Good news for the people of Taveuni as Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has opened the new and first Legal Aid Office in Taveuni that will enable the people there to access legal services.

Bainimarama says while other communities in Fiji certainly faced long journeys by car or by bus to access legal services, the geographic challenges Fijians in Taveuni faced in accessing legal aid services were even mightier, as they were forced to travel by boat to Suva or Labasa in order to access these important services.

Bainimarama says those obstacles they faced have now been knocked to the ground.

The Prime Minister says the people can now wield the tremendous power of the law more easily than ever before for the benefit of themselves and their families.

He says not so long ago, on Taveuni, an elderly woman was hospitalized and suffering from a very severe form of cancer. And she needed to draft a will, but could not afford a lawyer.

Bainimarama adds the Legal Aid Commission dispatched a team to the Taveuni Hospital to draft and execute this woman’s will, so she could leave behind her possessions to her loved ones in the manner she saw fit.

The Prime Minister says that is the level of commitment people can expect from the Legal Aid team that occupies this new office.

He says today, they are bringing their services directly to their doorstep, putting them on equal footing with Fijians in our major towns and urban areas because every Fijian must be able to access justice in their communities, where they live, work and raise their families.

This is the fifth legal aid office in the northern division