The residents along Korotari to Vunimoli outside Labasa town are seeking assistance to fix the leaking Drekeniwai water catchment structure.

The leakage has been impacting the water supply in the area since last year.

Project president Brija Nand says that there is a lack of manpower since there are mostly older generations who are unable to walk miles up the Navakuru Creek to fix the leakage.

He says that with the current dry season in the area, the water level is slowly decreasing, resulting in low to no water supply, with the expectation that it will get worse in the near future.

“We will suffer until the catchment is repaired properly, and there is no other idea for us, so we are just pleading with anyone in government to help us fix that catchment so that the water can go to the public because we still suffer until today.”

Nand says that about a hundred households, two schools, a temple, a mosque, and livestock farms depend entirely on the water catchment.

The Drekeniwai catchment was last fixed in 2003, but due to flooding and natural disasters over the last decade, the infrastructure has been severely affected and needs urgent repairs.