What would ‘mean the world’ for Kolokata

By Aruna Lolani 04 September 2017, 12:00AM

Life is great in Saleapaga.

And when clean running water becomes available for everyone, Kolokota Fili, believes things will be even better.

You see, water access is limited.

With many people relocating to higher ground after the tsunami, the water supply is not strong enough to reach them. Yet.

 “We have always wanted to move up here but we never did until the tsunami hit,” said Kolokata.

“And you know it’s good to finally move here because when we used to stay at the coastal area, the mountains or the area that we live in now is where we always come to work.

“And I think moving here has made everything easier except for the water situation that has become a struggle for us everyday.

Kolokata stays with his sisters. There are three of them and they depend on a water tank.

But that is not reliable too.

“Sometimes when we don’t have water, we pay for vehicles to help us in getting our water from families down below but even with that; it costs a lot of money,” he said.

 “There’s a water pipe further down in this area that the water authority sometimes switch on but we can only use it for food, not for drinking.

The 50-year-old said they are waiting patiently for the time when they will have their wish answered.

 “I know and I understand the government needs time to do this job to get our water system on and working since we stay uphill,” he said.

“But our humble request is that we need water soon because we all suffer when we live a world that doesn’t access to water.

“Life here on these mountains has been better than the life we had down at the coastal area but it would mean the world to us to have full access to water.”

By Aruna Lolani 04 September 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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