses in the village.

“Each household has two 44-litre drums to sustain them for the 10 days, making life a bit difficult for us here,” Mr Nakete said.

“We are thankful that our local hero Minister Bala has reassured us that help is on the way.”

According to Mr Nakete the Government previously built 13 houses in the village following the devastation wreaked upon them by Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston.

He said this was one of the villages in Fiji that had been overlooked by previous Governments, but he was confident of being helped by the FijiFirst Government.

Edited by Percy Kean

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