In an effort to assist Rakiraki market vendors in complying with the plastic ban, 10 women from the Ba Women’s Forum sewed 1,500 cotton bags.

Ba Womens Forum president Ivamere Saunaqali said the project was initiated by the former speaker of parliament, the late Doctor Jiko Luveni.

“We discussed the project in October last year for Rakiraki market opening next month and then by December we confirmed the numbers and I suggested that we go local,” she said.

“Rakiraki needed 1,500 bags so we had 10 women working on it and an admin officer who is at the centre every day, so the women arrived at 9am and finished at around 3pm since most were mothers.”

She said the bags would be sold by vendors at $12 each.

“These women are from various clubs from Tavarau to Natunuku and further on to Navala so all the clubs there are part of the Ba Women’s Forum,” she said.

“Right now, we have 68 working women who are part of the forum, so they do their work and whenever we have the funding or have any projects to uplift our women, we share it out with our club members.”

The Rakiraki and Tavua Town Council Board of Special Administrators Chairperson, Mark Hirst- Tuilau, said apart from the cotton bag initiative, Rakiraki market vendors also wanted to start selling organic products.

Edited by Ivamere Nataro

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