The Women Accommodation Center was constructed in 2011 to assist the women vendors of Ba market who used to travel from the interiors of Ba to sell their produce in the Ba Market. The Women Accommodation Center was constructed beside Ba Market. The idea to build an accommodation center for the women came up when the Council saw that there was an increase in the women vendors who came from very far and found it difficult to travel daily.
These women market vendors came from far interiors of Ba District and some even came from as far as Tailevu. They opted not to travel back and forth to save the cost, therefore they used to sleep on the corridoes after a tough day of doing business in the market. During the rainy nights, they used to tie tarpaulins to save themselves from getting wet. The chosen location for the accommodation center is near to the Ba Municipal Market which makes it easily accessible for these women vendors.
After talking to the United Nations Agency (UN Women), the Council managed to get funding for the equipment’s for the women to use in the accommodation center, such as pillows, mattress, tables and chairs. The Councils aim was to help these women who travel to Ba Municipal Market from several kilometers away, to sell their produce and crafts in order to support their families.
A total of 52 beds were allocated in which an average of 10 to 15 women vendors were assisted for reasonable amount of fee. The Women Accommodation Center has an open kitchen and dining area and indoor toilet and bathroom facilities. There is also a washing and drying area made available in this facility. A security was also assigned to guard the women accommodation center to ensure the safety of these women and their sales goods .
The Women Accommodation Center is currently under renovation, the purpose of this undertaking is to give these women vendors a better modernized accommodation facility. Some of the upgrades that will be taking place in the Women Accommodation Center includes;
> Change of previous beds
> Upgrading of the Kitchen
> General Floor Tiling to give the Center a neat look
> Upgrading of convenience and bath facility
> Installation of insect screen and door grills
