Residents Tell of Relief With Crossing Works Underway
The much-awaited works on an Irish Crossing in the cane farming community of Vakabuli Paipai, Lautoka, has finally begun.
About two weeks ago Fiji Roads Authority started on the $1.6m project that is expected to be complete in November.
For Anaseini Lawa, just seeing the work take shape is a sigh of relief. “We have faced a lot of problems in the past,” Ms Lawa said. “Children were not able to go to school when it floods and people are not able to go to work in the morning if there is a flooding.”
Over the years, the old structure was washed away by continuous floods and rains and deteriorated more so during Tropical Cyclone
Winston in 2016.
About 1000 people live in this area said Shamshad Ali, the advisory counsellor of Vakabuli Paipai. “I have been in the advisory committee for the last 33 years and I have never seen anything like this,” Mr Ali said of the works underway. He said they were disheartened by the continuous flooding which affected their work and school and this had gotten worse after Tropical Cyclone Winston.
“People have had to wait for three to four hours for floods to subside before we could cross,” Mr Ali said. “Some students had also been carried away by the floods however, the locals managed to save them.” Mr Ali commended the Government for re-establishing the basic infrastructure in the area. Sanjay Chand, another resident, said that he was happy that the crossing was finally being constructed.