PACIFIC islanders must take ownership of their problems and note see theme as the responsibility of someone else, says Fijian President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau. We must all do more as Pacific islanders to take charge of our own affairs. We need a fundamental change in our psyche – in our mindset - and in the way we see the world, he siad while on a visit to Nauru. He added that the issue of climate change mattered to every Pacific Islander, not just the people of Nauru. “In Fiji, we have already moved one village altogether out of the way of the rising sea and a second will soon be also relocated. But we have identified a further 676 communities throughout our nation that are threatened in some way, including 42 that will need to be moved in the next five to ten years, Ratu Epeli siad. “Of course, all this pales into insignificance beside the catastrophe facing the citizens of Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. I carried a message to Kiribati that Fiji would stand shoulder to shoulder with Kiribati as it faced this crisis, as well as doing everything possible to try to avert it. Ratu Epeli said that in a worst case scenario, some or all of the people of Kiribati may have to be resettled in Fiji and they would not be refugees. They deserve to be able to migrate with dignity. Their spirit will not be extinguished. It will live on somewhere else because a nation isn’t only a physical place. A nation – and the sense of belonging that comes with it - exists in the hearts and minds of its citizens wherever they may be.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 02:34:05 +0000
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