Peceli Naviticoko 
Residents of Nasekula village in Labasa are calling for immediate action to replace their current floodgates.
Mopa Nainima, a villager, told FBC News that her village is experiencing in-creased flooding during the rainy season because of inadequate water flow.
Villagers are calling for this floodgate in Nasekula to be replaced with a normal bridge.
Nainima says villagers are not allowed to swim in the river, while fishing can also be a challenge.
“The floodgates are the ones that are blocking all the drainage, block-ing all the rubbish over here, and now we are reaching out onto the flood. Before it was not there when the mangroves were here. But at the moment we need a good bridge, a good road to go through, but not a floodgate because it’s stopping everything.”
Nainima says that trash disposal is another major challenge causing block-age in the river, and the environment is being impacted if it’s not addressed.
Labasa Special Administrator Samu Ligairi explained their garbage collec-tion schedules, which include Naseakula village, while villagers and nearby communities continue to dispose of rubbish into the river.
“At the moment, the service is just up to Tutua, our rate payers, and towards the upper side it’s just towards FSC, and for Korotari it’s just towards Naodamu, but services are done to villages once a week, that is, Nacula, Naqai, and Naseakula.”
FBC News has also reached out to the Ministry of Waterways for comment and is currently awaiting their response on this critical issue.
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