PM Concerned About Nuclear Shipment

Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase today expressed his concern at the plutonium shipment currently in the Pacific waters on its way to Britain from Japan, while speaking during the opening of the 3rd Summit of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group of Leaders and Heads of State at Denarau Nadi.

“We will be asking you to join with us in expressing our outrage and opposition to those who are so willing to put the Pacific and our peoples at risk,” Mr. Qarase said.

“The relationship with the Ocean will make it easy for you to understand why we are so adamantly opposed to any actions, which expose it to threats of pollution, hazardous waste and the destructive effects of nuclear, and missile tests.”

Mr. Qarase said the people of the Pacific are separated by the ocean, yet the many islands are joined together by the same ocean.

“Although our countries are small and economically weak, we bring to you something unique - the great Ocean of which we are part.

“The Pacific covers a fifth of the planet's surface. It drew our forebears onward thousands of years ago, on mighty voyages of exploration and migration, which have had no parallel.

“They sailed in their canoes to where the sea met the sky and then kept going, for the horizons were endless. Did they come from Africa or Asia?

“We do not know, for no one has yet sifted legend from fact. But whoever their ancestors were, these seafarers brought with them fortitude, imagination, courage and many skills.”

The ocean became the common link, formed by the tides, the currents, marine life, the stars and the wind, Mr. Qarase said.

“There was travel and trade between the islands. We became part of the Ocean. It was part of us.

“This Pacific defined us, shaped our cultures, created our myths and traditions, gave us bodily sustenance, made us what we are. It is the same today.”

He added that it is quite conceivable that environmental refugees from Oceania will in future be seeking sanctuary elsewhere.