Malake Village Initiates Water Supply Repairs
On February 20th, the day after Tropical Cyclone Winston struck Malake Island, the village Water Scheme Committee took a
lead role in repairing the water supply system.
Committee member, Mr Mosese Baleitavea, said that immediately after the cyclone there was no piped water supply reaching
the approximately 400 inhabitants on the island because of damage to the underwater pipe system.
This 3.5 kilometre, underwater pipeline was installed by the Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) in 2014, as part of a
Government-funded scheme to provide Malake Island with fresh drinking water from WAF’s pumping station in Rakiraki.
Cyclone damage meant that the system was no longer feeding the 20,000litre reservoir tank, but rather than wait for
assistance from Government or WAF, the Malake Water Committee worked with the villagers to repair standpipes and as much
of the system on Malake as was possible.
“It was only right that we took the lead in getting the system ready before WAF carried out the major repairs to the
system,” said Mr Baleitavea.
This meant that as soon as WAF finished their major repairs, the village immediately benefitted from the resumed water
supply, with the Authority assessing and repairing the damage in less than three weeks, and completed the repairs to the
underwater system.
ENDS