About 37 families from Nabavatu Village in Dreketi who had to live in tents for about three year as a landslide had destroyed their village will soon be living in their own homes following the groundbreaking of their new village site at Nadoiviri in Dreketi.
The villagers moved after a major landslide in 2021 and have been living in tents in the Dreketi Assembly of God church compound.
While officiating at the groundbreaking ceremony, Minister for Rural and Maritime Development, Sakiasi Ditoka acknowledged the resilience, patience, and cooperation of the villagers, assuring them that Government would ensure a smooth transition in the relocation process.
Ditoka says a series of consultations had to be undertaken to ensure that those affected consented to move to the temporary site as facilitated by Government.
The Minister says initially 85 families were relocated to the church compound and as time went on, some decided to build their own houses, some have moved to other places and there are now 37 families residing at the temporary site.
He says it has taken the Government three years to finalise this new site because the two sites identified earlier were not agreed to by all parties.
He says the project is the first relocation initiative to be funded by the Climate Relocation of Communities Trust Fund, made possible through the new Standard of Procedure for Planned Relocation, recently endorsed by the cabinet.
Ditoka says the trust fund receives public financing through a portion of the Environment Climate Adaptation Levy which is a tax on luxury services and utilities and direct bilateral grants from our development partners to financially assist in Fiji’s relocation ambitions.
$577, 058 was released through the Trust Fund administered by the Climate Change Unit to assist in the preparatory works at this new site.
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