Man on a mission...
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is certainly a man of his words when he said his Government was not constricted to running the nation from the confines of the office, but rather goes to the people.
He’s proved this time and again. This week’s North tour reinforced just that when he said: “I have never led a Government that is content with making all of its decisions sitting in offices in Suva. We do more than just listen.”
Mr Bainimarama is pictured on the sands of Galoa Island, Vanua Levu, with his delegation to commission a water project on October 1, 2020. Words: Laisa Kabulevu
Photo: Office of the Prime Minister
Gone are the days when 84-yearold Lusiana Caginiveisaqa would have to walk a distance to a river to fetch drinking and cooking water in buckets.
Yesterday, her eyes light up when she opened the tap from her home for the first time to fill a cup with water. She was among many happy villagers of Galoa Island in Bua after the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama commissioned the Galoa Freshwater Project.
Ms Caginiveisaqa labelled this a blessing to Galoa islanders as they now have consistent access to safe and clean drinking water.
She said they had faced difficulties in the past when fetching water. “When I was younger, we had to go far to fetch water, normally carrying two buckets of water per day to last us two days,” Ms Caginiveisaqa said. “We would only do laundry once in a week, and it would be a happy day for us when it rained to fill our water drums.
“Water was then transported by boat from the jetty, most of the time half the water spilled and it was a total waste of effort.
“Today is such a beautiful day that we will never forget and I am glad to witness this water commissioning while I am still alive,” she said.
PM statement
Mr Bainimarama said it was amazing to hear stories of how they would
carry water even the recent past, just as their ancestors did centuries ago.
After the commissioning of the water project, he said: “There will be no more time wasted fetching water that could be used more productively.
“The children will have reliable water supply for their school, and there will be less danger of water borne diseases,” the PM told the islanders.
Mr Bainimarama added that the Fijian Constitution enshrined the right for all to have adequate water at the end of their 20-Year National Development Plan.
“Day by day, project by project, we are extending reliable supplies of clean water across the country,” he said.