Minister to look into concerns
WOMEN, Children and Poverty Alleviation Minister Mereseini Vuniwaqa has assured a Natabua Golden Age Home resident she would look into claims of mismanagement, misuse of food items and lack of care at the facility.
Mrs Vuniwaqa met James Satish Bachu, a resident at the home, after he travelled from Lautoka to The Fiji Times office in Suva because he was “tired of being given the run-around”.
“I have heard the claims he has made and I know Mr Bachu would not have taken the trouble to travel all this way if he felt the concerns he raised were being given the attention it needed,” Mrs Vuniwaqa said.
“I have assured him I will look into the concerns he has raised.”
Mr Bachu claimed in the time he had spent at the home, he noted a number of concerns and highlighted them to the senior welfare officer in charge of the home.
“A few of us residents got together and wrote a letter to the welfare office.
“He said he would look into it but nothing happened, and when I advised the staff that I was going to Suva to the media, I was told that if I leave, there would be no place for me if I tried to return to the home.”
The Fiji Times contacted the person in charge of the Natabua Golden Age Home and he said the ministry had a policy in place about communication with the media.
He directed all queries to the Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Ministry media unit.
Mr Bachu said he would try to reconnect with his son in Sigatoka and return to live with him there.
Mrs Vuniwaqa assured Mr Bachu that should he face any issues in terms of a place to live, he could always return to the Golden Age Home.