THE FIJI TIMES, FRIDAY 16TH JANUARY 2004

The Bayly Welfare Fund is turning away a lot of needy students because it has no money to help them buy gear and send them to school. It said there was a notable increase in students seeking assistance from the Fund and it was heart breaking to tell the new students daily that they could not help them.

Most of these students come from displaced cane farming families or their parents are either farm labourers or casual workers who are already on welfare. The Fund is already helping 465 students this year and is appealing to companies and members of the public for donations, old textbooks, uniforms and any school gear to help the less fortunate.

Fund member Sarojni Michael said at least ten new students turned up at the fund office daily to ask for assistance. She said 115 students were already on the roll and she had spare for only 50 more students.

In Labasa, Vijay Kumar said at least 50 new students had queued outside his office on Monday morning and a few more had written to him from the rural areas of Vanua Levu. He said the Fund could not accept new applications and had to turn away students. The Labasa office helps 150 students.

In Suva, Michael Chandra said 200 on the roll were given priority and his office was always inundated with applications from students living in Nausori and Navua. The Fund supplies monthly food rations to 690 families and caters for an average of 30 extra applications on its temporary list.