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From Fiji Times (21 August 2023) Rotuma supplies, services normalise By Wata Shaw
He was responding to questions by this newspaper on issues last month where a change of schedule of the monthly freighter Goundar Shipping Ltd had affected the life on the island. Residents of Rotuma were without water, electricity and schools were forced to close because of a shortage of fuel on the island. "So everything is running smoothly now," Mr Ditoka said. "There was a ship that had taken fuel supplies and what we've tried to do is we've asked that we stockpile for about two to three months' worth. "I think that's the way it's always been done and for some reason that fell through." A barge had departed Suva earlier this month filled with drinking water and fuel after concerns were raised over shortages on the island. "We are trying to make sure that never happens again. "So we'll stockpile and make sure that every time it comes to a certain level, we continue to resupply." He added Government would continue to review its monitoring of services to Rotuma. From Fiji Broadcasting Co. (18 August 2023) Smart Island Program completes scoping exercise By Kirisitiana Uluwai The government is prioritizing digital transformation through the UN Smart Island Program. Minister for Communications Manoa Kamikamica says Rotuma has been identified as the pilot island. Kamikamica says the goal is to address socio-economic challenges and improve livelihoods by connecting people in Rotuma to a suite of digitally enabled services through the use of new and emerging technology and digital transformation. "Once the Smart Island Programme is successfully rolled out in Rotuma, we can use those insights as we deploy to other unconnected and underserved areas, not only in Fiji but across the Pacific Region." Kamikamica says a scoping exercise for the UN Smart Island Initiative has been completed. This UN project installed satellite ground stations to provide connectivity to communities within nine Pacific countries and made disaster response operations possible in the aftermath of TC Harold. "Once the Smart Island Programme is successfully rolled out in Rotuma, we can use those insights as we deploy to other unconnected and underserved areas, not only in Fiji but across the Pacific Region." Kamikamica says a scoping exercise for the UN Smart Island Initiative has been completed. The United Nations, with the leadership of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), undertook a satellite connectivity project in nine Pacific countries, including Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, with over 90 satellite ground terminals provided, including C-Band, Ku-Band, and Ka-Band terminals. |
