14/10/15
On Monday I spent 22 hours on the island of Ovalau. It
was my first visit to the island and the “Old Capital” of Levuka in 13 years.
The last visit had been with the 2002 Commonwealth Games Baton as part of the
build up to those games. The baton did the rounds of Fiji’s first capital
including Delana, where a number of signatures (or marks) were made by chiefs
on the Deed of Cession on the 10th of October, 1874.
My visit this week, however was not really in connection
with the past, but more connected to the future. I was there for the first day
of the Lomaiviti Division’s Methodist Youth Fellowship annual camp which coincides
with Methodist Youth Week. The camp was held in Vatukalo village, which is just
before St. John’s College in Cawaci. As secretary for communication and
overseas mission for the Methodist Church in Fiji, I took a number of sessions
on social media and the cultural shifts and challenges that young people need
to be aware of in a media saturated environment that is one of the hallmarks of
the 21st century.
The young people who are attending the camp come from the
six circuits that make up the Lomaiviti Division with a number of young people
either unemployed or working shift work at the Pacific Fishing Company Limited,
PAFCO. Being a Christian programme we discussed the challenge for young people
living and expressing their faith in an increasingly secular environment. In
the evening at the welcome service I had the opportunity to not only preach but
listening to the beautiful voices of the children of Vatukalo singing choruses.
Other presenters at the camp this week include Fiji Media Watch’s media education
team and a representative from the Police Cyber-crime Unit, as well as the
Secretary for the Young People’s Department of the Methodist Church, Rev. Jone
Davule.
During a break from the programme, the Divisional
Superintendent of the Lomaiviti Division, Rev. Simione Ravaga, took me for a
tour of Levuka to see what if anything had changed since my last visit over a
decade ago. We visited Delana Methodist High School and the house in which the
Deed of Cession was signed, the Fiji Corrections Facility in Delainasova where
new CCTV cameras have recently been installed to bring the centre up to par
with other Correctional facilities in Fiji and popped in to Gulab Daas and
Sons, one of the oldest shops in Fiji.
Rev. Ravaga and I spoke about the challenges facing
Levuka which has limited space for development both physically, as it is
bordered by the ocean in front and the high volcanic mountains behind, and
because Levuka was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2013. I recalled
over two decades ago producing radio promotional advertisements for “Back To
Levuka Week.” The week of the 10th of October is always of
significance for Levuka, not so much for 1970’s Independence but for 1874’s
Cession, with annual re-enactments of the signing of the Deed of Cession. This
year’s Back to Levuka Carnival was used as a platform to raise awareness for
the current generation on environment protection. Late last century, Levuka was
a finalist in the “Tidy Towns” competition. This year’s carnival focused on the
“3Rs” of "reduce, reuse and recycle," only fitting as Levuka was the
venue for the recent National Climate Change Summit.
There are, however signs that the “Old Capital” is not
being forgotten and has a future as well as a past.
I shared a ride from the airfield, Bureta Airport, into
town with an engineer from PACFO who told me about the recent project for a new
$13 million 4,000 metric-tonne freezer, which will allow storage of tuna to
enable a regular supply for production of tinned tuna for US-based Bumble Bee
Foods. Work is already underway on the site. Regular supply of tuna will
translate into regular employment for the many for whom PACFO provides a
livelihood.
There are fledgling industries in Levuka too. South
Pacific Elixirs Company hopes to take the United States by storm with the
bottled kava drink, “Taki Mai,” promoted as a “sports drinks to calm, sooth and
relax the body” in Hawaii and mainland US in a number of department and health
food stores.
There’s been a lot of activity in Ovalau recently. Earlier
this year the Fiji Roads Authority rebuilt the road in the main street of
Levuka to provide better drainage and repaired the street lights. The RFMF
‘sappers’ are working on repairing the bridge at Levuka Vakaviti Village.
Climate Change adaptation measures are also evident with construction of
sea-walls along the coastal road to protect villages. A full-time social
welfare officer has also been appointed to Levuka recently.
We drove up to a clearing at Vuma Village where young
people were working on the construction of a house. According to Rev. Ravaga,
this house is the result of a project for 15 of the village youth which began
in 2011 with their planting of yaqona. This year’s harvest has enabled the
youth to contribute a third of the cost of the housing with the state providing
the other two-thirds.
Back in Levuka, there are plans to make use of the UNSECO
World Heritage listing to breathe new life into the ‘old capital.”
In May this year, a team from the International Council
of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) of Australia has handed over a scope of works
for immediate, medium and long guidelines for the preservation and restoration
of historic sites in Levuka – focussing for the present on the Holy Redeemer Anglican
Church and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church. Plans are also underway, for
more opportunities for discussion and collaboration by all stakeholders for the
protection and management of “Levuka Historical Port Town” to improve its
overall state of conservation, and ensure it complies with the recommendations
of the World Heritage Committee.
Perhaps even the Fiji Museum, which lacks adequate space
to display all its collections of artefacts in Suva may extend is little Levuka
branch. The restoration of Levuka will inspire ordinary Fijians, as well as
tourists to revisit our ‘living history’ and an ponder the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment