2007-08-08 Fiji economy 101

The message I sent a few days ago, called "Jim's Suva Adventure” had a bit of commentary on the political situation and the coup here in Fiji. That was intended to give you all some background regarding the sad state of the Fijian economy. The Qarase govt was living on aid and loans, and diverting most of the funding to the accounts of a few influential individuals. The economy here was failing, whether or not there was a coup. One of the last straws that triggered Bainimarama to take over was the introduction of proposed legislation known as the Qoli-qoli bill. qoli-qoli is the foreshore and the nearshore waters, traditionally controlled by each village as their own fishing grounds. The new bill would have awarded to indigenous Fijians total control of these areas, including ability to charge tolls for boat traffic thru their qoli-qoli. Turns out, there is strong speculation that there are large oil and gas deposits in southern Fiji waters, and coincidentally, the bill would have allowed the tribal chiefs to charge unregulated transport and landing fees to any exploration or drilling and recovery operations passing near their villages. Free cash for the chiefs, and almost surely nothing for the average citizen. ABSOLUTELY nothing for any Indian-Fijian. In Bainimarama's opinion, that sort of racist favoritism and repressive private taxation is not good for business. And actually without the Indo-Fijians, there would be virtually NO business in Fiji. Following is an excerpt from a letter to my niece Kerri, who was inquiring about marketable art works from the indigenous populace. It explains at least partially the economic base of the native Fijians." We've asked around and looked around at the Udu peninsula crafts, and the only artistic expression we really see is in the area of weaving. They make a lot of things from woven palm, pandanus, and bamboo. There's a little "self expression" and some interest in aesthetics there, but really they don't seem to make the leap from pleasantly appealing utility to display art. The whole culture is based on making and using things that have pretty low durability and short life span. That's part of our problem in trying to build a boat based transport business; these are culturally subsistence farmers and hunter-gatherers. They don't expect to use anything for long, so don't take care of anything, just use it till it fails and throw it away. That's a big part of the culture clash between indigenous Fijian and Indian Fijian; the Indians are technology oriented, profit motivated, and industrious. They buy and maintain modern equipment and gadgets. The Fijian kids want the gadgets (cell phones, stereos, cars, outboard motors) but don't have any idea how to pay for them or keep them going." An example is the traditional shelter. They have lived in a woven walled, thatch roofed "bure" for thousands of years here. There was no point in building durable, as a cyclone was going to take away anything they could build, and in a couple days a new dwelling could be put up. Now about 3/4 of them have switched to more "modern" building materials, but the construction isn't much more advanced than that of a traditional bure, and the bure looks a LOT better.

That's a snapshot of part of the economic problem here. I'll be addressing it more I'm sure.

Life here on the boats is kind of interesting. Steve and Carol got to be radio friends while we were in NZ and they were in Tonga. We met in SavuSavu, and Steve was one of the guys relaying my radio traffic and offering moral support while we were up on the reef on the way around the island. They arrived here at Also Island yesterday, and plan to stay a while to socialize and lend a hand with a few things. Brought a great big fresh mahi-mahi with them, my favorite fish of all. We ate really well tonight. This afternoon, unannounced, another yacht, a couple from NZ, came in. Lorrie and Anna seem to be excellent folks, and expect to be around a few days, so we should have good company here at Also Island for a while. The weather has just gone through a couple days of pretty calm wind, but tonight it's gone quite boisterous, with reinforced trade winds from the southeast. Bit of a chop on the anchorage, but plenty of power for the wind generator. Full batteries. Life is good. Ted