The announcement that Levuka – Fiji’s first capital – has been listed as the country’s first World Heritage Site has been described as “historic” and “a wonderful day for Fiji”. Levuka is among 14 new sites declared by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – at its current meeting in Cambodia. The committee described Levuka – with “its low line of buildings set among coconut and mango trees along the beach front” – as a “rare” and “outstanding example of late 19th century Pacific port settlements”. It said the combination of “development by the indigenous community” and “integration of local building traditions by a supreme naval power” – Britain – had led to “the emergence of a unique landscape”. At a press conference held at the Attorney-General’s office yesterday, the Minister for National Heritage, Filipe Bole, and the Attorney-General and Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, said it took only two and half years for Fiji’s application on Levuka to be successful. Mr Bole said they lodged the application in 2011. “The announcement on Saturday night is the beginning of Fiji’s application for other sites around Fiji to be declared a World Heritage site,” Mr Bole said. As Minister for National Heritage, Mr Bole said a large part of the credit for the listing rested with the National Trust of Fiji and he thanked the chairman, Robin Yarrow, who was in Cambodia for the announcement. “This has been a wonderful example of co-operation between the citizens of Levuka, the National Trust and the Bainimarama Government, which has supported this nomination from the start. “All stakeholders – the Government, the Trust, local government in Levuka and local businesses – will now be working hand in hand with the citizens of Levuka to fulfil the obligations that we now have to preserve and protect the town for future generations. Levuka has a wonderful future ahead of it.” The Attorney-General said work would now be carried out in Levuka to prepare for tourists coming in to see Fiji’s World Heritage. “We have to increase the rooms to cater for the tourists as in the last count there were only 120 hotel rooms in Levuka,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said. “The declaration is a tribute to the people of Levuka, who have worked hard and lobbied tirelessly for the World Heritage classification. “This means that Levuka – in its present state – will remain as a snapshot, frozen in time, of a crucial part of our nation’s development and a permanent reminder of our unique history. It is a day for every Fijian to celebrate.” The Attorney-General said Levuka could now look forward to a brighter economic future because the listing was bound to generate more international interest in the town. The World Heritage Committee, inscribes Levuka Historical Port Town, Fiji, on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (ii) and (iv). Criterion (ii): Levuka Historical Port Town exhibits the important interchange of human values and cultural contact that took place as part of the process of European maritime expansion over the 19th century in the geocultural region of the Pacific Islands. It is a rare example of a late colonial port town, which illustrates the cultural hybridity of non-settler communities in the Pacific, with an urban plan that merges local settlement traditions with colonial standards. As such, the town exhibits the processes of the late, industrialised stage of colonization, which was based on maritime extraction and export processes. Criterion (iv): The urban typology of Levuka Historical Port Town reflects the global characteristics and institutions of European colonisation in the 19th century. As a specific type of Pacific port settlement, which reflects the late 19th century stages of maritime colonisation, Levuka provides insights to the adaptation of European naval powers to a specific oceanic social, cultural and topographic environment. The combination of colonial settlement typologies with the local building tradition has Nominations to the World Heritage List WHC-13/37.COM/8B, p. 26 created a special type of Pacific port town landscape. THIS IS THE CITATION OF LEVUKA THAT ACCOMPANIED THE WORLD HERITAGE LISTING ANNOUNCEMENT: The town and its low line of buildings set among coconut and mango trees along the beach front was the first colonial capital of Fiji, ceded to the British in 1874. It developed from the early 19th century as a centre of commercial activity by Americans and Europeans who built warehouses, stores, port facilities, residences, and religious, educational and social institutions around the villages of the South Pacific Island’s indigenous population. It is a rare example of a late colonial port town that was influenced in its development by the indigenous community which continued to outnumber the European settlers. Thus the town, an outstanding example of late 19th century Pacific port settlements, reflects the integration of local building traditions by a supreme naval power, leading to the emergence of a unique landscape. Qatar and Fiji had their first World Heritage sites inscribed during the afternoon session of the World Heritage Committee on Saturday, as the intergovernmental body added six properties to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 06:21:18 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015