Nauru offers to help Banabans build sustainable trust fund

Nauru President David Adeang has offered to help the Banaban community establish a trust fund similar to Nauru’s sustainable financial model.

President Adeang revealed this during yesterday’s 80th anniversary celebrations on Rabi Island.

"We invited your Council of Leaders to observe a meeting of the Nauru Trust Fund in Suva at the Grand Pacific Hotel, because we believe you too can build a strong sustainable model for your future,” President Adeang said at Nuku in Tabwewa Village.

A trust fund is a long-term investment account that provides financial security and generates income for future generations.

“We are ready to share our experience, we are ready to share what we have and we are prepared to help you develop a similar fund and yes, we are ready to contribute as family does,” he said.

President Adeang, who is part Banaban through his great-great grandmother who travelled by canoe from Banaba to Nauru generations ago, stressed the deep family ties between the two communities.

“So, we come not just as friends, we come as Banabans and as your family,” he said.

Both islands share a tragic history of phosphate mining that devastated their lands, with 90 per cent of Banaba’s surface removed by British, Australian and New Zealand mining operations.

The bond between Nauru and Banaba deepened during World War II when more than 700 Banabans were taken to Nauru in 1943.

“The Nauruan people, despite our own struggles, we opened our homes, we shared our food and we opened our hearts to the people of Banaba,” President Adeang said.

As a symbol of continuing bonds, President Adeang invited Rabi’s best dancing group to join Nauru’s independence celebrations in January as his guests.

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