Minister Vuniwaqa: More expected to turn up in Lautoka
The Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Vuniwaqa, expects more people to turn up in Lautoka for their Homes-CARE initiative, compared to the crowd that gathered at Sigatoka on Thursday.
The number of Fijians seeking Government’s assistance after Tropical Cyclones Josie and Keni continues to grow every day. Shirley Park in Lautoka was no different as thousands of Fijians gathered for the Homes-CARE initiative.
“In Sigatoka we gave out almost 8000 numbers (tickets), 7790 to be exact. Those are the number of tickets we gave out, but that does not mean we served that many people, some of them were being turned away, but this is a much bigger crowd judging from the numbers we have given out so far,” Ms Vuniwaqa said. Crowds seeking Government assistance gathered at Shirley Park by the thousands, the majority lived in affected areas around Lautoka.
“So it is going to be more intense over here and we are looking forward to it,” she said.
Ms Vuniwaqa said they had also allocated an exclusive tent for the disabled and elderly citizens who were served separately. Natabua resident Abdul Saheem, 54, said they really needed help from the Fijian Government.
“If Government helps us, then it will be good for us and our families because we are all affected people waiting here, no one is lying, everybody got Tropical Cyclone damage all we asking from our Government if they can do something to help us,” Mr Saheem said. Lautoka resident Mererai Ranadi, 68, said most of her furniture were damaged by cyclones Keni and Josie. “We just need help. That is all, and we are pleading with the Government to please assist us with this,” Ms Ranadi said. Despite the warnings issued by Ms Vuniwaqa against false claims, people were still coming forward. The growing number took its toll on the allocated ticket counts. Some Fijians were left out as there were no more tickets available.
Despite this, Ashika Singh, 34, of Lovu seaside was optimistic about getting some assistance by the Government.
She was among the thousands of Fijians who missed out on the initial batch of tickets that were given out yesterday morning.