RESIDENTS of a settlement outside Labasa Town are having sleepless nights because of stench from a sewerage spill.
Angry residents of Princes Road at Bulileka say they have to endure the foul smell and they are concerned because sewer spills on to their farm land.
When The Fiji Times visited the site yesterday, untreated sewerage water was flowing from a rusty tank and seeped into the already saturated soil and foul smell filled the air.
Savitri Devi, 30, whose house is one of the closest to the treatment plant said the stench had become unbearable.
"We cannot sleep at night unless we close all our windows," said Ms Devi.
"Sometimes that doesn't help at all because the smell is so bad," she said.
"We fear for our health because there are so many flies around the place. It's just not safe to live here anymore."
One of the worst effects of the spill, according to residents, is that they can no longer farm more than 20 acres of rice plots because water from the sewer flows on to the land.
"We have not farmed the land for the past six years. Before that, about 30 farmers and their families had been earning an income from planting rice where the sewer now spills.
"They used to get an average of $3000 every year for their rice. We were also able to plant rice for consumption."
Department of Water and Sewerage official Yengtesh Permal said the Lands Department which subdivided the land for housing was responsible for the sewer.
"The septic tank is full and blocked with human waste and that is why it is overflowing.
"It needs to be drained urgently," Mr Permal said.
He said they had asked the Lands department to finance upgrading work at the site to the tune of about $30,000 after receiving complaints from residents.
"The Lands department must pay us $5000 every year and it has not done so for the past five years.
"That's why it has not been cleaned."
A senior Lands department official who did not wish to be named said they were waiting for approval of a request of funds from the Ministry of Finance. The septic tank was commissioned in 1993 and should have been drained years ago.
