Archives digitise 60,000 pages of Girmit records

More than 60,000 pages of historic Indian immigration records have been digitised by the National Archives of Fiji, with plans underway to make them publicly accessible online.

Government Archivist and head of the National Archives of Fiji, Ratu Timoci Balenaivalu, said the year-long project focused on records relating to indentured labourers who arrived in Fiji during the Girmit era.

"The plan now is to make it accessible in many ways," Mr Balenaivalu said.

"We are working towards rebuilding our website so that people can easily access it."

While the digitisation process has been completed, public access will be introduced after additional related records are digitised to ensure the collection is comprehensive.

The Archives has already identified three additional record collections for digitisation, which could add more than 60,000 pages to the project.

Ratu Timoci said the initiative underscored the scale of work required to preserve Fiji's historical records, with the National Archives managing about six kilometres of archived material.

"We have identified vital records that need urgent attention because they are fragile and frequently requested by researchers," he said.

The National Archives has requested more than $200,000 in the upcoming national Budget to upgrade equipment and strengthen its digital infrastructure.

Ratu Timoci said a key server that has been inaccessible for more than five years is expected to become operational again within the next few months.

"Six kilometres of records will take more than 10 years, even 20 years, to digitise," he said.

The National Archives began its digitisation programme in 2011 and has gradually expanded its work while developing preservation standards and archival guidelines to ensure records remain accessible for future generations.

Fiji remains one of the few Pacific countries with dedicated paper conservation expertise within its archives sector.

"The archives are there for the people," Ratu Timoci said.

"We have to ensure that people are able to access records because these records belong to them."