Nakasa villagers hold on to hope for village evacuation hall

After years of fleeing to a roadside bus shelter whenever cyclones threatened, the people of Nakasa Village in Cakaudrove are holding onto hope that they will finally have a proper evacuation hall.

Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Mosese Bulitavu has assured villagers that the Government will assist with the long-awaited project after visiting the village last week.

Mr Bulitavu said he understood the hardships villagers had endured over the years.

Nakasa villagers have repeatedly sought Government assistance to build an evacuation hall, saying they have nowhere safe to shelter during severe weather.

Turaga ni Yavusa Vadrani, Semesa Tubese, said villagers were forced to evacuate to the main road and shelter at a bus stop whenever tropical cyclones or severe weather struck because of strong winds from the sea.

"An evacuation hall would give us shelter as the bus stop could only cater a few," Mr Tubese said.

"It would reduce a lot of stress and incidents where houses maybe damaged by strong winds while residents are still inside.

"In past cyclones we have experienced damaged homes, plantations and our temporary evacuation hall."

Mr Bulitavu directed the Provincial Administrator for Cakaudrove to meet Mr Tubese and assist with preparing a formal application for the project.

He said scoping work would begin once a project proposal had been completed.

"The scoping works should recommend the type of works needed," he said.

Mr Bulitavu also suggested the village contribute timber from its forest for the construction of the evacuation hall.

"This will be part of the village's contribution while we will work out Government's contribution towards this project," he said.

Mr Tubese said the existing temporary hall remained unsuitable as an evacuation centre because it lacked a ceiling and its doors and windows were not fitted, leaving people exposed during strong winds.

"We are ready to fundraise for our contribution to the hall," he said.

The Nakasa Village hall was first built in 1974 and was the first hall in the Wailevu district cluster in Cakaudrove.

"I have seen evacuation halls in other villages renovated, improved and extended, while here at Nakasa we are still waiting," Mr Tubese said.

"Once we have our evacuation hall we can have other empowerment activities but importantly we will be safe during a cyclone or natural disaster."