Rain brings problems for farmer

By Aruna Lolani 17 May 2017, 12:00AM

The rain last week was a welcome reprieve for some people.

For others though, it was a nightmare.

Iosefa Lilomaiava of Tuana’i said the rain brought heavy flooding, which affected his plantation and crops.

The 57-year-old said he was pleased to see the sun yesterday. 

“Our family depends on agriculture,” he tells the Village Voice team. 

“But a drought or flood can destroy a year’s income in the blink of an eye.”

 What made things worse was when the water pipes burst.

“As you can see, this is what happens when there is too much water.”

“If only the government would spare some time to fix our water pipes far inland this would not be happening.” 

Flooding from the burst pipe wiped out a large part of Iosefa’s farm.

 “There is simply no way for us to protect our crops when the water pipe bursts. It will take forever to grow another plantation.”

The flooding, he said, would cost them dearly.

 “I have kids at school,” he said. “None of our family is employed formally so the plantation is our only income and yet it has been destroyed.”

“You will understand our frustration if you were in our shoes. This is our way of survival, it’s our way of making money.”

“Our hope is for the government to fix these pipelines so that when Samoa is facing heavy rainfall we shouldn’t worry about our plantations.”    

 “To be honest I am wondering how I will manage to feed my family, send children to school and meet several other family demands now that my plantation is destroyed.”

“This is a huge loss. It’s a huge blow.”

By Aruna Lolani 17 May 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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