Progress and change over the past 60 years
THE Sixties
There has been an amazing amount of change in the 60 years since I came to Fiji at the beginning of 1961, but how much of it is progress depends on how progress is measured.
Fiji in the 1960s was a seemingly peaceful well-ordered society with potential for stable development, despite some undercurrents of disquiet with the colonial rule. But that was soon to change.
The most noticeable change over the six decades is in the visible population.
Sixty years ago Fiji was very distinctively divided between Fijians (taukei).
Indians and Europeans, with Chinese hardly noticeable. Of course a great number of civil servants were still expatriates, though localisation was fast increasing.
The roads were almost all gravel except in urban centres and there was no speeding from Suva to Nadi.
Communication with overseas was limited to airmail that could take over a week to reach UK, or a very expensive phone call. There was no internet nor mobile phones.
Within five years of my arrival, the country was moving rapidly towards independence and embryonic ministries were set up with local members soon to become ministers.
The seventies
Independence came in 1970, with progress in many ways.
The University of the South Pacific was opening new opportunities in the education field and now we have progressed to three universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Sugar was the mainstay of the economy in the 1960s, still under the control of the Australian sugar company. The sugar industry was localised and conditions for farmers and workers were improved, but recent years have seen an increasing decline in production as education and other factors draw people away from canefarming.
Meanwhile tourism, that was in its infancy in 1960, became the main source of revenue for the country and provided jobs for an increasing number of Fiji citizens.
New opportunities encouraged urban drift, informal settlements rapidly developed and a housing scheme for Suva, Raiwaqa was initiated.
Informal settlements have continued to increase bringing poverty and other social ills, a lack of job opportunities continues to persist, and although much work has been done, poverty has now risen to an unacceptable level.
Urban centres developed and Suva was first to become a city.
Local government thrived with councillors managing the affairs and
making improvements such as the park along the Suva foreshore that is now threatened by a widening of the road for the increasing amount of traffic.
With elected councillors the citizens were able to hold their councillors to account.
The removal of elected local governments was a regressive step and proper local government needs to be restored.
Roads were greatly improved with local Public Works Department always busy.
An overseas firm came in to redesign and tar seal the Suva-Nadi highway.
Roads have continue to be improved and developed, though maintenance is a continual problem.
The Monosavu dam and the Hydro-electricity project brought power to many more areas, and other such projects brought similar improvements.
A yearly event of fun and enjoyment that brought everybody together was the Hibiscus Festival but that has changed and become less attractive and is now in abeyance.
With independence came General Elections. Various methods were tried to make sure that the Elections were fair, making sure that the different racial groups were fairly represented.
For a time electors had two votes, one for their own group and another for a multiracial candidate.
Until recent years the country was divided into good sized constituencies.
We knew our elected members and could approach them readily with problems and ideas.
Gradually the voting was less and less by ethnicity as we developed into a very much more multi-racial and multi-cultural society.
The current electoral system has destroyed the good progress made in the election of our Parliamentarians.
The eighties through to the present 1987 saw the huge step backwards that has hindered Fiji’s progress in many ways.
The subsequent coups d’etat have only made things worse.
Compared with the years following Independence we people of Fiji have lost some of the freedoms that are rightly ours, the freedom to express ourselves, freedom to gather freely. Many live in fear and many suffer increasing amounts of stress in their employment.
And this is not a problem caused by a pandemic. At the same time there is room for greater self control and respect and consideration for others, which is notably lacking when it comes to obeying the current health measures.
The natural environment
There has been little consideration for the effect of much of the change on the natural world around us. In the past people lived closer to nature and were more considerate of the human effect on it.
Rural folk took storms in their stride and their housing, though more primitive was more suitable and more quickly replaced.
Since 1960 the rise in plastic packaging of many sorts has caused irreparable damage as we have no way to properly dispose of any of our rubbish.
Overseas interests in mining and logging are causing serious environmental damage.
Now we realise too late the damage we are causing and are crying for help. Storms are stronger and do more damage and we are losing our ancestral lands to the sea.
Conclusion
Certainly many of these changes, and others I have not mentioned in this short article, can be seen as progress; but have these changes always been for the best?
Real progress in the areas of most importance, that is the well-being of Fiji’s people, is urgently needed.
A small country like Fiji, with a community now multi-racial and multi-cultural, should be able to develop a level playing field with equal opportunities for all and a more equitable sharing of the available financial resources.
Mutual respect, kindness, honesty, patience and self-control are needed to build a peaceful nation of well-content, happy people. With these thoughts in mind, I wish everyone in Fiji a very Happy Fiji Day
May we all work together to truly make Fiji “the way the world should be”.