TUI Lau Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara says the rescue of the six health workers and boat handler by authorities should not be labelled as a miracle and an issue to move on from.
In a statement, Ratu Tevita called on Government to bring back dedicated health boats that used to service maritime islands decades ago.
“The vanua o Lau gives thanks to God for the safe return of the six health workers and the boat handler of the MD Ono-i-Lau,” he said.
“And we thank the whole of Fiji, every community, who prayed for our people through those two nights, but we must not call this a miracle and move on.
“Those seven people were in the open sea for some thirty-six hours, holding onto the floorboards of their own boat, because a fibreglass hull with a 75-horsepower engine is what this country now provides for a medical outreach team crossing open ocean in our Lau waters.
“One man had to swim alone for hours towards Aiwa to find a mobile signal.”
He said that was not a rescue plan but a gamble with the lives of the people who keep our islands alive.
“It was not always so. In the 1970s and 1980s the government maintained designated health vessels for the maritime islands – the Nasi Yalo Dina, the Vuniwai ni Lau and others – proper boats, crewed and on a schedule, built for these waters and dedicated to the medical service.
“A nurse could reach her patients without risking her life to do it. Those vessels were withdrawn, and nothing of equal standing has replaced them.”
He said this was not the first time he had raised the issue with Government.
“On 26 June this year I wrote to the Prime Minister, to Ministers, to the Commissioner of Police and to the Commander of the RFMF, forwarding the Vanua Coast Watch concept and asking that it be resourced, beginning with a pilot in Lau.
“What we asked for was not a punt with an outboard on the back. It was proper observation craft, the first of them stationed at Lakeba, carrying marine VHF, satellite connectivity, tracking, drones and safety gear, and trained crews to work them.
“We proposed it against the drugs coming ashore, but a boat with a radio does not ask what the emergency is.”
Ratu Tevita called for Government to return the designated medical vessels, widen the subsidy for the Government Shipping Franchise Scheme and resource the Vanua Coast Watch and let the Lau pilot begin.
“Radios, trackers, drones, training and a few sound boats are what our communities are asking for. Set against the cost of one search across the Lau seascape, it is very little money.
“To those in Government, and to those who hope to be – do not carry this incident into the election campaign.
“Fix it.
“Maritime Fiji has been knocking on closed doors over these boats for years, under more than one administration. I am asking that the door now be opened.
“Had a proper boat been under them, those seven would have come home on schedule. That is the standard we should be working to.”
