Kia Island and land

From Peceli,
This sounds like a good idea because the income can be used for development as the people here are gone dau and they rely upon selling fish for their income. Most of the Kia people are already living away from the island, such as in Labasa and in Suva. We are closely related to the people as they are kin to Mali Island families. My hope would be to find a suitable development for them, whether it is eco-tourism like Vorovoro or something different. I hope this isn't just words, but that it does happen. The photo is of members of Tribewanted from Vorovoro Island when they visited Kia Island, not far away from Vorovoro. Villagers offer land for hotel project
Maneesha Karan
Friday, August 06, 2010

BOOSTING tourism is first on the State's agenda after a landowning unit in Vanua Levu offered its land for commercial purposes in response to the promulgation of the Land Use Decree 2010. The mataqali Burewaqa of Macuata has given government consent to administrate the subdivision and leasing of land on Kia Island.

Land and Mineral Resources permanent secretary Lt-Col Neumi Leweni, in a statement, said the offer could see a tourism market in an exclusive island for overseas retirees, something that has been on the agenda of some tourism investors in Fiji. "We've identified that it is a very good island for hotels and that's specifically what the owners have mentioned to our officers.

"It's quite a big island and would be a good prospect for tourism," he said.

Lt-Col Leweni said his team would document and finalise all the processes before the project gets off the ground.

Land Reform Unit director Laisa Raratabu said they had completed all the "necessaries", which includes the proposal to subdivide land on the island and to seek the endorsement of the Prime Minister's Office.

School for some, fishing for others

from w
The small island west of Mali Island, Kia, is home to many traditional fishermen, the gone dau. Here's a story of one lad from Kia who couldn't cope with being away from his island so dropped out of school to become a fisherman. The photo shoes him cleaning beche-de-mer. At the same time, it's a pity that kids like Peni drop out of school because literacy etc. is valuable whether you are a farmer, a fishermen as well as a white collar worker. Does the education system in Fiji prepare young people for a variety of jobs, or just raise their hopes to go to places like Suva to find work?
From Fiji Times this week:

Pita clings to the sea
Theresa Fox
Friday, July 30, 2010


WHILE away from Kia Island, Peni Vaiva feels like a fish out of water - strange and not in sync with life. He said that was probably the reason he suffered academic failure as a Form Three student at Nabala Junior Secondary School on Vanua Levu. He was always homesick, wondering about the next trip home - an island encircled by the contrasting beauty of stark black cliffs with patches of sandy white beaches in between.

Kia is a two-hour boat ride from Labasa, an island renowned for its fishing culture and the bounty from the sea.

"I missed the sea so bad that I was always thinking about it; going out and diving, swimming," he said. Nabala Secondary is situated inland which goes to explain the teenager's pangs of loneliness and loss at not seeing something familiar.

"I went back home for a break and never returned to school," he said. Instead, Peni, who is now 20 years old, joined the fishing ranks just like his five brothers who all make a living from the vast sea that surrounds Kia.

He was deftly cleaning beche-de-mer on the beach in front of Yaro Village on the island when Fiji Times caught up with him at three in the afternoon. He'd been out with a group of fishermen diving for fish and beche-de-mer since 8am.

"I've been out fishing with my father ever since I was just a little boy of five," he said. Navitalai Tuirabe taught him everything he needed to know - from gutting a fish, using the right bait, timing the throw of his spear, to surviving out at sea.

"I just didn't have it in me to live an academic life," he said.

"Schooling is for some, just not for me even though my parents could afford to send me to school. This is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I cannot understand Maths' as much as I do the behaviour of fish, where they can be found, the types and all that. I asked my parents not to force me to go to school because my heart was no longer in it. I'm just happy they understood."

On a great day, Peni makes as much as $100, his average income from a catch is about $60. Life is simple, he said, just fish, make some money and be part of the village life. "I like it that way; go onto the mainland now and then but there is no place that beats the island," he said.