Despair in Fiji

Fiji Times: Every time it floods in the Sigatoka Valley there is a price to pay for farmers and dwellers there. Almost an acre of their farms is swept away and gravel and sand is left behind to thwart any attempts to rescue their livelihood for a good six months.

The floods may have left three weeks ago but for the farmers in Nabitu and Vunaqoru in the upper reaches of the Kavanagasau Road, they have to bite the bullet and wait for the cyclone season to end before the recovery process begins. In Nabitu Jaswant Singh, Ram Raj and Jitend Prasad said they had lost almost 30 acres of land to the floods three weeks ago. "What the floods left behind was fine sand and gravel," Raj said.

…At the same time it would be right to acknowledge the efforts of Non Government Organisations and all organisations, including Government to assist those affected. They just need to be bolder to get to the hard to reach places.

Thanks should also go to the President of the United States Barack Obama for signing a new environmental measure aimed at combating greenhouse gas emissions and ending US dependency on foreign energy.…This will be a major turnaround to the Bush Administration's eight years of not acting on calls to reduce emissions and failing to act on the California request. Today for the farmers in the valley it may be late, but better late than not at all.