Call to revive canoes, horse transport in villages amid fuel price hike

Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Sakiusa Tubuna has called on Fijian villages and communities to use horses and traditional canoes to cut their dependence on fuel as global oil prices continue to rise.

Speaking in Parliament last Friday, Mr Tubuna said crude oil prices had jumped from around US$62 (FJ$137) per barrel to about US$115 (FJ$253), putting severe pressure on Fiji as a small island nation heavily reliant on imported fuel.

He said communities needed to go back to basics, reviving traditional sailing canoes, using horses for transport, growing their own food and switching to solar energy and biogas from pig farming.

“Villages should be supported so that they can maximise the use of the transportation system to coordinate with other villages,” Mr Tubuna said, adding that outboard motors should be avoided where possible.

On food security, Mr Tubuna said a bundle of fish now cost $60 or more because of fuel costs and village farming needed to be intensified to reduce reliance on imported food.

He announced a Government-endorsed project for Vanua Levu targeting 70 villages across seven districts, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development at approximately US$5 million (FJ$11 million), to be launched in July.

Responding, Public Works Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau backed the suggestions and said the Government was also fast-tracking utility-scale solar projects and working to add 50 megawatts of renewable energy within 24 months.