Over 19,000 Fijians To Benefit From $1.1million Wainikoro Govt Station

Around 19,380 Fiji­ans living in the districts of Nadogo, Dogotuki, Cikobia, Udu and Namuka in Macuata will now benefit from the new Wainikoro Govern­ment Station.

During the commission­ing of the $1.1 million Gov­ernment Station on Friday, Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management, Inia Seruiratu, said the develop­ment would benefit 35 vil­lages and 14 settlements in the five districts of Macuata Province.

Services

The District and Adminis­tration Government office will provide services like birth, death and marriage registration and certificati­cation, business registra­tion and Justice of Peace Services.

Mr Seruiratu acknowl­edged the efforts of his min­istry through its integrated rural development frame­work and its tenure to a strategic development plan to ensure that Government continues to expand and decentralise its services to rural communities.

“To ensure no Fijian is left behind as we march to­wards an inclusive and bet­ter Fiji for all,” he said.

Bridging the gap

This is in a bid to bridge the development gap be­tween rural and urban com­munities.

“The Government is not just listening to the requests of its people, but actually taking concrete actions to ensure people’s needs are met,” he said.

More than 800 farmers, fishermen and women are also expected to benefit from this investment.

Tui Nadogo, Ratu Ilisaniti Malodali, praised the Fiji­First Government for hear­ing their request.

Ratu Malodali said the past struggles of travelling long distances to Labasa Town for Government ser­vices will now be over.

Women’s Group lauds Govt’s investment

Naraqa Women’s Group member, Vinaini Cama, said mothers would be the major beneficiaries of this development.

The addition of the birth registration department at the station would allow mothers an opportunity to ensure their children were registered on time.

Optimistic

Tui Nadogo, Ratu Ilisan­iti Malodali, is optimistic about Wainikoro being de­clared as a possible Town­ship for Nadogo District in the future.

Ever since his installation as chief back in 2008, he al­ways had a dream to bring all necessary Government services to his people.

“People are unaware of these various Government services as they stay put in their villages, so these government centre expo­sures their knowledge to learn such standards,” he stressed.

End goal

He believed Wainikoro is headed in the right direc­tion to someday be turned into a township.

“We have more Govern­ment stations than Seaqaqa and hopefully we can be­come the North’s third town.”

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