Kioa
Encyclopedia
Kioa is an island
in Fiji
, an outlier to Vanua Levu
, one of Fiji's two main islands. Situated opposite Buca Bay
, Kioa is a freehold by settlers from Tuvalu
, who came between 1947 and 1983. Kioa is one of two islands in Fiji populated by South Sea Islanders, the other being Rabi
, also in the Vanua Levu Group
and home to a displaced Banaban community.
Early in 2005, the Fijian government decided to grant full citizenship to the Kioa and Rabi Islanders. As a culmination of a decade-long quest for naturalization, a formal ceremony was held on 15 December 2005 to award 566 citizenship certificates to residents of the islands and their descendants (some of whom now live elsewhere in Fiji), which entitles them to provincial and national assistance for rural development. The ceremony was led by Cabinet Ministers
Josefa Vosanibola
and Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu
, who is also the Tui Cakau
, or Paramount Chief of Tovata
, which includes the two islands.
Lalabalavu called on the Kioa islanders to be proud of their identity and to nurture and protect their culture.
Although part of Cakaudrove
Province
, the island has a degree of autonomy with its own administrative body, the Kioa Island Council, although the Fijian Cabinet
decided on 15 January 2006 to merge it with the Rabi Island Council.
forum in Melbourne
, Don Kennedy, a retired Tuvalu-born Australia
n scientist, suggested the entire population of Tuvalu should move to the island, to preserve Tuvaluan culture as their homeland becomes uninhabitable due to rising sea levels. "A mass relocation would ensure the Tuvaluan language and culture is preserved instead of being scattered to the four corners of the earth," the Fiji Live
news service quoted him as saying. Tuvalu's nine islands stand an average height of just 3 meters above sea level.
He is negotiating with Tuvalu's Prime Minister Maatia Toafa
to move the population before Tuvalu becomes submerged, which he predicts will happen within the next 50 years.
Fiji's political parties were cautious in their response to Kennedy's proposal. United Peoples Party President Mick Beddoes
said that moving the 9000 Tuvaluans would put a great strain on Kioa's resources and economy. He said that Pacific Island nations should share the cost of such a move, with most of the finance coming from "the major polluting nations." National Alliance Party
President Ratu
Epeli Ganilau
(who hails from the neighbouring island of Taveuni
) said that the proper procedures would have to be followed, while National Federation Party
President Raman Pratap Singh
said that the proposal was a good one in principle, but that proper arrangements would have to be made, and compensation would have to be paid to the landowners.
Tuvalu's Prime Minister Toafa said on 21 February 2006 that relocation to Kioa was under consideration, but was not a priority. Buying land in Australia
or New Zealand
was also an option, he said. If they were to move to Kioa, they would need finance to develop the island, Fiji Live quoted him as saying.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, an outlier to Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu , formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located 64 kilometres to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of 5,587.1 km² and a population of some 130,000.- Geography :...
, one of Fiji's two main islands. Situated opposite Buca Bay
Buca Bay
Buca Bay is a little known area and not widely traveled by tourists on the Fijian island of Vanua Levu. It serves as a terminus for ferries that cross between Vanua Levu and Taveuni....
, Kioa is a freehold by settlers from Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
, who came between 1947 and 1983. Kioa is one of two islands in Fiji populated by South Sea Islanders, the other being Rabi
Rabi Island
Rabi is a volcanic island in northern Fiji. It is an outlier to Taveuni , in the Vanua Levu Group. It covers an area of 66.3 square kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 463 meters and has a shoreline of 46.2 kilometers...
, also in the Vanua Levu Group
Vanua Levu Group
The Vanua Levu Group is an archipelago in northern Fiji. It takes its name from its predominant island, Vanua Levu. Among the other island in the group, the most important is Taveuni. Other islands in the group include Laucala, Matagi, Namena Lala, Qamea, Rabi, Vorovoro and Yadua Taba...
and home to a displaced Banaban community.
Early in 2005, the Fijian government decided to grant full citizenship to the Kioa and Rabi Islanders. As a culmination of a decade-long quest for naturalization, a formal ceremony was held on 15 December 2005 to award 566 citizenship certificates to residents of the islands and their descendants (some of whom now live elsewhere in Fiji), which entitles them to provincial and national assistance for rural development. The ceremony was led by Cabinet Ministers
Cabinet (Fiji)
Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is formally appointed, but not chosen, by the President: the President must appoint as Prime...
Josefa Vosanibola
Josefa Vosanibola
Josefa Bole Vosanibola is a Fijian politician, who has served as Minister for Home Affairs since 16 December 2004, when he was appointed by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase to succeed Joketani Cokanasiga...
and Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu
Naiqama Lalabalavu
Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu is a Fijian Paramount Chief and politician. He was the Minister for Lands and Minister for Mineral Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, prior to his resignation on 7 April 2005...
, who is also the Tui Cakau
Tui Cakau
The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji. In Modern Fiji this chiefly title is regarded as the most senior in the Tovata Confederacy, and the third most senior in the country.-Recent history :...
, or Paramount Chief of Tovata
Tovata Confederacy
Tovata is one of three confederacies comprising the Fijian House of Chiefs, to which all of Fiji's chiefs belong.-Details of Tovata:It is located in the north east of the country, covering the provinces of Bua, Macuata and Cakaudrove on the northern island Vanua Levu, as well as the Lau Islands.The...
, which includes the two islands.
Lalabalavu called on the Kioa islanders to be proud of their identity and to nurture and protect their culture.
Although part of Cakaudrove
Cakaudrove
Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group...
Province
Local government of Fiji
Fiji is divided administratively into four divisions, which are further subdivided into fourteen provinces; the self-governing island of Rotuma and its dependencies lie outside any of the four divisions. Each division is headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the Fijian government...
, the island has a degree of autonomy with its own administrative body, the Kioa Island Council, although the Fijian Cabinet
Cabinet (Fiji)
Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is formally appointed, but not chosen, by the President: the President must appoint as Prime...
decided on 15 January 2006 to merge it with the Rabi Island Council.
Population transfer proposal
In February 2006, at a climate refugeeClimate refugee
Environmental migrant refers to the people who are purportedly forced to migrate from or flee their home region due to sudden or long-term changes to their local environment, which is held to include increased droughts, desertification, sea level rise, and disruption of seasonal weather patterns...
forum in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Don Kennedy, a retired Tuvalu-born Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n scientist, suggested the entire population of Tuvalu should move to the island, to preserve Tuvaluan culture as their homeland becomes uninhabitable due to rising sea levels. "A mass relocation would ensure the Tuvaluan language and culture is preserved instead of being scattered to the four corners of the earth," the Fiji Live
Fiji Live
Fijilive is an online newspaper and business and cultural directory in Fiji. The site is owned by the Future Group of Companies owned by Fiji entrepreneur Yashwant Gaunder....
news service quoted him as saying. Tuvalu's nine islands stand an average height of just 3 meters above sea level.
He is negotiating with Tuvalu's Prime Minister Maatia Toafa
Maatia Toafa
Maatia Toafa is a Tuvaluan politician, representing Nanumea who served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Tuvalu. He first served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2006, from the resignation of his predecessor, Saufatu Sopoanga, until the defeat of his Cabinet in the 2006 general election...
to move the population before Tuvalu becomes submerged, which he predicts will happen within the next 50 years.
Fiji's political parties were cautious in their response to Kennedy's proposal. United Peoples Party President Mick Beddoes
Mick Beddoes
Mick Malcolm Millis Beddoes, widely known as Mick Beddoes, is a Fijian politician and businessman from Nadi, who has led the United Peoples Party since 2000, and was the Leader of the Opposition at the time of the military coup of 5 December 2006...
said that moving the 9000 Tuvaluans would put a great strain on Kioa's resources and economy. He said that Pacific Island nations should share the cost of such a move, with most of the finance coming from "the major polluting nations." National Alliance Party
National Alliance Party of Fiji
The National Alliance Party of Fiji is a Fijian political party. It was formally registered on 18 January 2005 by Ratu Epeli Ganilau, as the claimed successor to the defunct Alliance Party, which ruled Fiji from 1967 to 1987 under the leadership of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Ganilau's...
President Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...
Epeli Ganilau
Epeli Ganilau
Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, is a Fijian soldier and statesman, who currently heads the National Alliance Party of Fiji. His career has previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga...
(who hails from the neighbouring island of Taveuni
Taveuni
Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, with a total land area of 435 square kilometers . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometers to the east of Vanua Levu, across the...
) said that the proper procedures would have to be followed, while National Federation Party
National Federation Party (Fiji)
The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party...
President Raman Pratap Singh
Raman Pratap Singh
Raman Pratap Singh is a Fijian lawyer and politician of Indian descent. His father, Ram Jati Singh, was a member of the Legislative Council, elected on the National Federation Party ticket. Raman contested the 1994 election on the NFP ticket, winning the Bua Indian seat in the House of...
said that the proposal was a good one in principle, but that proper arrangements would have to be made, and compensation would have to be paid to the landowners.
Tuvalu's Prime Minister Toafa said on 21 February 2006 that relocation to Kioa was under consideration, but was not a priority. Buying land in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
or New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
was also an option, he said. If they were to move to Kioa, they would need finance to develop the island, Fiji Live quoted him as saying.