Resident raises concern over incomplete housing scheme

A RESIDENT of Wakanisila in Kalabu has told Finance Ministry officials that under the previous administration, some houses in their community were allocated numbers for housing purposes while others were not.

Walesi Dakuroko told the ministry’s public consultations at the Wakanisili Methodist Church they had lived in the area for generations and approached successive governments for help in securing a piece of land until the last government initiated moves to allocate land for some families in the area.

“When our elders first came here, it was through the traditional custom of presenting a tabua and asking the chief and landowners of Kalabu for the use of their land to live on,” Mr Dakuroko said.

“The understanding of this system is that we would be obligated to contribute and participate in all the vanua of Kalabu’s traditional obligations.”

Mr Dakuroko said when the previous administration visited them and heard about their plight, the residents were assured they would be helped to get proper leases with titles; the first step they saw was government officials marking the area that was going to be included in the new housing scheme, and houses were numbered.

“Those residents who didn’t have their homes numbered are still contributing to Kalabu while those of us who have numbered homes now no longer participate in the traditional obligations to the vanua of Kalabu,” Mr Dakuroko said.

He requested the ministry officials to help facilitate and complete the process. Ministry official Sekove Nakavono apologised to the residents on behalf of the other government ministries that could not be present.

“In our public consultations, we would have representatives from other government ministries in attendance but there are none here today who could address your concerns, but we can assure you that everything that is discussed here is being updated in our head office and we will get back to you soon with a response,” he said.