BANABANS LIVING ON RABI TODAY -Republic of Fiji-

Banaba villages on Rabi named after the original villages back on the homeland

All material in this Web Site is Copyright © K. Sigrah & S. M. King  2001  All Rights Reserved.

A VIEW OF RABI ISLAND AND LOCATION

The 15 December, 1995 marked the fiftieth Anniversary of the Banabans first arrival to their new homeland. Due to the Banaban Community’s lack of funds and development programmes, Rabi island still mostly remains undeveloped. The potential for Rabi is unlimited with good management and the proper development programmes put in place.

The current population on Rabi is approximately 5,000 but due to mismanagement and mishandling, Rabi is a far cry from those first days when the Banabans first received the original £UK6.5 million ($AUD10 million) settlement. One must remember that their Court Case alone, was the longest in history and that their legal advise did not come cheaply, with a legal bill of $2 million. They also employed people over the years that they thought would help them.  The other problem is that the money from the UK court case was not given to them at all but put in trust to provide them with an income on the annual interest payments to administer not only Rabi but also Banaba.

Up until 1980 the Banaban landowners still received royalty payments for their land holdings back on Banaba and this would see the influx of funds into the community over that period. The Banabans never realised the impact the cessation of mining would have on the entire community thinking that the the annual interest on $10 million dollars was a lot of money. They had no knowledge of inflation rates, the rising costs of just maintaining two communities in remote regions of the Pacific which are located more than 2,000 miles apart.

At the time the Fiji government believed that the Banabans on Rabi had plenty of money, especially in respect to some of the poverty seen in Fiji itself. But as one of the past Banaban Administrators said, "The people have no idea where their money comes from. They just think it’s an endless pit". The Banabans themselves said that they only wished they had known the value of money when Albert Ellis had first arrived. Unfortunately money had never been part of a Banaban’s culture and they have learned the hard way, how to handle their monetary affairs in such a cut throat business world.

WHO ADMINISTERS BANABAN AFFAIRS?

The island is administered by the Rabi Council of Leaders which is made up of two elected representatives from each of Rabi's four villages and a Chairman is elected and then another person elected from the same village to give a total representation from every village on Rabi.  The council has it's main administration office back in Banaba House in Pratt Street, Suva.  Rabi is still very remote and only has two manual phone lines into the island. There are only some limited electrification on the island and these generators operate only in very limited hours at night.

SOME OF THE PROGRAMMES OPERATING ON RABI

A Youth Programme in run by the local council where the young men of Rabi are given a piece of land to farm up on the hillsides of the island. The Youth is also supplied with the necessary tools to work the land. In return for his work, the youth is permitted to keep the money he earns for his crops. The crops currently being sown under this programme are kava, dalo and cassava. Kava (a Fiji plant root is used to make an intoxicating drink) and is exported from Fiji Worldwide, and brings around $20 Fiji per kilo. This scheme gives these young people the opportunity to earn an income.

ELECTED BANABAN POLITICIANS

In the latest Rabi Council Elections held on Rabi in January 2001 the following Banabans were elected:

In October 2001 the first Banaban, David Christopher was elected as the Member of the Northern Open Constituency in the Fiji Government Elections.