Vaileka is an urban

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

 centre in Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

, in the Rakiraki

Rakiraki

Rakiraki is a district in Fiji's Ra Province. It is located about halfway between Suva and Nadi when travelling along the Kings Road, on the northern coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island....

 region of Ra Province

Ra Province

Ra is one of the fourteen provinces of Fiji. Occupying the northern area of Viti Levu, the largest island, it is one of eight Viti Levu-based Provinces. With a land area of 1341 square kilometers, it had a population of 29,464 at the 2007 census, the last to date...

. It had a population of 3,361 at the 1996 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, the last to date. It is not officially a "town," however: that term is legally reserved for urban centres with organized municipal governments. The status of the area may be changed. The Fiji Times

Fiji Times

The Fiji Times is a daily English-language newspaper published in Suva, Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating....

 reported on 4 October 2006 that Uraia Waqa, Chairman of the Rakiraki Local Government Authority, had called for Vaileka to be officially incorporated as a Town

Local government of Fiji

Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...

, to be known as Rakiraki Town, in order to attract government investment. Local Government and Urban Development Minister Chaitanya Lakshman

Chaitanya Lakshman

Chaitanya Lakshman is a Fiji Indian lawyer, social worker and politician who served in the multi-party cabinet of the Qarase Government as Minister for Local Government....

 was reported to be sympathetic to the proposal.

The Penang Sugar Mill

Penang (Rakiraki) Sugar Mill

The Penang Sugar Mill in Rakiraki, Fiji is one of the four sugar mills operated by the Fiji Sugar Corporation. The FSC is the sole producer of raw sugar in Fiji.- History :...

 is being operated by the Fiji Sugar Corporation

Fiji Sugar Corporation

Fiji Sugar Corporation is the Government-owned sugar milling company in Fiji having the monopoly on production of all raw sugar in Fiji. It is also the largest public enterprise in Fiji directly employing nearly 3000 people while another 200,000 or more depend on it for their livelihood in rural...

 on the banks of the Penang River

Penang River

-References:*...

, about one kilometer outside of the township.