Student Makereta Miriama Matata Tutu had promised her parents that she would buy their dream home when she worked.

She said she would study hard to land a good job. That promise appeared to have crashed when she was killed in a horrific bus accident that also claimed the life of another student at Lakena, Nausori, on October 9 last year.

But the Accident Compensation Commission of Fiji (ACCF) has stepped in to keep the dream alive.

It has paid the family $75,000 which will be invested in building a new home just as Makereta had dreamed.

Asenaca Tutu, mother of the late Nausori Primary School student Makereta. Photo: Maika Bolatiki

Asenaca Tutu, mother of the late Nausori Primary School student Makereta, has praised the Government and the commission for the fast processing of the payment.

She said just a week after her daughter’s death commission officers visited the school and talked about motor vehicle accidents and how to apply for compensation.

Ms Tutu said she filled the application form with all the relevant information and sent it to the commission.

She said they were happy that the payment was made before the 100th night after Makereta’s death.

She said anti-Government critics told her that she would not receive the total sum.

“Some said that the Government had no money for the compensation and it would come from another source.”

Ms Tutu told these critics that Fiji was led by a caring leader and Government and had never lied to the Fijian people.

She said she suspected these critics were members of an Opposition party.

Her advice to them – “When you’re getting help from this inclusive government it’s only wise that you support it.”

She said that last Wednesday she received a call the money was in her bank account and she should check it.

“Now these critics are not saying anything. They have remained silent.”

She said on the last day that they had their family prayer session with Makereta she told her grandmother that she would work very hard at school and was aiming to further her education at one of the universities, get a degree, work and buy a new home for the family.

The late Makereta Miriama Matata Tutu.

Now that she had died, Ms Tutu said she would buy a land and a new home from the $75,000.

She said that she would buy a new lot at Nakelo.

Ms Tutu said she really missed her daughter as she was doing all the housework for her in the morning and afternoon.

She had promised to buy a new home, and that was why they were buying a new home from the compensation money.

The mother said her two brothers Pita Mataika in Class 7 and Ian Tutu in Class 5 also missed her.

“They were very close.”

She said she had urged her sons to work hard and always remember their sister in their prayers.

Meanwhile, the commission said “An application has not been made for compensation for the other death from this accident.”

It said the family was attending to legal matters before doing so.

“Upon receiving a completed application, it will be processed in a timely manner and compensation will be paid out accordingly.

“The ACCF team is assisting with any enquiries for injuries suffered as a result of this accident.”

The commission said there was no delay in the processing of applications for injuries arising from the same accident.

It said to date it had paid out more than $7.5 million in compensation to victims of motor vehicle, employment and school accidents since January 1, 2018.

The school bus that the late Makereta Miriama Matata Tutu was on, after it was pulled out on Lakena Hill in Nausori, on October 9, 2019. Photo: Ronald Kumar

Edited by Nemani Delaibatiki

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