Many children swim here too!
Thursday was hot. It was one of those days where the sweat produced, gathers and form rivulets that ran down your face, your chest, your back and your legs.
It was around 2pm when we left the national park’s office. I was on patrol duty with our newly recruited rangers, Meme and Vili. We were heading towards Naqarai beach (in the Nadi direction), via the Queen’s Highway, to check on illegal sand extraction in the area.
The Sun was merciless, but we had to do this patrol. It was also a good opportunity for further field training for the new rangers. As we walked, I talked about the sand extraction issue. It’s one of those activities that happen quite often because the National Park is a place of much sand and there is much construction happening in our community.
As we got closer to the Naqarai beach area, I suggested that we take a shortcut through the Old Western Wrecker’s property. This
shortcut would get us to the beach quicker and cut our sun exposure time.
The shortcut is a narrow, grassy track (starting near the highway) that leads to a patch of forest, right near Naqarai beach. As we followed the shortcut, I asked the new rangers to keep a lookout for any signs of sand extraction. We saw some, but these were older ones. I was thankful because it meant the area has remained inactive.
The grassy track was easy to follow. It led us to the patch of forest we could see from the highway. Once we got to the forest, we took a short break. I seized the moment to give a brief history on the Naqarai beach forest and why it’s important that the National Trust of Fiji continues to protect the area.
After, we followed another manmade track that connected us to the main Naqarai beach access road. It was nice walking under the shade of the tall trees, and it gave me the chance to share their names to the new rangers.
CAUGHT BY SURPRISE!
Once we got onto the Naqarai beach access road, it took us less than three minutes to reach the public entry to the beach. However, we didn’t go straight to the beach as we were stopped in our tracks by what laid before us.
There were large piles of household trash dumped at the entry area to the Naqarai beach. The piles had everything like diapers, vegetable peelings, empty glass bottles, tin cans, old part of gadgets, plastic bottles and many more.
The sight really incensed me, and I let loose a barrage of words. I think I said something along the line, “Fiji has a national waste crisis. The people that dumped the trash are irresponsible and should be caught and trialled. This shows how consumptive our society is. All we do is want and want, and the companies make and make, and because of our unquenchable materialism, this cycle continues. Consequently, we create so much waste and it’s now everywhere.
The stupid thing is, we know we are polluting. I had hoped with the coming of COVID-19, people would start to rethink how we treat Mother Nature. I am just baffled at the apathy. Our survival on this planet is not about us. It’s about everything that makes life possible here. We must see the bigger picture. Where did humanity go wrong?”
The new rangers were surprised by my outburst.
They usually see me in a cooler temperament but this afternoon, I had a mood swing. Ranger Meme said softly: “A lot of people from the nearby villages come and use the beach for fishing and picnics. It’s sad to see people are dumping their household rubbish here. They are really spoiling the beach. They should be ashamed of themselves. A lot of Children swim here too.”
As we made our way down to the beach, we heard squeals of happy laughter. Its source, a group of children. On the beach, we met them and their parents having an afternoon picnic. Their parents had fished earlier on the reef nearby and were roasting some fish and sea urchins on an open fire. The children were busy enjoying themselves in the sea.
In typical Fijian hospitality, they offered us a share of their meal. We politely declined and continued our walk along the shore. We had decided to take the long route back to the park along the beach.
Ranger Vili then asked: “What happens to the rubbish at the entry?”
I replied: “We will have to clean it ourselves. Hopefully, we can get some volunteers to lend us a hand.”
As we walked back, Ranger Meme’s words “A lot of children swim here too” kept resounding in my head. They were prophetic. A lot of children use Naqarai beach – they did before, they do now, and they will in the future. It’s their earthly right to be children in a healthy world. They carry the hope of our species.
Our responsibility as adults is to ensure they continue to do so, and we can do it, if we get our act together.
I think we should stop wasting our time jetting into space now and invest in making our world a much better place. That’s a more cosmic endeavour than throwing our future away. Don’t you think?
Stay safe.