Some parents in a rural Labasa community finding difficulty getting their sons married

Minister for Women and Social Welfare, Rosy Akbar has revealed that it is getting very difficult for some parents in a rural community in Labasa to get their sons married.

While delivering her ministerial statement in Parliament today, Akbar says people from this community who do not have electricity have told her that none of the girls from urban centers who have access to electricity want to get married to their sons.

Akbar says the sentiments were expressed by the elders who said they do not want their children to go through what their grandparents had gone through as they lived without electricity.

She says this is a real problem in rural communities.

Akbar then highlighted the initiatives like solar energy.

She told the parliamentarians that Fiji is one of the ten Pacific Island countries with the highest number of rural women trained as solar engineers.

Akbar revealed that 12 rural communities in Fiji are using solar energy.

The equipment came from India and 10 women from rural areas who were trained to become solar engineers in India have assembled the solar lanterns and lights in their communities.