About 80% of women in Votua Village, Ba rely on the sea for survival and income

About 80 percent of women in the village of Votua in Ba rely on the sea for their daily livelihoods and income.

This was highlighted by the Leader of the Gusuituba Women's Club, Kinisimere Ratu Qera, during the National Symposium for Community-Led Initiatives on Environment Sustainability that is currently underway at the Holiday Inn.

She says about 10 percent of the women in the village are civil servants, while another 10 percent are on contracted work.

Qera says the women's club has also done some projects in their village, such as the rehabilitation and renovation of their village hall that is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

She adds they have taken up the responsibility to build a second floor on top of their village hall to cater for a kitchen and ample space for people when it is used as an evacuation centre.

The women's club leader says one thing they have noticed when going out fishing is that marine resources are starting to replenish, where she claims that this is due to the stopping of the magnesium mining that was being done upstream of Ba River.

Qera says one of the challenges they are facing is the lack of training for their members because there are other sources of income they can tap into rather than just being fixated on fishing.

She adds they are thankful that a national symposium is being held to look into the issues that communities and people face and discuss ways to eliminate or reduce its impact.