At 70, Sirilo Vukica was prepared to spend the night away from home rather than miss the chance to have his voice heard.
The Koroivonu villager from Tunuloa in Cakaudrove rose at 4.30am yesterday to catch the 5.30am bus to Savusavu for the public consultation on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026.
Missing the last bus home was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
“I woke up at 4.30am to catch the 5.30am bus to travel to Savusavu so I could be here in time for the consultation,” he said.
“Now I will have to find a place to sleep in Savusavu because I missed the last bus at 5pm.”
For Mr Vukica, the opportunity to speak directly to ministers and Members of Parliament was too important to let distance stand in the way
“I came because I wanted my voice and the voices of the people of Cakaudrove to be heard as I am the chairman of the yasana.”
Speaking in iTaukei, Mr Vukica said people should use the consultation to raise their concerns directly rather than discussing them without action.
“This is an opportunity for our voices to be heard while the ministers and Members of Parliament are here to listen,” he said.
“Rather than talking about these issues around the grog bowl, and getting nothing out of it, we must come forward and make our submissions.”
He said he did not agree with the 2013 Constitution because, in his view, there had been no public consultation before it was introduced.
Mr Vukica said the $10 one-way bus fare was a sacrifice, particularly for communities whose main sources of income were yaqona and coconuts.
One of his submissions called for full ownership of natural mineral resources by the people on whose land or in whose surrounding waters they were found. He also raised the issue of customary fishing grounds, known as iqoliqoli.
The next consultation is scheduled for tomorrow at Kilaka Village in Wainunu, Bua, from 10am to 12pm.
