Vatulele Island Rain Water Harvesting Tank Delivery

The water-rationing scheme will now be a thing of the past for two villages on Vatulele Island after the delivery of 77 water tanks to the island last week by the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) officials.

Fifty tanks were designated for Ekubu village and 27 for Taunovo Village under the Government's 'Rain Water Harvesting Scheme' initiative that began earlier this year.

The new tanks were a welcome relief for the 400 residents of Ekubu Village and 300 residents of Taunovo Village.

The villagers do not have a reliable source of water but have been able to supplement their water needs through water wells and cement water tanks, which were constructed 47 years ago.

Only three existing concrete water tanks were still in use. The other tanks that served the village's water needs were cracked, leaking and no longer of use.

Ekubu Village headman, Ratu Jeke Tabailagi, 38, said they were grateful for the assistance and that their worry and cries have been heard by the Government.

“Our island does not have mountains, which means we do not have water sources like other islands. That is why we are very grateful for the Government and our water tanks because we often face a drought season. Today, we are very happy for the delivery of our water tanks, and to know that the Government is looking out for our island,” said Ratu Tabailagi.

Villager, Mrs Acalia Nai, 39, was also thankful for the delivery of the water tanks.

“Village life in Ekubu means we rely heavily on rainwater to have our baths and to do our washing, so we use the existing water wells. But when the drought season approaches us, we always face a lot of difficulties and drinking and cooking water is hard to find. We have to wait for rain to refill our buckets to use for our daily needs.”

Mrs Nai said with the newly delivered water tanks, villagers on Vatulele are now able to not only survive, but thrive through the dry seasons.

So far, the Water Authority of Fiji has delivered a total of 4029 water tanks under the Rain Water Harvesting Scheme and 654 under the Free Water Tank Scheme.

The remaining 73 water tanks for Vatulele Island were delivered last week.