Bill Ramasi and his wife Vitauna at their village on Vanua Levu that is sinking beneath the sea
Photo: The Detail/Sharon Brettkelly
People in the Fijian village of Kiobo use kayaks to get around when the water rushes in. They must move to escape rising sea levels, but it’s expensive and there’s no help coming.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa this year, climate change was high on the agenda, the big talking point for politicians and NGOs.
After spending a week there, hearing how Pacific Island nations were worst affected, The Detail’s Sharon Brettkelly went to Fiji to see what was being done to help people.
She wanted to visit the village of Vunidogoloa to find out what life was like there, 10 years after it was moved to a new site.
That visit couldn’t be arranged.
But as it turns out, Vunidogoloa was by far not the only village in this seemingly idyllic land to be swamped by rising tides.
Hearing of a different village facing the same issue, she convinced a taxi driver to take her for a two hour drive along dirt tracks, only to find she was heading to a third, different village.
There are dozens, possibly hundreds of them.
Today on the podcast she meets Vilisiano (Bill) Ramasi from the village of Kiobo, on Fiji’s northern island of Vanua Levu. The village of about 70 people, or 20 houses, is at the same level as the water, and every high tide in the rainy season the sea flows through it to knee height.
The houses are on blocks but the locals are running out of places where crops or vegetables can be grown. A sea wall needs to be built but there are no funds, no help to do it. Villagers are trying to plant mangroves to halt the inundation but it’s a pretty futile task. They’ve taken to getting around in kayaks when the sea water washes in.
There’s no point in trying to continue living here, as the generations before have done.
Ramasi has already moved 110 metres up the hill. His wife’s dreams feature waking up to find people have been snatched away at night by the water.
In Fiji, climate change is not just something that will happen far away, some time in the future.
They are losing this battle now, in increasing numbers.
The village of Nabavatu has already lost the fight to stay, and people there have been living in tents since 2021, waiting to be relocated.
It’s costing $5 million to move Nabavatu alone, so Ramasi and his people could be waiting a while.
They feel they’ve been left to sort it all out themselves.
Ramasi’s wife Vitauna says they used to be able to fish to get the money, but the area is being fished out, and the best they can do now is pray.
Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.
You can also stay up to date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
