"At night I hear the dogs barking and see them taking our stuff but I'm an old woman. I am too afraid to confront them. The other night someone just walked up to our door and walked off with our boots and shoes."
The criminal thieves remind us of the treasonists and their shadowy supporters who stole a democratically elected Government in 2006, later claiming that they were bringing security and equality to Indo-Fijians! Among them Aiyaz Khaiyum but just contrast his lifestyle with Ben Wati
Since the 2006 coup Khaiyum has 24 hour Police Guard at his house
"Since the night of Severe TC Winston, no one has visited me and my husband and I haven't received any form of assistance." Mrs Ben Mati
Ben Wati with a family member at Dugupatu, Ra
"We urgently need a TENT so my husband and I can sleep properly at night. As for our house, I'm leaving it in God's hands. That's all I can do. Since the night of Severe TC Winston, no one has visited me and my husband and I haven't received any form of assistance. We don't expect much. For the past 15 years I have cared for my husband in our little home on my own. I have lost all hope, but I love my husband and I can't abandon him, and that's what gives me the strength to go on. But I would be very grateful if someone gave us a tent, that's what we need urgently." - Mrs Ben Mati
THE SPOILS OF COUP: Living the life of "Aiyazely" while many Indo-Fijians struggling to have roofs over their heads
THE BIGGER THE BETTER: Aiyaz Khaiyum's house
"The cyclone has taken everything, our house, our clothes, our belongings and even our cow. I'm too old and too weak to rebuild. I can barely lift a hammer." - Mrs Ben Mati
"Prior to the cyclone, we used to receive $50 a month from the Social Welfare Department and also relied on money we got from selling milk from a cow we owned. This cow died during the cyclone." Mrs Ben Wati; Fijileaks: Unlike the honest Mrs Wati, Aiyaz Khaiyum LIED about assets in 2014. According to his declarations he was paid $185,000 as the Attorney General and has a property worth $500,000 at Vunakece Road, Namadi Heights and another one valued at $80,000 in Wailoaloa, Nadi. Accounts: In BSP, $235.41, and two accounts with ANZ in which he had $16,705.17.
Devastated and robbed
Roland Koroi
Tuesday, March 01, 2016
Fiji Times
AT the age of 70, and with no children and no family, Ben Mati had to summon all the energy left in her frail body to care for her 69-year-old handicapped husband in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston.
Their timber and corrugated iron house at Dugupatu settlement, Rakiraki, was destroyed during the storm except for one little leaking room which the couple are now sheltering in.
Prior to the cyclone, they used to receive $50 a month from the Social Welfare Department and also relied on money they got from selling milk from a cow they owned. This cow died during the cyclone.
And if that wasn't enough, thieves have added to the old couple's despair by stealing most of their belongings that were strewn all over their compound.
It was no wonder then that Mrs Mati cried when the team from this newspaper gave them ration packs supplied by Sam Achari whose family lives in New Zealand.
Reading about the places The Fiji Times had reached, the Achari family provided $1000 for the purchase of ration packs for the news team to take with them when they went out last weekend.
Mrs Mati was overwhelmed because for a week, she had things taken away from her, not only by the cyclone but by able-bodied men who did not care about the suffering she was going through.
"What do I do?" she asked.
"I have no children and no family and my husband has been handicapped for more than 15 years. Everyone around here knows he is handicapped and that I am weak and can't do anything, that's why they just come and take whatever they want.
"At night I hear the dogs barking and see them taking our stuff but I'm an old woman. I am too afraid to confront them. The other night someone just walked up to our door and walked off with our boots and shoes."
Mrs Mati could barely walk from the effects of being thrown around by strong winds while trying to protect her husband the night the cyclone hit.
"The cyclone has taken everything, our house, our clothes, our belongings and even our cow. I'm too old and too weak to rebuild. I can barely lift a hammer."
The remaining room that they've taken shelter in is unstable and water gets in when it rains.
"We urgently need a tent so my husband and I can sleep properly at night. As for our house, I'm leaving it in God's hands. That's all I can do."
Mrs Mati said since the night of Severe TC Winston, no one has visited her and her husband and she hasn't received any form of assistance.
"We don't expect much. For the past 15 years I have cared for my husband in our little home on my own. I have lost all hope, but I love my husband and I can't abandon him, and that's what gives me the strength to go on.
"But I would be very grateful if someone gave us a tent, that's what we need urgently."
Roland Koroi
Tuesday, March 01, 2016
Fiji Times
AT the age of 70, and with no children and no family, Ben Mati had to summon all the energy left in her frail body to care for her 69-year-old handicapped husband in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston.
Their timber and corrugated iron house at Dugupatu settlement, Rakiraki, was destroyed during the storm except for one little leaking room which the couple are now sheltering in.
Prior to the cyclone, they used to receive $50 a month from the Social Welfare Department and also relied on money they got from selling milk from a cow they owned. This cow died during the cyclone.
And if that wasn't enough, thieves have added to the old couple's despair by stealing most of their belongings that were strewn all over their compound.
It was no wonder then that Mrs Mati cried when the team from this newspaper gave them ration packs supplied by Sam Achari whose family lives in New Zealand.
Reading about the places The Fiji Times had reached, the Achari family provided $1000 for the purchase of ration packs for the news team to take with them when they went out last weekend.
Mrs Mati was overwhelmed because for a week, she had things taken away from her, not only by the cyclone but by able-bodied men who did not care about the suffering she was going through.
"What do I do?" she asked.
"I have no children and no family and my husband has been handicapped for more than 15 years. Everyone around here knows he is handicapped and that I am weak and can't do anything, that's why they just come and take whatever they want.
"At night I hear the dogs barking and see them taking our stuff but I'm an old woman. I am too afraid to confront them. The other night someone just walked up to our door and walked off with our boots and shoes."
Mrs Mati could barely walk from the effects of being thrown around by strong winds while trying to protect her husband the night the cyclone hit.
"The cyclone has taken everything, our house, our clothes, our belongings and even our cow. I'm too old and too weak to rebuild. I can barely lift a hammer."
The remaining room that they've taken shelter in is unstable and water gets in when it rains.
"We urgently need a tent so my husband and I can sleep properly at night. As for our house, I'm leaving it in God's hands. That's all I can do."
Mrs Mati said since the night of Severe TC Winston, no one has visited her and her husband and she hasn't received any form of assistance.
"We don't expect much. For the past 15 years I have cared for my husband in our little home on my own. I have lost all hope, but I love my husband and I can't abandon him, and that's what gives me the strength to go on.
"But I would be very grateful if someone gave us a tent, that's what we need urgently."
