Family needs help to pay water bill

By Nefertiti Matatia 25 February 2018, 12:00AM

Malia Laufika is a woman with a lot on her mind.

On top of the daily struggles she has to grabble with in terms of hardship and everyday living, the unemployed mother of two, from Afega, shared her concerns about not having any water supply.

They owe the Samoa Water Authority money for their bill and until they pay, their water connection will remain cut off.

Life is hard when there is no stable income to pay off the bills and because her family relies on their plantation that was ruined by TC Gita for survival, hope is far away.

“We have three families, which mean three different houses, but we are all connected to the same water source and because it has been disconnected, we all suffer.

“We need to pay $500 to reconnect our water source, for the other two families they have two people working, but they have many people in their house, for me, there is no one who works,” said the 33-year-old.

Mrs. Laufika said they usually make $200 from selling their produce at their plantation but the recent cyclone has devastated their main source of income. 

“The money we make is usually used to buy chemicals and seeds for the vegetables.”

The equipment and chemicals they use on their plantation were also affected.

“We have a plantation and we really need the chemicals and the tools because this is our only source of income. There are so many things that we need around here and we don’t have money to get them.”

She relies on the land to take care of her two children, her in-laws and church, community and family obligations. 

This was also the case for them when Tropical Cyclone Evan hit Samoa in 2012. 

“When Evan came, our house was a disaster. The whole roof went flying together with the trees.

“We were lucky that we had an old house close by the sea and we took all the materials from that house to fix this place that we live in now,” she said.

She says they have lived there for six years and they are still waiting on promises made by some N.G.O.s in 2012 for a water tank. 

Mrs. Laufika believes a water tank will ease their burden.

“The Samoa Red Cross Society came when our house was ruined by T.C. Evan in 2012, we have asked them for a water tank and they wrote everything down after assessing the whole area and until now, there is still no help.

“They gave water tanks to the other families here but never gave one to my family.”

For anyone who is willing to help Malia’s family, contact the number 7246750.

By Nefertiti Matatia 25 February 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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