PM Opens $100million State-Of-The-Art Blackrock Camp

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama officially yesterday opened the almost $100wmillion state-of-the-art military establishment.

This was the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Blackrock Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Camp in Votualevu, Nadi.

In his opening remarks, Mr Bainimarama said the world-class hub for Fiji would ensure that military troops were equipped and trained to respond to the multi-faceted threats produced by the most alarming war being the climate war.

Mr Bainimarama said not only would the Blackrock Camp honour its 42-year peacekeeping legacy, but also hone the future mission for the RFMF.

The Blackrock re-development project was fully funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Department of Defence.

The re-development of the Blackrock Camp has been a significant component of Defence’s enhanced engagement in the Pacific region and would provide Fiji with world-class infrastructure that enhanced the delivery of security training to its Forces.

Mr Bainimarama said through the training at the world-class facility, the brave men and women would be ready to address the rapidly evolving threats to security.

“Where peacekeeping operations are required, we will go,” Mr Bainimarama said.

“And we will go prepared than ever before to contend with the complexity of cyber warfare, the ferocity of traditional conflict and the worsening wrath of nature.

“We will ensure that our forces are professionally equipped to identify and address the extreme vulnerabilities that women and children face across all these theatres of conflict.

“And we will see empowered women as soldiers and as leaders in this service to humanity. This is our commitment to our men and women in uniform. This is our commitment to the United Nations.”

He also re-affirmed Fiji’s opposition from Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“The Pacific was united in condemning the invasion at the floor of the UN General Assembly. We remain absolute in our call to end the conflict and a return to diplomacy,” he said.

Deployment

Mr Bainimarama added that the military troops would be part of every disaster-related deployment in the region.

“Whether they are super-storms in Vanuatu, bushfires or floods in Australia, volcanic eruptions in Tonga, or social upheavals in Solomon Islands and Bougainville, you are who the Pacific calls upon.”

The Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator Zed Seselja said the Blackrock Camp new training and accommodation facilities would assist Fiji develop its peacekeeping capability for the future and share the peacekeeping expertise with the region.

“The facilities here at Blackrock will make an immense contribution to regional humanitarian and disaster response efforts and this facility is a symbol of our shared values and interests,” Senator Seselja said.

He said the partnership between Australia and Fiji clearly defined the meaning of family.

“This is what Australians mean when we refer to Pacific nations as a family, through thick and thin, family sticks together,” he added.

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