|
|
From John Taito in Navua, Fiji (23 June 2009) Navua Rotuman Farmers Annual Food Show - 2009 Background The Navua Rotuman Farmers foodshow first began in 2002. The objectives of the foodshow were to:
The competition is amongst the individual farmers who must be of Rotuman descent or married to a Rotuman residing within the Navua area. The farmers compete in individual categories as well by ho'aga. The ho'aga is determined according to the location of the farmers within the Navua Area as follows:
Overall Champion
Foodshow Competition 2009 on Saturday, 13 June at Serua Provincial Complex, Navua Competitors 2009
The program commenced at 8:55am with a devotion by the Pacific Harbour Methodist Wesley Steward, Mr. Nataniela Kamilo. He shared Paul’s letter to the Galatians, reminding the competitors to keep up the good work of toiling on whatever land they had, not only to provide for their daily family consumption but to pass on the skill to the young ones and to compete in good spirit annually against each other. After the devotion, the Chairman of the Farmers Association, Mr. Freddy Wesley, welcomed everyone and reminded them of the aim of the annual foodshow competition. The MC then requested all the competitors to stand by their crops as the mothers and guests were shown around to inspect the crops on display. Judge for the day was Mr. Kaitu'u Solval, with Mr. Mala Kaitu'u and his team at the ringside/scale, including Ms Mary Kaitu’u, Mrs Aggie Manueli and their hard working team recording the scores. The competition proper commenced at 9:05am. Invited guests, friends and relatives from all walks of life were there to cheer the competitors as the crops were weighed and measured for weight & length. Morning Tea was served at 10:30am, with lunch at 12:40pm (lovo, buffet style), which was enjoyed by all. This year’s competition was evenly contested in all varieties of taros, yams and fruits. By noon, as always, the competition was not only amongst the fathers, but also among ho'aga members and the little ones as they sized each others' taros, yams & temafa. The last item was weighed at 2:13pm and the hard-working scorers were quick to provide the MC with the point summary for the taros, yams, temafa, and the ho'aga and overall champions. Good island spirit prevailed as the competitors grouped for an end of competition cheer. The following competitors won:
The new overall champion is Mr. Tausie Amoe, who was humble in victory
and thanked everyone for a tough competition with special acknowledgement
to his family for their support. The M.C. then gathered the little boys & youths for the 'end of game' cheers. The menfols then went onto phase two-- 'I'om kao ma sua maka’ into the night as the womenfolk displayed exceptional contemporary dancing skills. Everyone left the premises at 8:50pm Monday, 15 June 2009, was the Queen's Birthday (a public holiday) and the Rotuman Community gathered at the Manueli residence for the farmers' review of the year & the competition program, followed by a lovo lunch and lots of entertainment and refreshments for all. The following were elected for the 2010 competition, Mr Lili Somone as Chairman, Mr Fauoro Manueli as Secretary, and Mrs Aggie Manueli as Treasurer. I would like to thank the following relatives and guests who financially contributed to this year's foodshow:
Family members and friends wishing to donate to our Foodshow 2010 may contact:
Hanisiof se te’ ne aus otomis kainag ne noh e Rotuma, Fiti ma te ne ‘ut tutu ne ren te - omus hunsiosig rotuam ne noh e Navua, Fiti. From Fiji Daily Post (22 June 2009) Tourism Fiji has new marketing manager
Tourism Fiji has announced the appointment of Ms Adeline Lee-Erasito to the key role of Marketing Services Manager. Announcing Ms Lee-Erasito’s appointment Tourism Fiji CEO Josefa Tuamoto said Ms Lee-Erasito will take full managerial responsibility for all aspects of the organisation’s marketing activity in Japan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and India. Her role will also include handling Tourism Fiji’s international media visitation programme as well as taking responsibility for the further building of the destination’s wedding and honeymoon, MICE, sports and special events portfolios. Tuamoto said Lee-Erasito’s appointment was extremely timely given the advent of Continental Micronesia Airlines’ new services ex-Japan to Nadi which will commence later in the year and the start-up of Air Pacific’s new Hong Kong services in December. Japan and China, he says, have both proven strong performers for Fiji in 2009 with visitor arrivals from both countries increasing by 4.9 per cent and 12.7 per cent, respectively. Ms Lee joined Tourism Fiji in May 2000 and has extensive experience with the national tourist office. Her last posting was in Tourism Fiji’s Los Angeles office where she has held the post of Regional Marketing Officer with specific responsibility for marketing the destination in Canada and Latin America. She holds a Bachelors degree in International Business Management and an Associate Degree in Travel and Tourism from Brigham Young University, Hawaii. From John Bennett in Nadi (19 June 2009) The new Nadi Rotuman Methodist Church, which is next to the Tanoa International
Hotel, five minutes from the airport, is nearing completion. I understand
the Rotuman community in Nadi raised funds for this church and a large
area of surrounding land. They hope to officially open it in September.
From Fiji Daily Post (17 June 2009) Rotuma to export fruits soon ROTUMA will soon export fruits to Tuvalu and later to other Pacific Island countries following the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Nadi yesterday to construct a NZ$142,000 High Temperature Forced Air (HTFA) in Rotuma. The MOU was signed between the Minister of Primary Industries Joketani Cokanasiga and Managing Director of Quarantine Technology International of New Zealand Dr Michael Williamson. QTI (NZ) will construct the HTFA chamber in New Zealand before bringing it to Fiji to be installed on the island of Rotuma. The island, which is well known for its sweet oranges and orange wine, cannot export oranges due to the presence of two types of fruit flies that could pose a threat to fruit trees outside of Rotuma. These fruit flies are the Bactrocera kirki and Bactrocera rotundas. This idea for trade between Rotuma and Tuvalu was initiated by the Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama with the vision to enhance trade among the Pacific Island Countries (PIC). According to Dr. Williamson this was not the first time that he had been involved in constructing HTFA units for Fiji. Fifteen years ago, he constructed the first HTFA chamber for the Nature’s Way Cooperative located near the Nadi International Airport that has enabled Fiji to export fruit crops. Two more chambers were added later for the cooperative and another one will soon be constructed. The completion of the fourth chamber will allow 30 tonnes of vegetables to be exported in a week. The Minister thanked the company for the assistance in terms of constructing the chamber which will bring further export revenue to Fiji. “The HTFA Chamber in Rotuma will enhance the island’s trade with neighboring island countries and will bring in much needed revenue to the people of Rotuma,” Mr. Cokanasiga said. “In future, another will be constructed at Koronivia Research Station to experiment with other agriculture commodities for export and also fruits will exported to PIC,” he added. Dr Williamson said Fiji was doing very well compared to other countries due to the hard work put forward by the locals. He added that there was never a complaint regarding the treatment fruit through HTFA. Apart from exporting fruits to Tuvalu, Rotuma is expected to begin exporting root crops in August. The Rotuma/Tuvalu trade in agricultural produce came about after Rotuma was declared a port of entry in May last year and the commitment made by the Government of Tuvalu to open their trade doors with nearest island neighbor. That opened the door for the Ministry and the Bio-Security Unit within
the Ministry to start the ground work in facilitating this much anticipated
trade. Early last year, the Ministry went on a fact-finding trip to Tuvalu to look at their market situation and work on ways that we can prepare Rotuma to supply agricultural commodities for the market in Tuvalu. A delegation from the Government of Tuvalu also traveled to Rotuma late last year, just to see whether Rotuma can supply Tuvalu with the much needed agricultural commodities. That visit gave confidence and assurance to the Tuvaluan Government that Rotuma with its fertile soil and natural potential resources can supply Tuvalu. Negotiations with the Tuvaluan Quarantine Authority and the Fiji Government was made possible through the contribution and assistance provided by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in bringing the two parties together in relation to the bio security issues that will open the Tuvaluan market. Trade between the two island neighbors will start off with agriculture produce only such as dalo, cassava and Kumala. From Fiji Daily Post (9 June 2009) Gvt officials work on Rotuma development programme Thirty officials of the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) are part of a Government delegation that is currently in Rotuma for a weeklong Export Pathway System workshop. Officers from Biosecurity, Extension, Fisheries, Animal Health & Production, Research, and Economic Planning & Statistics Divisions will be touring the island for a week and creating awareness on the Export Pathway System for the Rotuman farmers ahead of the much anticipated trade between Rotuma and Tuvalu. Principal Agricultural Officer (Quarantine) Mr Ilaitia Boa said that the officers would create awareness on the Biosecurity Promulgation and its implication as well as emphasizing the importance of conforming to border security measures. “Farmers on the islands need to know the importance of developing and maintaining consistency in supply of agricultural produce to meet food security and market demand,” Mr Boa said. Ministry officials would be carrying out ground surveys in order to assess the current status of crop and livestock production, current level of marine resources, and the current status of pest and diseases on the island. “The information gathered from this survey will be the basis of formulating development programme with appropriate strategies for targeted commodities which will be implemented and monitored by responsible divisions within MPI, thus focusing on sustainable development on the island,” he explained. “Since the beginning of the preparatory work for the trade and overall development of Rotuma Island, a committee called the Rotuma Technical Team was formed to address development in Agriculture (crop and livestock) and fisheries for marine resource production.” “This team consists of representatives from Biosecurity, Extension, Fisheries, AH&P and Research and they continuously meet and put together priority programme from each division which will be formulated and implemented on the island,” Mr Boa said. All discussions and resolutions of this technical committee is submitted to the main committee of Rotuma development, called the Rotuma Development National Task Force for their endorsement. Since the formation of this committee, three tours to the island have already been taken and on the first tour a general ground survey, site inspection for proposed location of recommended structures and physical development was taken so as to gather the appropriate information. The various divisions that are included in the committee assist each other in sharing of information, sharing of resources and most importantly in putting their ideas and knowledge together to develop activities and programme for integrated development. “At the end of the tour we are hoping that the people of Rotuma especially the farmers are able to implement most of the things that has been presented and taught to them during the one week training, thus achieving the main purpose of the tour.” “We also expect officials to gather as much appropriate information as possible within their respective field of responsibilities as this will be the basis of preparing plans for future development,” Mr Boa added. At the end of this tour a meeting would be convened in Suva and all the divisions would come up with the information gathered during the tour with all their important requirements, proposed activities and programme. This will be formulated together into the Ministry’s 2010 PSIP submission for the Rotuma development programme. From the Fiji Sun (7 June 2009) State officials to leave for Rotuma Thirty officials of the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) are expected
to be in Rotuma next week to carry to awareness programmes, said Principal
Agricultural Officer (Quarantine) Ilaitia Boa He said officers from Biosecurity, Extension, Fisheries, Animal Health & Production, Research, and Economic Planning & Statistics Divisions would tour the island for a week and create awareness on the Export Pathway System for the Rotuman farmers ahead of the much anticipated trade between Rotuma and Tuvalu. Mr Boa said the officers would create awareness on the Biosecurity Promulgation and its implication as well as emphasised the importance of conforming to border security measures. “Farmers on the island need to know the importance of developing and maintaining consistency in supply of agricultural produce to meet food security and market demand,” Mr Boa said. The officials he said would also carry out ground surveys in order to assess the current status of crop and livestock production, current level of marine resources, and the current status of pest and diseases on the island. “The information gathered from this survey will be the basis of formulating development programme with appropriate strategies for targeted commodities which will be implemented and monitored by responsible divisions within MPI, thus focusing on sustainable development on the island,” he explained. Since the beginning of the preparatory work for the trade and overall development of Rotuma Island, a committee called the Rotuma Technical Team was formed to address development in Agriculture (crop and livestock) and fisheries for marine resource production, he said. “This team consists of representatives from Biosecurity, Extension, Fisheries, AH&P and Research and they continuously meet and put together priority programme from each division which will be formulated and implemented on the island.” All discussions and resolutions of this technical committee is submitted to the main committee of Rotuma development, called the Rotuma Development National Task Force for their endorsement. Since the formation of this committee, three tours to the island have already been taken and on the first tour a general ground survey, site inspection for proposed location of recommended structures and physical development was taken so as to gather the appropriate information. The various divisions that are included in the committee assist each other in sharing of information, sharing of resources and most importantly in putting their ideas and knowledge together to develop activities and programme for integrated development. “At the end of the tour we are hoping that the people of Rotuma especially the farmers are able to implement most of the things that has been presented and taught to them during the one week training, thus achieving the main purpose of the tour. “We also expect officials to gather as much appropriate information as possible within their respective field of responsibilities as this will be the basis of preparing plans for future development.” At the end of this tour a meeting will be convened in Suva and all the divisions will come up with the information gathered during the tour with all their important requirements, proposed activities and programme. This he said would then be formulated together into the Ministry’s 2010 PSIP submission for the Rotuma development programme. From Vilma Isireli in Fiji (3 June 2009) LäjeRotuma's Rotuma High School Mural LRI's mural activity is funded by the British High Commission in Suva. The mural, the theme of which is "Rotuma's Culture and Natural Heritage," is located at the Rotuma High School compound. With the help of sixteen high school students, two artists from the Fiji Arts Council—Maika Fursetafa and Jeke Lagi—and the LRI team were able to complete the mural. As you can see the mural can mean different things to different people. For the young artists involved, the mural depicted lasting impressions of how beautiful, fragile and unique is our island home Rotuma. Here are some images of the mural.
From Vilma Isireli in Fiji (2 June 2009) LäjeRotuma's Baseline Birdlife Survey of Rotuma LäjeRotuma's baseline birdlife surveys of Rotuma is funded by the GEFS group and Rufford Foundation. The goal of the surveys is to assess the extent of changing land use patterns and the current status of birdlife on our home island. Birdwatching activities have been part of the annual LRI eco-camp since 2007. A highlight of the birdlife surveys is the abundance of Rotuma's only endemic bird—the Rotuman Myzomela, known to locals as the armea. Here are a few photos taken during birdwatching.
From Vilma Isireli in Fiji (2 June 2009) The LäjeRotuma Initiative team has embarked on a mission to make cloth bags in order to reduce the household use of plastic bags on the island. Talks with the women's group about making these cloth bags were a success. With a donation from the British High Commission we were able to purchase a sewing machine, 30m of pacco material, and bag straps. With these materials the women's group was able to sew thirty-nine bags. Another twenty-eight meters of material were just delivered to continue making more bags. Our target is to sew two hundred and fifty cloth bags, which are cream-coloured and will have the LäjeRotuma logo as well as the British High Commission logo.
From Fijitimes Online (1 June 2009) Prayers for pirate hostage THE Rotuman community is praying for the safe return of Wayne Suliana, who is among the crew of a German cargo ship held hostage by Somali pirates. Doctor John Fatiaki, a vocal Rotuman community leader, said everyone hoped and prayed for Mr Suliana's well-being. Mr Suliana, a Fiji national, is among the 24 sailors on the ship, Hansa Stavager, which was seized on April 5 on its way to South Africa. "We have known about it ever since Mrs Mausio found out," he said. "We recognise that the Government is trying to do what it can. "It was raised in a couple of church services this week and our prayers and thoughts are with them." The Foreign Affairs Ministry was alerted to the situation by the Fiji Times last week. Foreign Affairs acting deputy permanent secretary Sila Balawa said the Fiji missions in London and Brussels would be alerted to contact its ACP and European Union counterparts for assistance in the release of Mr Suliana and the other hostages by Somali pirates for a ransom of $31million (US$15m). |
