UNSUPERVISED and unkempt, children as young as 11 years are using car parks in Laucala Bay, Suva, as a popular spot to sell coconuts and pastries at night.
A team from this newspaper saw quite a number of children in hotspot areas in Suva on Thursday night engaged in their nocturnal trade. When quizzed, the children identified themselves as between the ages of 11 to 16.
This newspaper caught up with a 13-year-old boy who was trying to evade attention from police while balancing a tray of pastries in one hand and a plastic filled with young coconuts (bu) in another.
A police car patrolling the area didn’t deter the youngster from pushing his way through the crowd, eyes darting for potential customers.
“We are on school break and this is the only way I can earn money to help my parents,” the lad from Gaji St, Raiwaqa explained.
“Instead of staying home and doing nothing, I prefer to spend the night here selling food and young coconuts to earn some cash.
“This is the best spot to sell at night because we have a lot of customers here and sometimes we get hustled by bullies but we are used to it.”
He said he sometimes earned $70 a night.
