‘Sweeping’ the Runway

The soft spoken Vuniani Derenalagi is a man of few words, so few it took all of two hours to get as many words out of him.

The Nawaka villager prefers to let his deeds speak for itself.

At Fiji Airports, where he is employed as airside operations coordinator, his role is to cull animals that stray onto the airport’s vast premises a necessary evil for the safety of aircraft passengers.

White Shark, as some of his colleagues know him, shoots goats, cats, horses, cows, birds and dogs as part of his job.

“On one occasion, we had 12 goats; there was a goat farm nearby,” he said.

“We ate the big one.”

Whether he likes his job as a licensed firearms operator is beside the point. It is a position of privilege for him, being one of two operators at Fiji Airports Nadi operation.

“It’s better to kill one animal, than an animal killing humans on board an aircraft,” Mr Derenalagi said.

“That’s why I’m comfortable doing this job.”His role also requires him to “sweep” the runway, as even a screw or nail could get sucked in through jet propulsion.

His role also requires him to "sweep" the runway, as even a screw or nail could gets sucked in through jet propulsion.

On our drive around the entire Nadi International Airport, Mr Derenalagi would pull over to pick up whatever tiny fragment or debris caught his eye. It is all part of his job in the foreign object debris scheme of things.

Father to Drua captain Meli, Mr Derenalagi would pass as his son’s older brother for the uncanny resemblance.

When his celebrity son returns from international tournaments, Mr Derenalagi prefers to linger in the background.

Meli, a dynamic loose forward and workhorse has been described by rugby pundits as a well-rounded leader on and off the rugby field.

Mr Derenalagi continues to support his family through his job at Fiji Airports, and believes in the importance of parental values that children can aspire to.

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