Fiji's colonial records face 10-year digitisation backlog

Fiji's National Archives could take another 10 years to digitise about three million pages of colonial records, while its server has been out of service since 2017 and it still has no database to store the material.

The extent of the challenge was revealed during a review by Parliament's Standing Committee on Social Affairs, which heard that delays in upgrading the Archives' information technology system had continued for years.

Government Archivist Timoci Baleinaivalu said records from the Colonial Secretary's Office alone accounted for about 324,000 files.

“Currently, there is no database,” Mr Baleinaivalu said.

He said digitising the records would take “approximately 10 years with the current staffing levels”, although the work could be completed in about five years if undertaken as a dedicated project.

Server out of service since 2017

The Archives needs a functioning server before it can establish a database to store digitised records.

Its previous server has been out of service since 2017, also preventing the sale of archival film DVDs.

Permanent Secretary for Information Eseta Nadakuitavuki said the server upgrade had faced repeated delays while awaiting approval from the ICT Steering Committee.

“If we had not received approval to proceed with the purchase of our IT server upgrade this year, it would have been the third year that this budget has been delayed because of the ICT Steering Committee,” she said.

Ms Nadakuitavuki said the delays had increased the cost of the upgrade by 10 per cent.

About $260,000 had been allocated for the project.

Staffing concerns

Committee member Viam Pillay questioned why the Ministry had not requested additional staff to speed up the digitisation work.

“This is very important, what you have shown to us, and you should be adequately resourced,” he said.

Ms Nadakuitavuki said the creation of new positions remained on hold because of the suspension of the Job Evaluation Leadership Team.

Buildings not inspected for 20 years

The Ministry's written response also revealed that National Archives buildings had not undergone a structural inspection in two decades.

The committee was further told that Archives service fees had not been revised since 2005.

Under those rates, photocopying costs 30 cents a page, while scanning costs 90 cents a page.

The Archives collected $6,259 in revenue during the 2023–2024 financial year.

The committee recommended prioritising the server upgrade to enable the establishment of a database and ensuring the Ministry received adequate funding to carry out its work.