NANISE NEIMILA
For 59-year old Arun Lata of Vuci, Nausori, there is no substitute for hard work and this was the driving force that compelled her to excel in life despite having a very humble beginning in life.
Ms. Lata, while sharing her success story, spoke on the struggles of growing up in the Dilkusha orphanage where they “had to learn everything and anything” to survive in any environment which she has never regretted.
“Struggling through life is not something I learnt overnight, it was part of my life since birth. I learned so many thingsby being more independent and looking after everyone around me.”
“As soon as I left high school, I found employment in a garment factory, just something to start off with and earn enough for the family. I worked through the ranks from being a machinist till I was promoted into supervisory role until I retired.”
The single mother of three raised her children from the very little she earned as a garment worker and doing small tailoring jobs around the community which was enough to provide for her children.
“Raising my children alone meant a lot of sacrifices but then this did not stop me from providing them a good education.”
After retirement, Ms Lata decided to take up farming as it was not in her nature to stay home and be idle.
In 2004, Ms. Lata acquired this six acres land that saw her aquaculture farming bloom. Her eldest son whom she lives with also started planting dalo.
“We started off with rice farming but it was not successful and then we switched to vegetable farming but due to this area being swampy, the agriculture ministry advised us to switch to aquaculture.”
Ms Lata took the advice and started her aquaculture farming which was mainly for tilapia fish. She added that the assistance provided by the Ministry of Fisheries made this switch easier.
“The ministry provided technical assistance, they dug the ponds and provided us with the tilapia fish. There were some hiccups in the beginning but I managed to look after the ponds until I received further assistance from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) as they provided water tanks and water pumps.”
Ms Lata also used her Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and took a loan from Fiji Development Bank to help finance her tilapia business.
“Fish feed is very expensive and would be great if the Government could give some sort of subsidies so that more farmers start doing fish business.
“Earlier this year, SPC assisted me with the water pumps to assist with the spawning and breeding the new baby tilapias. It’s a lot of work to be transferring from the tanks but this is what I enjoy because it has kept me occupied.”
At the moment Ms Lata has six ponds of tilapia, three are in operation while the rest have yet to be filled with water and tilapia.