Farmers hope for an end to flood-related issues
A COMMUNITY of vegetable and fruit farmers in Buabua, Lautoka, are hoping Government will address the ongoing flooding issues they have faced over a long period of time.
The farmers have been using a flooded crossing to get to the Lautoka market during the recent heavy downpours.
Pineapple and sugarcane farmer Pardip Chand said farmers stood in line yesterday to pass crates of fruits, while others had to engage a tractor to transport the goods.
“This is one long-standing problem but when we tell authorities, they only come and put soil to fill in the places where the water damaged the crossing,” he said.
“All that work goes to waste when the next downpour comes because the mud just gets washed away.
“Because of this issue, a lot of people have left sugarcane farming.
“I used to have a sugarcane farm on the other side of the bridge but because of this problem, I switched to pineapple farming.
“It affects a lot of people, especially children who don’t go to school when the bridge is flooded,” Mr Chand said.
Commissioner Western Apolosi Lewaqai said the damage to infrastructure was one of their main concerns.
“In the Western Division after the initial assessments by our teams, we are seeing that the area that is the most affected is the infrastructure,” he said.
“The road conditions are really bad, the Irish crossings and most of the bridges that are in the rural areas.
“We are thankful that FRA has already done their assessments and done some of the quickfix solutions just to allow for accessibility.”