Meanwhile over in Lau

Climate change is real, the rising sea is real, and it is affecting some islands in Fiji.  This is from today's Fiji Times.  Help arrived in the form of food for the people of Ogea Island in the Lau Group because a cyclone came their way recently.

Changing landscape

Mere Naleba
Saturday, January 23, 2016

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Water on land ... a house in Ogea Village in the Lau Group. Picture: MERE NALEBA

While there have been many talks about climate change, villagers of Ogea Island in the Lau Group are experiencing the effects every day.

Ogea Village has a population of 129 people and many fish for daily sustenance from the comforts of their homes whenever the tide is high.

The island is also one of the eight islands visited by a government damage assessment team after Tropical Cyclone Ula.

Ogea villager Iliesa Vakarau said in most instances, it had become a norm for the elderly men and women in the village to sit by the windows of their houses along the seashore and fish.

Speaking in the iTaukei language, Mr Vakarau said it was hard trying to grow root crops on the island because the soil had been infiltrated by sea water.

Seventy-five per cent of cash crops on Ogea had been destroyed by strong winds and heavy rain from TC Ula.

Mr Vakarau said most villagers still did not understand the full effects of climate change.

He said whenever there was high tide, sea water reached the doorsteps of houses by the beachfront.

When the government team arrived on Ogea Island, villagers were happy to receive food supplies of rice, flour, sugar, tinned meat, tinned fish, oil and powdered milk.

Children were seen eating tinned meat straight out from the tin.

Eastern divisional planning officer Eliki Masa said the Commissioner Eastern's Office was aware of the situation on Ogea and was looking into the matter.