At the mention of the name Viro, one thing that instantly comes to mind for those who are familiar with this place is Ono-i-Lau. (Ono is the farthest island in the Lau Group, much closer to Tonga than Viti Levu.)
Viro is a village on Ovalau Island in Lomaiviti. Before it was declared a village, Viro was an estate belonging to the Europeans who settled in the Old Capital in the early days and later became a settlement.
People who live in Viro are originally from Ono-i-Lau. How Viro became their home started way back in 1945, after the World War II when a group of hand-picked soldiers belonging to the Nukunicake clan (mataqali) from Lovoni Village returned from their mission and had a clear vision to start a development program to improve the livelihood of their people, especially their children.
This story was well documented by Filipe Raturaga Dinau Yalikanacea, who was the one who initiated the acquisition of Viro. This was relayed to The Fiji Times by his daughter, Susana, who recently returned from Viro to follow up on what her late father left behind.
According to documents she collected from old meeting minutes that were well kept in Viro, the seven soldiers decided that copra production was the ideal solution. They gave 20 pounds each from their war wages to buy cane knives, sacks, axes and copra knives as they embarked on their money making mission on Tuvana-i-Colo, an island off Ono Levu to cut copra in 1947.
“They sailed to Tuvana using four traditional canoes. There was a Chinese man there named Peni who was buying copra from the people,” Susana said. Copra was the main source of income in the Lau Group back then until today.
Their aim was to improve the housing scheme for their mataqali, pay for their children’s education and to buy their own boat to transport copra because they felt Peni was ripping them off.
They managed to collect 1000 pounds and this was brought to Suva by Mr Yalikanacea, Tevita Teu and Iliesa Tavutu to look for ways to utilise it.
“They visited Ratu Sukuna at the Government Buildings and gave him the money. They told him that they did not know how to use it and they wanted him to decide on how this money could be invested and used for their children’s education,” Susana relayed.
A Fiji Development Fund Board was later set up keeping a cut from all copra payment received from the islands in Lau. It is believed that the 1000 pounds from Ono was used to set up this fund, which still exists today. Mr Yalikanacea was a Buli Ono, a role which was later renamed matanitikina or island representative to the Provincial Council. Children from the Nukunicake clan benefited from this fund. They attended Ratu Kadavulevu School, Queen Victoria School, Adi Cakobau School, Ratu Sukuna Memorial School, DAV College and Levuka Public School and their fees were paid through the fund. Susana was one of the beneficiaries, attending ACS in the 1970s.
In the early 1950s, Mr Yalikanacea overheard a conversation between one of the island reps and Ratu Sukuna at a lunch meet. They were talking about the possibility of acquiring a piece of land from Koro to be much closer to the then capital, Levuka. This was when he approached Ratu Sukuna seeking his assistance in acquiring a piece of land because Ono was far away and its population was increasing.
“I remember a time when I was in Suva with my father, as we walked up towards the old Lilac building, he pointed at a shop and said that was the location of the restaurant where they had lunch on that day,” Susana said.
A piece of land in Wainadoi was identified and Mr Yalikanacea returned to Ono to relay the message to the people suggesting this land be acquired by the tikina. However, this was strongly opposed by the people so he decided that this opportunity was to be taken up by his mataqali. A telegram from Ratu Sukuna was later received by him stating that the land in Wainadoi was no longer available but a piece of land on Ovalau was being identified instead.
Negotiation was done in 1957, in 1958 Viro was surveyed and was purchased in 1959 for a price of 8600 pounds (equivalent to about $17,000). As documented, the late high chief of Lau Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara made a plea with Mr Yalikanacea to also consider the people of Vatoa (an island near Ono and is regarded as the fifth village for Ono) when acquiring the land. For that reason, the cost of the land was divided by the mataqali Nukunicake and two clans from Vatoa (Tuvana-i-Colo and Vatuwaqa). 5100 pounds was paid through the Nukunicake Syndicate Account and the balance of 3500 pounds was paid through the Vatoa Village store.
Nine hundred thirty-six acres of land was purchased and the cleaning up process began where men from Vatoa and Ono were brought in on a three months rotational basis to clear the land.
“Their clothes, transportation fare, food ration and other tools used for cleaning were paid for by the fund,” Susana said.
“As my father also told me, the clean-up went on for about six months. The place was mainly mangrove swamps. When the clean-up was completed, the first group of families were told to move. There was so much respect for one another before so no one refused when they were told to pack and leave with their family,” she added.
“The first lot moved in 1963 to build a new life in Viro. The last group of 17 families came in 1970.
One of the traditional canoes named Marama was brought in from Ono-i-Lau to help transport the people and their belonging from Buresala (Ovalau Port) to Viro. This was a cost-cutting exercise so that they did not use up more money on transportation.
There was so much planning and they had a brighter vision. Also in 1963, a property was bought in Levuka, located up at Delana to house the children of Viro who would be attending Delana Primary and High schools. This property still stands today
“As documented, they would bring their children there and stay with them for a week before returning to Viro. Until a decision was reached that only a family was to cook and look after the children for a week because the house could not cater for the growing number of children,” Susana said.
Today, Viro has its own primary school teaching hundreds of students. It is now been included too as one of the villages on Ovalau under Bureta.
A research at the Registrar of Titles revealed to Susana that the people of Ono-i-Lau became the fourteenth owner of Viro which was once known as Viro Estate. The first owner, Albert Lawrance Hansard bought the land in 1874 for only one shilling, which is equivalent to 12 cents.
As the late Mr Yalikanacea put it in his journal, “Viro became possible through their hard work and teamwork.
“We managed to pull through because we listened to one another, work together as one and strive for the best. This should be a lesson for the younger generation to come. Nothing is impossible if you set a goal and work towards it.”
Susana is proud of her father’s achievement and also all those who helped in the process of making Viro a home.
“Wow, our fathers did it 70 years ago when communications, transportation were not so easy, but they did it,” she said.
Today, Viro still sends a representative to the Ono-i-Lau meetings that often take place. They may live in Lomaiviti, but Ono-i-Lau lives in each of them. They will always be proud of their heritage as they continue to make Viro their home away from home.
