ReliefWeb

Close to 700 villagers in the Tikina of Dreketi in the Rewa Province will benefit from the newly constructed flood gate at Nakorovou village in Rewa.

Villagers have had to face flooding problems for long time and this has affected their agricultural produce, which they depend on as a main source of income for their livelihoods.

Village spokesperson Seru Serevi said villagers have had to face these problems since the time of their forefathers.

“The rise in sea-level was consistently affecting our crops and in worst scenarios, we were not able to feed from our crops from our plantations and we had to buy from the market,” Mr Serevi said.

“Apart from that, the availability of land, land has been becoming scarce for new families that needed to build their houses,” he said.

The funding for the construction of the flood gate was through the Prime Minister’s office.

Mr Serevi adds the new flood gates is a huge relief for villagers of Nakorovou and the neighbouring villages along the coastline.

Dreketi Mata-ni-tikina Semi Vakado thanked government for the assistance and said that this has also eased flooding in Dreketi village.

Meanwhile, Senior Agricultural and Land Water Resource Management officer central Davendra Prasad said this project was worth $233,000.

“Through the assistance provided by the Prime Minister’s office LWRM engineers also constructed a 63metre sea-wall within six months”, Mr Prasad said.

Other villages within the tikina of Rewa that have benefitted from this project include; Nadoria, Nabuli, Nalase and Vunisinu.