More than 50 school-age children whose homes were dismantled at Veiraisi settlement in Nadera, Nasinu will not be going back to school today or in the coming weeks.
Parents said they were spending every penny trying to relocate their families and did not have anything to spare to send their children to school.
Eseta Rokoniu said she was at her wits end trying to prioritise her family’s immediate needs after her home was dismantled by contractors last week, and sending four out of her seven children to school was simply not possible.
“Three years ago my husband had gone to the committees of Nasinu Land Purchase & Housing Co-operative Limited and asked for land,” she claimed.
“The committee gave us this land and told us to reside in it until they will be able to find us a space in the 10 acres they had initially given. There has been no word from them since but our house has been dismantled along with others and now we have no place to stay.”
Ms Rokoniu said four of her children were supposed to return to school today.
“My husband and I have spoken and we have decided that our children cannot attend school at the moment because we will not be able to cater for it financially.
“We currently don’t have a home, we don’t have enough money to buy and cook their school breakfast and lunch, and not enough money to pay for other expenses to get them to school.
“We urgently need help so that we can send our kids to school.”
Another parent, Taufa Lote Lesikivanuabalavu, said he also faced the same issue with his family which included 18 school-aged children.
“We were lucky enough to have been given land in Navuso to build our homes and rebuild our lives but it will take a while,” he said.
“There are five other families who are living with my family and our main source of income is the pudding which we make and sell.
“It will take a while for us to rebuild our homes and lives and we are still unsure when the (18) school kids will be able to attend school.”
Last week the cooperative CEO Satya Narayan said it offered 10 acres of land in 2015 for the resettlement of families living in Veiraisi, but a majority refused to move.
Mr Narayan said the allotted land, which was split into more than 150 lots, had since been occupied by families displaced from other informal settlements in Laqere, Kilikali and Veiraisi.
- Questions sent to the Education and Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Ministries on the issues facing the Veiraisi families remain unanswered.
