PRIME MINISTER VOREQE BAINIMARAMA'S SPEECH AT THE COMMISSIONING OF THE KAVALA ADMINISTRATION OFFICE

Na Vanua Vakaturaga O Nabala ; 
Turaga na Tui Nakasa, Vanua Vakaturaga o Naivibati;  
Turaga na Tui Yale, Vanua Vakaturaga o Koroivabea; 
Gone Marama na Tui Ono; 
Turaga na  iTalatala, Lesilesi ni Bose ko Kadavu; 
Government Officials; 
Ladies and Gentlemen. 
 
Ni sa Bula Vinaka.  
 
Less than 100 kilometers separate the people of Kavala from our capital city of Suva. However, for much of Fijian history, that stretch of sea felt as vast as the whole Pacific. While Suva grew and developed and while new services were welcomed by its residents, Kavala and much of Kadavu did not see that same pace of progress. For decades, the development of your communities was an after-thought and never a priority. But those days are over.  
 
I do not believe in a Fiji where services are an ocean away from the people who depend on them. I do not believe in a Fiji where Fijians in maritime communities have to pack their bags, board a ferry, and stay with friends and family or pay for a hotel on Viti Levu just to access Government services. In the case of Kadavu, I do not believe one Government station in Vunisea should serve all of Fiji’s fourth largest island.  
 
That is why we have invested over 1.2 Million Dollars to build this new Government station. 
 
Within this new station, a new family can register a birth, Fijians can notify Government of a loved one’s passing, or certify a new marriage. In the first week of every month, a Social Welfare Officer will be stationed here to distribute assistance to those who qualify. Residents can also access justice of the peace services for the witnessing of documents. And even of the service you are after isn’t offered here directly, this station will serve as Kavala’s contact point to the rest of the country; a central hub that taps into the full, nationwide network of Government services.  
 
We envision a Fiji where all communities can stand on their own feet, with strong economies that support livelihoods upon a bedrock of reliable services their residents can count on.  
 
That bold vision cannot come to pass overnight, but it is taking form. Within our means, we are uplifting rural and maritime communities to higher standards of living, bringing water, electric power, infrastructure and services which were unimaginable only a generation ago.   
 
When the world’s largest economies industrialized and became the mighty nations we know today, almost always, the trend was that people migrated from the rural areas to the urban centres in search of work, better housing, and higher living standards.  
But too often they found the opposite, as massive pressures of a surging urban population diminished the quality of life in those cities.  
 
So as Fiji has embarked on our own path of great national progress, we are avoiding that same trap.  Instead, we are writing a different story of development that is all our own. We are delivering services and infrastructure in the same communities that our people have known for all of recorded history. We are supporting local economies that can create and sustain livelihoods in Kavala, in Tavuki, in Namuana, in Narikoso, across Kadavu and in every corner of Fiji. And as the Fijian economy has made historic strides, so has Kadavu. This island’s population has actually increased. Its economy has strengthened. 
It has welcomed better development.  

Even as it has endured devastating cyclones, its communities are building back better, adapting to the new normal of stronger storms due to climate change.  
 
This year has been defined by the crushing economic challenge of COVID-19. Even so, we are marking victories – like this new Government station –  when and where we can.  
 
Through this challenge, through the economic comeback on our horizon, and through the years to come, our commitment to Kavala and Kadavu will never falter. Today, we’re not only here to celebrate this development, as always, our ears are open to the challenges you face and the dreams you cherish for yourselves and for your children. I look forward to our chance to talanoa.  
 
Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.  
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