The Tailevu Province continues to face challenges with excessive kava consumption by the people.

This was stressed by Tailevu Provincial Council Chair Rusiate Tudravu.

Tudravu says the consumption of kava affects the productivity of their people, especially the youth, which hinders the development of their province.

“The majority of these people are also engaged in the indulgence of kava. So whilst we cannot totally stop people from drinking kava, we are just encouraging them to live a better life, a healthy life.”

Tudravu says the youth can instead utilize their land to generate income to support their families and communities, as they cannot solely rely on the government.

“Refrain from drinking excessively and utilize the land … because we cannot rely on the government all the time for revenue developments to come. We need to have something in the Village, in the Tikina, to assist ourselves first.”

Tudravu also echoes Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s plea to watch their consumption of kava, as it is a contributor to the challenge of non-communicable diseases.

The Chair says they would like to address the issue at the earliest, as highlighted in their recently launched four-year Strategic Development Plan.