Good news for villagers of Navilawa Village in Ba

Villagers of Navilawa Village in Ba are now celebrating the newly constructed dam and a 45, 460‑litre cement‑tank reservoir in their district of Nalotawa.

Due to their location, the grog‑farming community has had its fair amount of struggles with bus service only once a week at a cost of $4 one way and, more importantly, a lack of clean, consistent water.

Navilawa's Turaga Ni Koro, Ilaitia Botitu says that they have experienced no water in the village for a long time because the wild pigs damaged their water source and caused the water to become dirty and eventually dry up.

The 50‑year‑old adds that when dirty water would come out of the pipe, it caused many diseases in their village.

Botitu says that the villagers had to then source their drinking water from the creek near their village, running this water through their pipes.

The three‑month‑long project by Water Authority of Fiji with the villagers of Navilawa, saw the laying of  2 kilometres of pipe, installation of  54 stand pipes and the building of the dam and reservoir at a total cost of $77,886.

Navilawa Village consists of 45 households or a population of 230 people.