Parents give up on waiting for assistance

PARENTS in the district of Naceva have given up on waiting for Government’s assistance for the restoration of their school’s dining room and sick bay area which was destroyed during TC Keni.

In an interview Naceva Soqosoqo Vakamarama president Ilisapeci Nasau said children in the school continued to brave the hot sun and rain to have their lunch.

As the dining area was also used as a sick bay, children now do not have anywhere to rest when waiting for transportation to their nearest health centre which is about 20 minutes boat ride away.

Ms Nasau said their district was heavily dependent on farming and fishing and they had now planned to rebuild the school’s dining area which was completely destroyed by TC Keni.

“Despite promises made to us in the past regarding the rehabilitation of the school’s dining area by authorities, we continue to wait while our children suffer,” she said.

“Straight after TC Keni a team was dispatched to the village to carry out a damage assessment exercise and since they left the district we have never heard again from them.”

Ms Nasau said there were talks from authorities on the island about Government providing equal opportunities for children in the rural areas but this was never true.

In the village of Dravuwalu villagers said three bridges connecting homes in the villages that were destroyed during TC Winston were yet to be rehabilitated despite promises made to them.

Dravuwalu villager Akanisi Moli said the crossings were becoming hazardous for villagers as it was no longer safe.

Ms Moli has questioned climate change funding given to Government for community resiliency which could be used to fund the rehabilitation of the three crossings.

Questions sent to the Ministry of Education regarding the concerns raised on the 19th of last month remained unanswered.