Ironies Buried in Thurston Garden. Has it been made into a Political Football?

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Fiji has been offered a multi-million dollar site in Dehli for its new embassy. Fiji is considering  offering a Thurston Garden site, worth about one million, to the Indians for their embassy. 

There are several ironies buried under the proposed leasing of the car park at Suva's Thurston Garden to build an Indian Embassy —and they are not all bones.


The proposal is opposed by many of the original owners now living at Suvavou (new Suva) who say the Embassy  will be on the site of their old village and traditional burial ground. 

The first irony is that several buildings, including the Fiji Museum, and many other structures already occupy the site, and no one objected to their construction. Hundreds of visitors daily trample on the ancient graves, and more trample the car park.  

The second irony is that the villagers did not object to the building of the US Embassy on Princess Road some years ago. It was constructed without any consultation when the SDL was in Government. Yet now,  SODELPA, a like-minded party to the SDL,  and the villagers question the supposedly  limited consultation.

A third irony is that the petitioners have been "advised" by two SODELPA MPs, nationalist extremist Niko Nawaikula and Ro (a chiefly title) Filipe Tuisawau who have been making "regular visits" to Suvavou to "explain" matters. This makes it difficult to know how much is a genuine claim by villagers to protect their heritage, and how much a political manoeuvre by outsiders to belittle Government?

A fourth, and almost laughable, irony is that Ro Filipe Tuisawau is a direct descendant of the Rewa warriors who destroyed the village and cannibalised its inhabitants in  1843. Has he waited 176 years to apologize?

A fifth irony is that the action over Thurston Garden could be just the beginning. The villagers are now thinking of extending their claims to the "whole Suva Peninsula."

Finally, while a thousand people signed the petition to Government and the Suva City Council, two Suvavou mataqali support the lease. 

Fiji Village reports: 

The two are mataqali* Vatuwaqa and Tuirara. In a statement, the mataqali Vatuwaqa Trust Chairman, Watisoni Ratulevu says as customary owners of the subject area, they support government’s initiative to utilise the area accordingly provided the government relooks at the plight of the real Suva people, identify and assert their traditional boundaries according to their cultural and traditional rights to land and sea.

Fair enough.

-- ACW 
* Mataqali. Clan. Land-owning unit.