Primary School In Danger
The school management, students and parents of South Taveuni Primary School in the district of Vuna, Taveuni Island are living in fear.
Tropical Cyclone Winston, which struck Fiji in 2016, damaged the 200-metre seawall and since then nothing has been done.
Krishna Reddy, who has been the school manager for more than 18 years, said he has written letters to the Ministry of Waterways.
The Fiji Roads Authority, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management requesting a new seawall.
“Our concern is that we are going to approach the hurricane season soon and with the current climate change situation, we are already feeling the wrath,” Mr Reddy said.
He explained that since the seawall was damaged, the waves brought in salt water, coral, rocks, soil and debris onto the road, slowly eroding the shoreline.
With this, as years passed by, sides of the road have been washing away.
Some of the remains during high tide beside the South Taveuni Primary School in Taveuni on August 1, 2022.
He claims many ministries have carried out their inspection, but no one has returned to update them on what would be the next step.
“During high tide or depressions, our children live in fear and some who walk down to school are afraid to use the road,” he said.
“There are more than 800 students from South Taveuni Primary School, South Taveuni Kindergarten and South Taveuni Secondary School accessing this road.”
Some of the remains during high tide beside the South Taveuni Primary School in Taveuni on August 1, 2022.
He is requesting that the Government not leave the people of Taveuni behind because of its geographical location.
“I understand it’s a costly project, but let us not ignore the safety of our teachers, students and parents,” he urged.
An email has been sent to the Ministry of Waterways, Commissioner Northern and Fiji Roads Authority (FRA).
The Ministry and the FRA both said they could not comment on the issue, when the Fiji Sun contacted them about it.
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