The Fiji Times

Fuel station for villagers

- By SITERI SAUVAKACOL­O

THE passion, commitment and resilience of the people of the Ba highlands to grow economical­ly are part of the reasons why local investors have decides to take business services to their doorstep.

Last weekend, fuel giant Pacific Energy officially opened its first-ever containeri­sed service station in rural and remote Nukuloa in Ba.

The modern facility, located on land owned by permanent secretary for Civil Service Parmesh Chand and his wife Renu, will cater for villages in rural Ba as well as nearby schools and a health facility.

“A lot of people have asked me why have we done this project in rural Ba? I’ll tell you why – it’s the passion and the commitment of this community that has inspired us. More importantl­y your resilience and strength,” Ms Chand said.

“This is about our community, but most importantl­y, our future leaders, 2000 schoolchil­dren from six schools in this area.”

Ms Chand, a chartered accountant by profession, said taking services to Nukuloa meant a lot to them as they personally witnessed the struggles the villagers went through during tropical cyclone Winston’s destructiv­e impact in the interior of Ba interior in 2016.

She said villagers will enjoy convenient shopping with the opening of shops like Value City, a supermarke­t and a bread shop in the locality.

“Our supermarke­t provides trolley shopping experience, but what’s more important is we are catering for villagers that come to do their shopping through horseback.

“So if you look across, you can see the beautiful hills and mountains.

“And if you see a fence that’s coloured yellow, you’d wonder why there’s a yellow colour among everything else that’s actually access to the paddock so we have got a paddock there that people bring their horses from the highlands.

“They put the horses where there’s water for the horses there’s grazing area and they come into the shopping and then load everything on their horses before travelling back home.”

The new service station is in Nukuloa, which is a 30-minute drive from Ba Town.

A lot of people have asked me why have we done this project in rural Ba? I’ll tell you why – it’s the passion and the commitment of this community that has inspired us. More importantl­y your resilience and strength. This is about our community, but most importantl­y, our future leaders, 2000 schoolchil­dren from six schools in this area.

– Renu Chand

 ?? Picture: REINAL CHAND ?? Property owners Renu Chand (left) and Parmesh Chand (far right) with Pacific Energy chief executive officer Xavier Baronnet officiate at the opening of the new service station in Nukuloa, Ba.
Picture: REINAL CHAND Property owners Renu Chand (left) and Parmesh Chand (far right) with Pacific Energy chief executive officer Xavier Baronnet officiate at the opening of the new service station in Nukuloa, Ba.

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