Development Should Not be Focused on Economic Gain Only: Minister Seruiratu
GLOBAL ALIGNMENT IS IMPORTANT TO TACKLE NATURAL DISASTER RELATED PROBLEMS. ISOLATION IS NOT THE ANSWER.
Development should not be done focussing on economic gain only but keeping in mind the environmental impact and social implication it would have, particularly in the southern Pacific region.
Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management, Inia Seruiratu, highlighted this at the Capacity Building Workshop: Building Climate Resilient Agriculture in Pacific SIDS at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi yesterday. Mr Seruiratu said in order to build a resilient Agriculture in the Pacific, there was a need for sustainable development. He said: “Let’s not do development for the sake of doing development, because development has to be sustainable.” Mr Seruiratu said money was not everything. “So the way we do development, we must look at it seriously,” he said. “We must co-operate, we need each other and we need one another.” Mr Seruiratu called on the people in the Pacific to look at how we could improve in the regional sector. “How we can improve in terms of capabilities, our knowledge sharing, and the capabilities within.” He praised the Asian region for their way above the rest in terms of development. “We need co-operation. No Government can do this alone, we need the community, and we need the private sector.
“The reality for us is we have a small holder farm in the region. “We must seriously look at the way we live-particularly for the future, because disasters are the norms like it or not, believe it or not.” Mr Seruiratu said we need to be pro-active now. “So that we can be ready when the next one strikes, we had Evan in Vanuatu last year, and we have TC Winston in Fiji. These are the lessons learnt I am talking about the norm of Future, the way we live we must look at it different. Furthermore Mr Seruiratu said the problems that are faced, demands leadership.
“We have to take responsibility and I am excited that we have permanent secretary, deputy secretary, directors and friends from Asia.” Mr Seruiratu added global issues affecting nations today has led to an increased demand in humanitarian assistance because of the many problems faced in the world. “The Asia Pacific is a good region, but we have our own issues as well and we know how vulnerable we are and we know how affected we are about this issues as well. “Maybe not so much in conflict but when it comes to disaster, we are vulnerable and we are the worst affected.” The workshop ends tomorrow.
We must co-operate, we need each other and we need one another.
Inia Seruiratu
Minister for National Disaster Management