Vutia Villagers Fed Up with Long Water Supply Issues
Villagers in the Vutia District of Rewa are concerned about a continued lack of action from authorities towards the water supply problems that have plagued their communities for three decades.
At a talanoa session organised by the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission (FHRADC) that focused on the issue of safe and clean drinking water in Muana-i-Ra village on Friday last week, former Vutia District representative Peniasi Naimoso said the low water pressure issue had gone on for far too long. Following visits to the ministries concerned, the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF), and regional development authorities for two weeks, Mr Naimoso said the water pressure suddenly improved last week, coincidentally days before the meeting between key stakeholders.
During the talanoa, Mr Naimoso asked WAF representatives whether the improved water pressure would continue going forward. He said he wasn’t satisfied nor convinced by their response.
“They said that along the line there was a burst, which was why the chairman of the meeting said that this week there was no burst and the water flow was really good. “But I’m not happy with the way they answered because if that’s the case, that over the last 30 years, we’ve been dealing with pipe bursts, what other alternative actions have been taken by the WAF to address this?”
Mr Naimoso said not enough had been done to date to address serious concerns from the villagers and that the absence of Minister for Public Works Ro Filipe Tuisawau and Minister for Rural and Maritime Development Sakeasi Ditoka, who were invited to the meeting, was a let-down.
Uphill battle for women
Lanieta Kaikadavu, 66, has spent her life in Muana-i-Ra. She is a mother of three and grandmother of eleven children. She said she was disappointed by the lack of urgency from the Government to resolve the situation.
The problems have gone on for so long that it’s normal for households to go without running water for weeks, according to Ms Kaikadavu.
She said it’s become routine for her family to proactively fill and store drums of water and with children and grandchildren who come back home to visit, this is a major challenge.
Ms Kaikadavu also shared how it could be an uphill battle for women in the village when there was a lack of clean water during their menstrual cycle and pregnancies. “When I was younger, we had to go find water and sometimes we dug up ponds,” she said.
“It’s difficult for females because we need water all the time.”
She said Friday’s discussions were a step in the right direction
and remained hopeful that the authorities would act.
Community-driven initiative
The talanoa session is the fourth phase of the FHRADC’s community-led initiative known as the Human Rights Community-led Development (HRCLD) Project. Supported by the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) and the Pacific Community (SPC), the Project is the Commission’s first and aims to empower the Vutia villages of Muana-i-ra, Muana-i-Cake and Laucala Island to identify and understand human rights and develop solutions to the prevailing problems they’re facing.
The goal is to establish a culture where the 378 villagers who call Vutia home could take ownership of the challenges they face and action change, without relying entirely on the Government and the FHRADC, FHRADC director Loukinikini Vili Lewaravu told this masthead.
“We started the Project in November last year.
“We came in and asked them whether they wanted to engage in this following another project that we did previously on climate change.
“They said yes and that was the first phase. In the second phase, we came and did workshops about what human rights are, and identified when there’s a human rights violation and so forth.
“On the third phase, we came back and talked about identifying what their most pressing human rights issues were to pilot this project.”
Ms Lewaravu said three priority issues were identified: climate change, access to information and water.
“Water was the common one across all three villages and so everyone decided that water was going to be the human rights focus of the project.
“So they were able to identify how they wanted to solve this issue and they chose to have a talanoa session.”
Ms Lewaravu explained that the villagers tried to raise their concerns with their community leaders and relevant Government ministries over the last three decades, but their attempts went nowhere. It’s not just the low water pressure that’s been a problem. Resources to safely and reliably store water for everyday use are not widely available.
“These families were promised water tanks but some do not have water tanks. Some families can’t even afford to build a foundation that is required for the water tanks,” Ms Lewaravu said.
The meeting last Friday, she added, offered villagers the opportunity to seek short-term solutions to the water accessibility issue while they wait.
“The outcome from here is going to be relayed back to the Ministers. “We will follow up to determine how we can move forward and solve the issue together.”