New Maranitawa Dam Ends Village Water Woes

A $600,000 dam was opened yesterday in Maranitawa Village in Ba, putting an end to the villagers’ thirst for a sustainable water supply. The project was a culmination of efforts from non-government organisation Being Helping Hands, District Office of Ba and Zubid’s Plumbing works. Villager, Kalaveti Goneva has lived in the village for over 30 years and was emotional to witness a major milestone for his community. Mr Goneva said 25 households had no supply of clean drinking water, but that had now changed.

“Before we would dig a small waterhole so that we could get drinking water and many other households were using that waterhole,” he said. “The reason why we decided to do this was because we have children and we needed water, so we decided to take the matter to the Assistant Minister and the D.O (District Officer).” While opening the dam, the Assistant Minister for Waterways and Environment, Viam Pillay, said the initial project started in 1983 with the District Office of Ba providing construction materials.

However, the dam was damaged in 2012 during Cyclone Kina. In 2014 the dam was rebuilt after a lapse of two years with assistance and donations from a few families,” he said.

He said the dam was damaged a second time in 2018 due to major flooding. Mr Pillay said the event was not just about building infrastructure but more centered on nation building and a brighter future for the children of Maranitawa village.