A second flood for Labasa

from w
The term babasiga is used to describe a sunburnt land, the drought-stricken land of Macuata, but certainly this summer it is the wrong word. Now, a second flood has caused havoc in the Labasa area. There needs to be short term and long term plans obviously - dredge the rivers, stop the logging, rebuilt schools and housing on higher ground, but the priority at present is to save the people, make temporary provision for food and needs. All the Fiji papers have been running stories about this second flood. Here is an example - this one about All Saints Secondary School which is on the Qawa River in Vulovi, not far from the Labasa mill.

Perhaps some supersitious people will say that it is the wrath of God when nature is violent, but I see it as just part of the geography and weather patterns of a tropical island. In the tropics it rains. However man has contributed to the chaos will unscrupulous logging and living just for the day.

From the Fiji Times
School loses stationery, furniture in flood
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

TEACHERS and students of a secondary school are in urgent need of assistance after losing $60,000 worth of stationery and furniture to the flood over the weekend in the Northern Division. For the second time within a month, the All Saints Secondary school, which is currently closed, has been hit by flood waters that damaged school desks, offices, technical machineries, stationery and laboratories.

School principal Kaliote McKenzie said being hit for the second time by flood waters within a month was not an easy experience for her and the teachers as they were still trying to recover from last month's flood. "We have just received stationery assistance, replaced new machines and furniture in the school when this second flood hit again over the weekend. And that has resulted in more damage to the school compared to the last flood in February," Mrs McKenzie said. She said at this stage, the teachers don't know where else to get help from especially when they were just assisted and have lost almost all stationery again.

Yesterday, the students and teachers were at the school to clean up the premises.
Classrooms were filled with thick silt, machines and equipment on lower shelves in laboratories were on the floor and covered with silt.

Mrs McKenzie said although the teachers had put books on higher shelves, after seeing the rainy weather on Friday night, the strong currents shook the shelves which dropped the books to the floor. "The current was so strong on Saturday night after it entered the classrooms and that's how the books stacked on high shelves fell to the floor.

"The water also entered through the windows as the level continued to rise in the compound. This time the water level was more then that of last month and there is more cleaning up to do," Mrs McKenzie said.