Fiji today stands at an inflection point, says Minister for Lands Filimoni Vosarogo.
He told those present at the 147th Girmit Remembrance Day in Nadi last week the world economy was fragmenting.
“Climate change threatens island nations with particular severity,” he said.
“Technological change is reshaping work, education and opportunity.
“In this context, carrying the Girmit flame forward means applying the same resilience, ingenuity and communal solidarity that defined your ancestors to the challenges of the 21st century.”
Mr Vosarogo said the Girmit Remembrance Day theme: “From Roots to Wings: Carrying the Girmit Flame Forward” invited Fijians to consider transition from rootedness to flight.
“In economic and social terms, this is the move from survival to flourishing, from preservation to innovation, from inheritance to creation,” he said.
“Consider what wings might mean in practice:
- Economic wings: Building on the entrepreneurial spirit of the girmitiya to create diversified, sustainable prosperity. Not just in agriculture, but in tourism that honours culture, in renewable energy that protects the environment, in digital services and creative industries that leverage Fiji’s multicultural story.
- Social wings: Ensuring that every young person, regardless of background, has the education and opportunity to soar. The girmitiya sacrificed so their children could read, write, and rise. That intergenerational contract must be renewed.
- Cultural wings: Allowing traditions to evolve without losing their essence.
- Environmental wings: The girmitiya worked the land. Today’s generation must steward it.
“Climate resilience is not abstract for Pacific islands, it is existential.
“The same collective discipline that built communities from indenture can now build resilience against rising seas and stronger cyclones.”
