MYSTERY surrounds allegations that piped water on the island of Rotuma is contaminated.

The allegations came to light after some residents on Rotuma requested their relatives on the mainland to arrange for water tanks for them to collect rain water.

Minister for Public Works Robin Irwin and Health Minister Doctor Gunasagaran Gounder were both unaware of the matter when contacted yesterday but said they would look into the issue in the days ahead.

Two families at Tuakoi Village in Rotuma told The Fiji Times that precautionary measures were being taken over the consumption of piped water.

They said all drinking water was now being boiled.

The family members requested that their identities be withheld because "things are different in Rotuma".

One family claimed that the water treatment plant on the island was not well maintained, which had sparked the concern over health and safety.

Numerous attempts to gather comments from the Rotuma hospital, the Ahau Government Station, the District Office and the PWD department were futile.

A concerned Rotuman in Suva claimed his children on Rotuma were told by an official that water on the island was unfit for human consumption.

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