Large crowds turned up at the Sawani containment border in Naitasiri for early morning trading with little regard to physical distancing requirements.

FBC News arrived at the scene to find farmers outside the containment zone rushing to sell their produce, and be back home before the curfew.

Acting Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu says his officers faced a challenge in trying to enforce physical distancing and facilitate relevant exchanges needed by people on both sides.

“You will see that we are trying our best to control the crowd, people are calling that there is no two-meter distancing, but you have to understand the situation we are facing here. People they hire carrier, they hire vehicles to come down thus the limited time, they want to get as much as they get and they go back to their various villages.”

The containment border turned into a busy trading post as families, farmers, middlemen and company owners made their exchange and Tudravu says they did their best to ensure the exchanges were safe.

“The effort here is to try to maintain Naitasiri green all the time. That is why we are strict on the movement at the border, the transfer of goods. The only people that go across are the people that have been verified and been given the pass to go to the other side.”

Tudravu says they are mindful that people need to make a living in these trying times, but blatant breaches will not be tolerated.