A landowning unit has defied all odds and opened Batiri Fresh, a new restaurant in Labasa Town, becoming the first iTaukei group to sit at the Gurbachan Singh Mall.
The landowners of mataqali Koroulutu in Batiri Village, Macuata, decided to open the restaurant as they wanted to put their lease money to good use.
Mataqali head Viliame Bulilevu said resource owners should not be poor.
“I lived in America for 15 years and returned in 2014 and after seeing the state of the village including the livelihoods of our mataqali members, the same as it was before I left for the States, I decided to do something,” he said.
“We can’t continue receiving lease money and live the same kind of lifestyle over and over again. We need to prosper and achieve things and make a difference for our future generation.
“So we held a meeting and we decided that all our lease money will be used on this restaurant, employ our own members and pay them so they can support their families.”
In opening the restaurant, the group also included the need to have healthy meals for their customers.
Mr Bulilevu said the menu included seafood while breakfast was made up of lemon tea.
“We want to offer a variety of healthy meals for our customers as we know that non-communicable diseases are common among us,” he said.
“Now that we have this business, we are training our younger members to prepare to take over when their time comes.
“From this restaurant, we have planned to venture into other business opportunities to economically empower our mataqali.”
