Query on biodiversity park
THE turaga ni yavusa o Kalokolevu, Seveci Naisilisili, has expressed concern at the state of the Kalokolevu Biodiversity Park.
Mr Naisilisili told the Finance Ministry’s consultations at Kalokolevu Village earlier this month that the park was the first of its kind implemented in Fiji, “but we don’t know what is happening with it anymore”.
“We had worked with the Government, the South Pacific Regional Environment Program and another NGO to make the four-acre park a reality,” Mr Naisilisili said.
“Our youths planted native trees to try to regain the natural fauna of the deforested area. It was also supposed to have a gravel walkway and natural tracks for visitors to take nature walks.
“It was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic and now that everything has returned to normal, we request the Government to help us to resume the program.”
In response, ministry official Jotame Yabakivitu said funding was available from other donors with an interest in nature conservation that could be tapped into by the villagers if they were interested.
“We have a gentleman here with us, Mr Yogees Karan, who is from Malaysia and is a consultant with the World Bank,” Mr Yabakivitu said.
“He has informed us there are funds available for such programs, so we can have a talk after this consultation.”
Mr Naisilisili also asked the ministry officials about the government’s back-to-school program that was initiated last year, informing them that some parents who’d applied for the funding never received the money despite lodging their applications before the closing date.
“Most of the people here are farmers and fishermen who don’t earn much and rely on assistance to get along,” he said.
“They have come to me with complaints about not receiving the funds when school was about to start. We just want to know what the Government’s position is on this and whether affected parents can still receive it.”
Mr Yabakivitu said several factors could have stopped the funds from reaching the applicants.
“In our investigation of similar cases, we have found that sometimes the phone numbers do not match the name of the applicant,” he said. “We also noted that some schools had been holding on to their student records, which we use for verification.
“Other times, human error also affects the disbursement of funds with a wrong number substituted for another.”
Mr Yabakivitu said those parents who had problems with the issue could provide their details together with their children’s information and the ministry would look into the matter.