CANEFARMERS in a Ba settlement cannot harvest their crop because water sources have dried up.
With no reticulated water system in place, residents of Tabataba Settlement have been living off contaminated boreholes and rivers used by livestock.
A lucky few have water tanks.
A team from this newspaper visited the community which is a 10-minute drive from Moto Rd and met up with farmer Harbans Singh.
Mr Singh lives with his wife and three young children, and survives on a drying borehole that takes two to three days to refill itself.
The canefarmer travels each morning to the water source where he has to manually fit water pipes that extend to his home from the borehole.
He said lack of access to clean and safe water was a huge burden that affected his household and his canefarming business.
“I can’t hire labourers right now because I don’t have enough water for them,” he said.
“The borehole I am using dries up when we use it for a whole day and then I have to wait two to three days for it to fill.
“I use this water for things like washing and cleaning. We can’t drink this water because it is too dirty. My drinking water, I have to bring from our water tank.”
He said what made it more frustrating was the fact that a Water Authority of Fiji-sanctioned dam was situated a stone’s throw away.
“The Balevuto dam was opened in 2012 and it is just a few metres away from our community.
“Why couldn’t we get a few more pipes extended to our homes?
“We have to live like this while our neighbours have water.”
He claimed requests to get water into their homes had fallen on deaf ears. “I have knocked on every door that I could think of. I have spoken to visiting government ministers — especially the ones who come from Ba — but still nothing has been done.
“We have gone to the Water Authority of Fiji office in Ba and Lautoka. We even spoke to the prime minister during a talanoa session here but still nothing.”
Following our visit to the farm last Thursday, Mr Singh was contacted by officials from the WAF who assured the farmer that they would visit Tabataba soon.
On Saturday, Mr Singh said no further contact had been made from either the Ministry of Infrastructure or WAF.
Questions sent to Infrastructure Minister Jone Usamate and the WAF last Thursday, Friday and Saturday remain unanswered.
