Elderly residents of Vunisaleka and Dibulu settlements in Kalabu, Naitasiri, have expressed their gratitude to the government for the new $36,000 Vunisaleka foot crossing, which now allows them to travel safely between their communities and the mainland.
Speaking to fijivillage News during the commissioning of the foot crossing, Rural Development Minister Sakiusa Ditoka says for years, both settlements have been requesting for a new footbridge.
Ditoka says the ministry is happy that children do not have to walk in the mud from now on when travelling to school.
Feeling grateful and excited, 89-year-old Rusila Vuki shared to fijivillage News her memories of growing up in Dibulu, recalling how children once risked their lives walking across cemented pipes under the old bridge to reach the mainland.
Vuki says when she was in primary school, they used to walk on the cemented pipes under the old bridge to cross to Kalabu Primary School.
She says she is happy to have lived a long life to witness a momentous occasion for people in both settlements.
64-year-old Matewa Taredovu also expressed his appreciation, saying the new crossing marks the end of years of hardship.
Taredovu, who is part of the Vunisaleka settlement committee, explained that the residents first raised over $600 among themselves before seeking assistance from the government to construct a more durable structure.
He says they are now able to cross safely, and they even carried a casket across for one of his relatives who had passed on.
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