Construction of the $250,000 Waiqele Nursing Station outside Labasa town has begun.

Minister for Health Dr. Atonio Lalabalavu participated in the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.

Currently, villagers and community members must travel further to the Nasea Health Center for medical services.

Waiqele Community Leader Ashok Ram says the Nursing Station will serve more than 5,000 people, including primary and secondary school students from five surrounding villages.

“When we talk about the medical services, we look at 24 hours, and the best one is in town; that’s Nasea Health Centre. And it’s very difficult for people to travel through this dusty road and reach over there and get overcrowded in Nasea Health Center, wait for the services, and come back. Even when the students were sick, the teachers had to take the students there.”

Ram says that Waiqele is a farming community and that the new nursing station is part of the government’s commitment to expanding medical services to larger communities.

He remains hopeful that construction will be completed by April of next year as Fiji approaches cyclone season.