Namoli Night Market In Lautoka

The Lautoka City Council (LCC) will construct 70 food  stalls including seven cart spaces with washing and sitting facilities for female vendors and consumers.

This is through the Namoli Green Night Food Market project, a first major project for the council during the pandemic.

Minister for Local Government Premila Kumar, during the groundbreaking ceremony, said the idea of the project was born out of sheer determination to provide a better place for women to sell food.

The project will be built next to the Lautoka Bus Station.

Market vendor, Asinate Drauyawa, who was a market vendor since 1997, was overwhelmed that the project would soon become a reality.

“I have always wished for something like this for a long time, I am so happy it is finally happening,” she said.

Ms Kumar said some vendors were selling food along the footpath at the junctions of the Drasa and Namoli avenues.

“To ensure these women who were selling illegally from the footpaths were not deprived of their livelihood, Lautoka City Council had to explore options to provide a better place for them to sell from,” Ms Kumar said.

“There were around 20 to 25 women exposed to rain and sun with no access to proper facilities and selling along the roadsides also meant they were putting themselves at risk of road accidents, in a high traffic area,” she said.

She said the intention of the night food market project was to allow travellers to and from Lautoka City to buy  food, during an overnight trip.

“This facility can also be used during the day for similar services as well. There will be a set of vendors that will operate during the day time and another set of vendors operating at night,” Ms Kumar added.

“The night food market provides an avenue for people who want to start a business and at a reasonable cost.

“The food market will allow the public to enjoy local cuisine. Our aim is to create a platform to help incubate fresh new ideas by building opportunities for local businesses and bring the community together.”

Lautoka council chief executive officer, Mohammed Anees Khan, said the project would provide much needed boost and confidence to investors who wished to develop infrastructure and facilities in Lautoka.

Lautoka Market Vendor’s Association president, Filomena Ditukana, said she was grateful to the ministry and the council for providing an avenue for more women entrepreneurs.

The project is expected to be completed by July.

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