Mary Rauto
Fiji Times - Tuesday, November 09, 2010
AN island with only one village earns $66,000 in ship landing fees per year.
Dravuni Development Committee spokesman Radike Qereqeretabua said 10 to 12 P&O cruise vessels visited his island home per year.
"The landing fee is $5500," he said. "Cruise vessels have been coming to our little island for over two decades.
"We have a tiny pontoon but government has stepped in to finance a $.5million pontoon."This according to shipping agencies should encourage more ships to come to the island."
He said the $66,000 did not include sales from other islands
Dravuni is the perfect example of what an island can accomplish if everyone works together.
"Our people get a lot of money from the sales of T-shirts, sulu, beach massage and bu," he said.
"All these have come out of hard work by the people."
Speaking at the donation of 23-foot fibre glass boat to Dravuni Education Committee last week, European Union ambassador Wiepke Van der Goot commended the people of Dravuni for their hard work.
"I have heard of and read a lot about your development projects, your networking activities and your efforts to protect the biodiversity of your island home for the benefit of the future generation.
"There is an old English proverb that says 'a drop of knowledge is greater than an ocean of strength'. It seems to me that this proverb could have been written in Dravuni."
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