Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says we cannot have two Fijis where one has easy access to education, electrical power, health care and modern conveniences, and another that has to struggle to enjoy the advantages of modern life.
Bainimarama highlighted this while commissioning the EU funded Nakoro Village Hybrid Solar Power System in Navosa.
He says this is why government has improved road network, made education free, extended legal services and the internet to rural communities, shored up rural health services, and extended electricity and water to as many rural communities as they can.
Bainimarama says this was made possible from the assistance they have received from the European Union, where they have been able to install a hybrid solar system in Nakoro, at a cost of just more than a million dollars.
He says the villagers will now have light and power when they need it, so children can study in the evening, so the women of Nakoro can run sewing machines and weave mats, and so all of they can watch television, freeze and refrigerate food, use computers and run labour-saving appliances and machinery.
Bainimarama says this system is already supplying power to 41 households, the village church and eventually a new health centre.
He says rural communities present a special challenge, especially where electrical power is concerned and that means they will have to find creative solutions for some of the rural villages.
The Prime Minister says fortunately, the best solutions today to provide power to rural villages in Fiji are sustainable, and most produce no carbon emissions.
Bainimarama says this is the beginning of a new era in Nakoro which is an era of greater convenience and greater prosperity.
