The National Archives of Fiji
I BELIEVE the National Archives of Fiji at 25 Carnarvon St in Suva is a great fire risk with two defective fire panels which are completely non-functional.
The fire panels are connected to the smoke detectors which are mounted on the ceiling of the building and if there is a slight evidence of smoke, the signal will be electronically sent from the transponder which is a component of the fire panel directly to the National Fire Authority control room giving the exact location of the room of the fire.
This happens without physical human interference and greatly reduces lost time for the NFA.
Some buildings also have fire sprinklers which are activated when the room temperature rises and effectively extinguish the threat.
Sadly, there is no active fire approach system in the building that contains historic repository.
The National Archives collects and preserves Fiji’s documentary heritage and makes it available to the public through exhibitions and research services.
The collection contains around a million archival documents on five kilometres of shelving and 1.5 kilometres of publications, along with over 100,000 historical photographs and over 2000 hours of historical footage.
These records constitute a large portion of the nation’s collective memory and provides a bridge for users to reach back in time to find vital information for present day issues such as family genealogy and the events that led to the birth of the nation.
Once we lose these archaic treasure, it is gone forever, that should not happen at all cost.
We demand that the fire extinguishing system is revamped.
Currently, we experience at least one structural conflagration per week in the country and electrical cause of the infernos tops the list.
SATISH NAKCHED Suva