A COMMUNITY in Naviyago, Lautoka has taken upon itself to address the issue of students stranded in the rain while waiting for their transport.
Naviyago resident and social worker, Sheik Gulzar said more than 50 students from their community would go to school wet during heavy rain as there was no proper bus shelter for them to wait for their buses.
"This has been a problem for quite some time and it not only happens to our children, but some of our workers going to town also get caught in the rain," he said.
"This project took about three weeks for us to set up. It was made possible with the work of everyone in our community."
Mr Gulzar said the project cost about $900 with manpower provided by community members themselves.
"We had no help from outside. All of this was done by the community and I am very happy with the way many of us came together to do something that would benefit not only our children but also our children's children.
"This is the first community work that we did for our settlement and there is many more that we intend to do."
Mr Gulzar said the flood-prone area was also an issue that they needed to address.
"Many times when there is a natural disaster, many of us have to leave our homes and move to higher grounds and most of us would seek shelter at an evacuation centre in Drasa.
"For many of us, the evacuation centre is too far away, so we have plans to build a centre of our own.
"This will be a building that will be constructed in a safe area and a place for our residents that is much closer to them," he said.