People’s needs

AS far as they can remember, the people living in the affordable ‘housing’ area along Raj Moti Lal St in Raiwai, have never looked forward to rain, because of the long-standing issue of substantial flooding at the junction of the road and the drains by the main road after torrential rain. Flooding can get so bad that the residents either cannot get across or they have to wade through water almost up to their waist lines.

As for vehicles, forget the ability to access, because there is absolutely no access possible until the waters subside which could take hours.

As for people, this issue affects emergency exits, the working class, students, mothers who need to take their babies to clinic, business people, rubbish collectors and other service providers to name a few. Basically, the flooded main entrance to the community brings all activities to a standstill!

It is a both a wonder and also comes as no wonder that this issue has been long overlooked for years by the authorities concerned.

In fact, the floodwaters can be so bad that vehicles on the main road itself are sometimes forced to turn around and take a different route to get to their destinations. The boggling thing about the matter is that if the problem has been so severe, surely it would have been logged into someone’s book of ‘things to do’ at some point somewhere along the way!

Sadly, the issue has actioned a group of women into command and these being women who have taken their complaints to the council umpteen times and who’s concerns have not been heard.

These women have taken matters into their own hands and taken the initiative to apply for a partnership grant, to resolve the issue which the women believe to be caused by blocked drainage.

It is a walking contradiction that it is taking other people’s time, effort and money to do a job that the council is obligated to do.

It also makes one wonder if the matter is really due to blocked drainage or a lack of drainage? This leaves us asking the main question which is, what happens when the money runs out? Who takes over then?

In other words, the women could have put their money to better use like into say, constructing raised litter bins to cater to the storage of litter due to the poor service of litter collection that they are also facing.

Oh! Hang on! That’s another council job!

NOLEEN BILLINGS

Savusavu