Your Excellency Chief executive Taneti Maamau and Madam Teiraeng Maamau,
Hon. Ministers, Members of Parliament, Secretaries,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Respected Parents,
Church Market leaders,
Distinguished Visitors,
Ladies and Men, Today I have been privileged to know more about Excellency’s vision plus sentiments on leadership in the Pacific. Thank you for our conversation. I have the opportunity to talk with you on issues of typical interest. Our shared beliefs and our future because fellow Pacific Islanders. I deeply appreciate the spirit associated with friendship and goodwill which has been manifested during this visit and the outcomes of our discussion nowadays. I look forward to meeting your Excellency in Fiji soon and reciprocating his amazing advantages and your hospitality. To the prosperity of Kiribati and Fiji. I would like in order to acknowledge the sacrifices the Kiribati people in the combat the existential threat of climate change. “Arise my frigate bird with valor and strength, Increase over the perilous tides from your east And fly brave and proud on the currents of wind, For you are and always will be our transformation” I laid the building blocks with my chief within March of last year and am told him that we’ll open it on the 2nd associated with January. As we came nearer to the 2nd, he said may we delay? I said to when? He said to the 3rd of January. I stated yes, okay. They desired one day to prepare for the ceremonies after the Sunday, which was the first. As we presented the particular tabua this afternoon, there were words of apologies in the display, we apologized for exactly how Fiji had acted in the time of the crisis in our association – in our family members. I said these days as we were driving about that no one who has not been to your great nation can go and talk smartly about climate change. They have to come here to see the ravages of climate change in your land, on your island as well as your people. Our shared struggle have been compounded by the outbreak that has tested our health techniques almost to the point of failure. The consequences have been tragic and severe and we must constantly do all we can to make sure our peoples have a protected future. As is the custom in Fiji, right after we have been away from our villages for an extended period of time, when we come back, we perform the particular ceremony of the boka. We commemorate historical ties plus connections with the land, the sea and each other and combine a sense of family, a sense of oneness, a sense of unity. Mauri, Vinaka. When you accepted it, you approved our apology. We thanks a lot and we look forward to seeing a person in Fiji in the near future. As you know your Excellency Fiji for the first time elected its Primary Minister on the floor of Parliament and I was elected by power of the majority of 1. It was on Christmas event and it was by secret ballot, the following day the world stood still to remember the particular birth of one child within Bethlehem. I believe it was the power of that one child within our prayers for so many yrs that gave us that majority of one on the floor associated with parliament. Work with those whatever the endeavor you might be involved in, you shall succeed. Under your leadership Your Excellency Kiribati is over the cusp of major modification like a frigate bird. The frigate bird is a wonderful creature in flight as well as its unique ability to adapt itself to the winds to soar effortlessly is a great illustration of your leadership and the resilience of your people. I also share exactly the same sentiments we shared nowadays with those at the Forum two days ago. My wish that we would be seeing your government endorse the come back of this great nation for your family in the Pacific. The Banaban community on Rabi has now become a very important section of the rich fabric of multi-cultural Fiji and our authorities encourages them to cultivate their unique identity and historical ties with the people, the government and the land of Fiji. Many of the unique inhabitants of Banaba by no means saw their homeland once again but I believe they are around in spirit tonight, I believe all smiling because we all continue with the rich tradition of the Pacific and us connections. They have become our kinsfolk; they have become my family. You therefore are our kinsman and also my family. This is our unique opportunity to make peacefulness and progress as a Forum family. But we must be diligent about it, we are unable to work in isolation, we must come together in unity. Finally, I request you to join me in a toasted bread to our wonderful hosts, His Excellency President Maamau plus Mrs. Maamau and to the wonderful people of the Kiribati. Try even as we might, we cannot ignore the common histories that allowed our founding fathers to build the cornerstone of a local family house. They were – those leaders were visionaries in their own right and when anything their voices carry over the waves the message that we need each other nowadays before and I remind us all that a “house divided shall not stand. ” On a personal level I’m deeply moved to be here, the particular ancestral home of our Banaban people on Rabi Island displaced and moved probably against their will to become on Rabi Island in Cakaudrove which is my house province. They have played a significant part in the affairs of Cakaudrove Province. Our paramount chief is now the Loudspeaker of our House of Associates in Fiji – our parliament. In October, my deputy in our committee went home and said when my chief asked him; “Who will open the hall? He or she said; “The Prime Minister. ” That was few months prior to the elections. When we went back a couple weeks later and he said this is where Siti’s car will be which is where Siti’s bodyguard is going to be. I’m Siti. That was before the election. The power of one occured. We were all praying intended for victory and we were just about all praying that Siti stomach and open the hall. Your Excellency I’m reminded of the poem that you shared in the United Nations in 2016 and heard about it again this evening – The Frigate Parrot. It paints a magnificent picture of Kiribati’s journey as a nation, your resilience, your own strength, your unity. A specific verse with the few outlines We pray for you; we pray for you and your people. We pray for the people of the Pacific and I thank you for being a humble leader and I thank you that in all the functions we have had you began with a prayer. Sadly this cannot happen in Fiji as we have constitutionalised secularism. That will change, all it takes is definitely determination and prayer. I went to school which includes distinguished sons of Rabi at Queen Victoria School. One of them was a nominated person in your Parliament here from Rabi and was also a part of the Parliament in Fiji; David Christopher. He and am were together at California king Victoria School in Fiji. My traditional bird is a stork – the belo. I’m wearing that tonight; it is the design of the t-shirt and frocks the women and men wore on the 3rd of the month when we congregated at home to open our new corridor. It was built using our own labour and our own funds. I needed to finish that before the finish of elections. I wanted to demonstrate the people, the provinces, the particular villages that we can do this with very little or no government assistance at all. Last week, I launched a book authored by a friend and right through their speech to those that were collected there, he said, “Right at the beginning I was determined plus right through the process I interceded. So at the end of his tackle he reminded everyone of these two words; determination and prayer. To the health of everyone present tonight! Retrospectively i was part of your grief, i was part of those ceremonies, these noble ceremonies of thanksgiving to the departed souls and certainly to God for having given us a dad, a mother, a sibling or a sister whom we now have enjoyed their lives in the world with us. We did that will so that we can emphasise the oneness, our unique culture and unity. You all know, it is in unity that will God commands his benefits. Your Excellency, I’d love to conclude my remarks with your own blessing, Te Mauri, Ght Raoi. Bula Vina’a and good evening, Our god Bless you. I end with the words of intelligence from Michael the Prophet, and remind all commanders who are here tonight, what does God require of you oh man but to do something justly, love mercy, plus walk humbly with your The almighty. Today, earlier in the day when we presented our own sevusevu and the kamunaga – tabua or whale’s teeth as our boka, it was our way of saying to you thank your or taking care of those that have left us. Thank you for observing the rights plus rituals and ceremony connected with deaths in our families plus our tribes. Because i was not there, we displayed our boka this afternoon. Your Excellency, let me begin by saying it is indeed an honour along with a great privilege for Sulueti and I to be here in Tarawa for the very first time representing people of Fiji. This State visit is my initial international engagement since assuming office on Christmas Eve and is significant on several levels.
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