Tank Gift Brings Relief

Storing water in small buckets will now become obsolete for Rajnesh Lal, of Naidovi Settlement, in Nadi.

The 34-year-old businessman has been living in the area with his wife and son for over a decade.

Naidovi settlement is one of the most affected area by water cuts and during the drought season.

Mr Lal said he was among 20 households in the settlement who received the water tanks from Government. “We have been facing water problems for the last 10 years. It worsens during drought season because we didn’t have water tanks at that time,’’ Mr Lal said. To accommodate family needs, they usually fill small buckets with water during drought seasons. And, this wasn’t enough to cater for his family.

“This is a very good initiative from the Government. We want to thank the Government for responding to our need for help. We can store around 5300 litres of water in this tank which will suffice our needs when there is no piped water,” Mr Lal said.

The water tanks were delivered to their doorstep about three months ago, free of charge.

Shalini Devi, 32, said in the past she was unable to carry out her normal household chores during the drought seasons.

“Before we could only fill buckets with water which could only cater for cooking and bathing, I couldn’t do my washing,” Ms Devi said.

She also echoes her gratitude to the Government for the generous initiative.

Commissioner Western Manasa Tagicakibau thanked the Water Authority of Fiji for addressing water problems within the Western Division.

He appreciated the provision of water tanks to households in the division as additional support when there were water cuts.