Residents plead for help

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Vunato/Lovu Seaside settlement acting advisory councillor Manueli Savou helps the evacuees at the Lautoka Primary School. Picture: REINAL CHAND

Residents living in flood-prone Vunato and Lovu Seaside settlements, in Lautoka are pleading for help from authorities to help them mitigate their flood problems.

Acting advisory councillor Manueli Savou said for years people have had to relocate to evacuation centres while their homes were inundated with floodwaters during a heavy downpour.

“Something needs to be done,” he said.

“During this flood, I was really worried about our young children.

“We had to put them in fridges and help them cross the flooded roads just to get to safety.

“This is people’s lives we are talking about here.

“The solution shouldn’t be to move to higher ground.

“They need to fix our floodgate and create more paths for the water to escape. It shouldn’t be coming through our homes.”

Mr Savou was part of 35 families that were still sheltering at an evacuation centre in Lautoka.

“By now we should be going back to our houses but we can’t because there is too much mud and people are still trying to clean their homes.

“There is also the concern of diseases. It is too muddy and too many people could get very sick, especially our children.”

Questions sent to the Ministry of Waterways on the concerns raised by Mr Savou remain unanswered.

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