Ministry of Fisheries and Forest Meet with Ministry of ITaukei Affairs to Explore Ways to Better Assist Resource Owners
Executives and management teams of the Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry and the Ministry of ITaukei Affairs met at the Forestry Training Centre in Colo-i-Suva yesterday to explore opportunities for collaboration to ensure maximum benefits for resource owners in the fisheries and forestry sectors.
Permanent Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry, Atelaite Rokosuka said the ministry saw it as a great opportunity to collaborate, network and strengthen weaker links that has been there in the past and to map ways forward in terms of enhancing service delivery and empowerment of resource owners.
“To the Ministry this was an opportunity to better understand the goals and strategic priorities of the Ministry of ITaukei Affairs and to work in partnership with them to identify areas of synergies and further collaboration through the sustainable use of natural resources. This has beem made possible through the MoU signed which is the first step to turning these plans into actions" Rokosuka said.
She added that while direct monetary benefit have been seen trickling down to the resource owners in the forestry sector, there’s still a lot more work that needs to be done in the fisheries sector. She is optimistic that with the I Taukei Affairs institutions on board, this would be realized.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary for ITaukei Affairs, Pita Tagicakirewa said this was the second time that the two organisations have met and yesterday’s meeting was an opportunity to revisit some of the issues that were discussed during the initial meeting.
“With the view to progressing them under some concrete steps and a partnership that has now been anchored on the Memorandum of Understanding that has been signed with the Ministry of Fisheries and Forest.
Tagicakirewa said there were a number of potential areas of collaboration in both the fisheries and forestry sectors that they were already looking at.
“One of the areas that we’re looking at is strengthening the empowerment for the resource owners in the form of financial literacy, investment literacy and others so that they have a better awareness and understanding of what is needed of them in order to advance, enhance and deepen their participation in the commercial forestry and commercial fisheries,” he said.
He added that the Ministry of ITaukei Affairs was ready to come in and partner with the Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry.
“We have our agencies, the Fijian Holdings and the ITaukei Trust Fund Board who have access to various financial mechanisms that can assist the land owners and resource owners moving forward,” Tagicakirewa said.
A Talanoa session between the two ministries was also held following the meeting.
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