Vatutavui Village headman Niko Sucuvakaivalu has firmly denied claims that he stopped the Water Authority of Fiji from carting water to the Tavua village without consulting residents.

The village is located about three to four kilometres outside Tavua with about 100 houses and 500 families.

Mr Sucuivakaivalu was responding to questions regarding claims by the village’s drinking water committee president, Kirikiti Biu, saying the other source of water was more than one and a half kilometres from the village, making community members reluctant to send their children there to wash clothes or collect water.

Mr Sucuivakaivalu admitted he stopped water casting services to the village since it was already receiving water from the solar-powered borehole.

“We don’t have any water issues here; we have water sources here, such as the borehole installed by the Government in 2019,” he said.

“If there were a water crisis, I would relay this to the Government.”

Villagers agreed to raise money to buy water pipes to connect homes to the main borehole line during a meeting, but they later refused the suggestion.

Mr Sucuivakaivalu said the Government subcontracts trucks, paying $75 an hour to bring water to the village two to three times a day.

“I told this water committee that the money for the materials was there, and they needed to dig to lay the pipes, but they refused.

“We must work for what we want, we cannot keep asking the Government for help.”

Questions sent to the Transport and Public Works Minister, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, and the Water Authority of Fiji have remained unanswered.