Bathing in the sea

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No water in the tap………..Vaseva Daumaka shows a dried tap in front of her home that has dried up for a long time now. Picture: LUKE RAWALAI/FILE

SOME villagers on Galoa Island in Lekutu, Bua have resorted to bathing in the sea as water scarcity continues to plague the island.

For the sake of hygiene and health, Galoa housewife Vaseva Daumaka said this was the practice among the women on Galoa because there was no clean water on the island.

The 63-year-old Naseakula native said their desperation for water was nothing to be ashamed of, adding they continued to suffer.

“Like people in the urban areas, we cannot use fragrant soap baths and enjoy a clean cool bath in a shower like other lucky women out there because we do not have water,” she said.

Ms Daumaka said living on the island was becoming a burden and people were opting to leave and begin a new life in either the urban centres of Savusavu and Labasa or the mainland.

Her husband, Nacanieli Senitiki, said men felt sorry for the women and children who had to withstand the heat and irritation caused when bathing in seawater.

Mr Senitiki said there was nothing much they could do, adding it was almost like a bad dream with no end.

“We cannot blame them. They want a good life too and they have the right to access clean drinking water as stated under the Constitution of this country,” he said.

Another grandmother of three, Lavenia Milasiga said the scarcity of water on the island was making life on the island unbearable.

“Yet people tell us not to come to the towns, telling us that development will come to our doorsteps when simple necessities like water cannot be given to us,” she said.

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