SQUATTER HOUSES NOW APPEAR WHERE
MANGROVES ONCE STOOD
Mangroves have been cut and new houses are being built along Fletcher Road in Suva as more people look to settle closer to urban centres.
The Muanivatu Settlement starts from Laucala Bay and stretches towards Vatuwaqa along the busy Fletcher Road.
According to one of the first residents at the informal settlement, houses started popping up in the area in 2000.
“I started living here in 2000,” said 62-year-old Onisimo Waqa. “That time I was living with a friend, but slowly built my house. Suva City Council officers came and did a survey and gave house numbers. We were also told to stop building any more houses.
“I don’t know where the new residents are coming from. I think because they don’t have to get permission from anybody that’s why they are building houses wherever they want to.”
The informal settlement also has a designated leader – a headman who will deal with state authorities.
In the case of Muanivatu Settlement, it is Alipate Voli. According to Mr Voli, government officials had visited the settlement
this week to advise them that there should be no more construction of dwelling houses. Residents of the settlement met SCC and Ministry of Local Government officialy last night to discuss issues regarding relocation and formalisation of the settlement. Ana Matakibau lives in a small tin shack next to the road side. “I moved here from my village in Nukui, Rewa, just this year so my children could attend school. I have three children who attend school,” she said.
“This place is also close to the city and amenities.”
A few new houses have sprung up. These houses have been built on the mangrove area right next to the river with wastewater being dumped into the river.
According to the Ministry of Housing, the Government is working effortlessly to formalise the informal settlements and relocate a few squatters.
These houses have been built on the mangrove area right next to the river with wastewater being dumped into the river.