No separate fund for maritime security

Agencies such as the Republic of Fiji Navy, Fiji Police Force, Customs and Fisheries must fund new patrols, surveillance and cyber protection from their existing budgets under the country’s new Maritime Security Strategy.

The Strategy “does not establish a separate maritime security funding programme”.

Each ministry and agency must incorporate approved maritime security work into its regular planning and budget, the Strategy says.

However, the document also identifies “unpredictable budget resources” as a gap and calls for “appropriate and predictable budgetary resources” for maritime security.

Funding is expected to come from the national budget, donor partners, infrastructure programmes and the private sector.

The Maritime Senior Officials Committee may recommend joint budget requests or seek assistance from development partners. In the foreword, Minister for Defence and Veterans Affairs Pio Tikoduadua thanked the United Nations Development Programme and the United Kingdom Government for funding the Strategy’s development.

The Strategy acknowledges existing capability gaps, citing “a failure to maintain assets” and noting that vessels are often “not sufficiently ready or prepositioned” to respond in time.

It also warns of shortages of personnel skilled in engineering, data analysis, digital systems and maritime law.

Some of the gaps could affect daily life. Aviation fuel depends on “a single maritime supply line”, while more than 96 per cent of Fiji’s trade moves by sea.

Any disruption, the Strategy warns, “could have immediate consequences for communications, trade, logistics, finance, and emergency services”.

One proposed measure is a central register of all government vessels, managed by the Maritime Essential Services Centre, alongside centralised fuel allocation.

The Strategy does not specify the overall cost of the plan or how much each agency will need to contribute.