There are still some people living in Nabavatu Village, Macuata, after Tropical Cyclone Ana damaged houses and left land cracks on January 31, 2021.

It was declared a red zone by the Ministry of Land and Mineral Resources because of earthquakes, landslides and floods so villagers were advised to evacuate.

Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Inia Seruiratu said it was unfortunate to find people not adhering to the advice and disaster warnings since Fiji was now into cyclone season.

While few families remain in the village, 250 people are living at the Assemblies of God Church land a few kilometres away in Dreketi.

“It is unfortunate but as usual natural disaster preparation is ongoing,” Mr Seruiratu said.

“We are going to assist them if at any time they want to relocate or move before the natural disaster strikes.”

He said their aim was to minimise losses, damage and save lives.

Relocation Plan

Mr Seruiratu said they could not relocate the villagers to a new site unless the land issue was sorted.

“Initially it was the state land that was marked but then that did not happen,” he said.

“We are looking at options again from the landowning unit if we can utilise it.”

But he revealed that if they were going to take that option it would mean mitigating the existing risk that has been already identified in the geo-tech survey.

He said that they had to wait for expert to advise them on this.

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