NANISE NEIMILA
Villagers of Kavula in Bua District will no longer use lanterns and candles after the successful implementation of solar projects in the their village earlier this year.
Losalini Seinikuba, 53, thanked the Government for their commitment in ensuring that all Fijians access sustainable electricity.
“Gone are the days where we use lanterns and candles as a source of light, our children will no longer have to study in the dark under lanterns. It’s a great opportunity for our children to be part of the new development.”
Ms Seinikuba shared her story as a young person back in the days they would complete household’s chores before it gets dark.
“In those days when kerosene was expensive and sometimes we would use candles.”
“Our children will be part of another era of change and we would expect a lot of positive changes in their school work because when we access electricity there is another world of opportunities for the younger generation.”
“The solar systems that we started using since September last year has been consistent, free and sustainable,” she said.
Ms Seinikuba said the villagers could now use electrical appliances in their homes like televisions sets, electrical fans and washing machines, which were once just a dream.
Sharing similar sentiments, village headman Jone Ledua said it was new era of opportunities for the people of Kavula in Bua as they now have the opportunity to improve their lives.
“This project is timely because we used a lot of money to buy fuel for our generators and this was very costly. Most of the families are unable to afford this but this new assistance will greatly benefit the people of Kavula.” Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport’s director Energy Mikaele Belena said the Government’s main target was to have a 100 per cent access to electricity by 2021 and Solar Home System (SHS) projects was one of the form of electricity source for rural areas that do not have access to Electricity Fiji Limited grid being promoted by the Government.
“These mostly include villages in the interior of Viti Levu and maritime islands. Currently the Government has installed more than 12000 projects in all rural areas all over Fiji.”
“One of the Government’s target too is to have 100 per cent renewable in energy mix by 2036 and SHS projects have been implemented to replace those village assisted with diesel generators.
Mr Belena said one of the challenges the department face is the locality.
“Most are in very remote places in Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Ba and Rotuma. Resources and manpower - works are contracted out to a local company.”