Laisa Taga
Visitors don't have to look far to see them. Headquarters of regional organisations and regional offices of international organisations are everywhere in Suva.

They range from the sprawling University of the South Pacific (USP) campus to the small offices of NGOs like our neighbours at 46 Gordon Street, the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA).

Suva is the undisputed regional capital of the Pacific Islands. This is largely thanks to Fiji's location, its infrastructure, skilled workforce and Suva's cosmopolitan lifestyle which regional and international bureaucrats so prefer.

It has been a happy marriage of convenience. Fiji pushes to get regional resources because it knows they bring benefits to it. People working for international and regional organisations push for Fiji because that's where they would prefer to be too.

They'll never say it out loud. But there's no way these bureaucrats and their families want to be based somewhere like Tarawa or Tongatapu when they can enjoy the lifestyle of Fiji.

This connection of self interests has brought many advantages for Suva and its people and more than a few complaints from regional neighbours. They say Fiji and Fiji people are the real beneficiaries from all this.

Some, like the Samoans, openly question why so many regional resources are in Suva and fight to make sure they get their fair share. Others are less vocal but unhappy all the same.

Many Fiji people, who are more likely to travel to international meetings in Europe rather than somewhere like Honiara, don't even realise the depth of regional ill feeling over this.

Now as Commodore Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama's Fiji military regime consolidates its coup and its grip on power, these feelings are starting to surface around the region.

Questions are being asked whether Fiji can continue to be the home of regional organisations after four coups in 20 years and all the problems these have brought.

One of the first voices raised over this came from a Cook Islands newspaper. This might hardly seem significant until you look further.

The newspaper, the Cook Islands Herald, said regional leaders have to ask whether coup-hit Fiji should continue to host key regional organisations.

It questioned in an editorial whether the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and University of the South Pacific should continue to be headquartered in Suva.

The Herald also asked whether international funders and development partners should continue to pour money into strengthening regional resources in Fiji.

Reading between the lines there are two things which indicate this is more significant than just another newspaper editorial.

The first is that this newspaper has a record of having excellent sources within the Cook Islands Government. It is likely to know more than most newspapers about what various regional leaders are discussing on the Fiji situation. The editorial is likely to be based, partly at least, on some of what it is hearing on this.

The second thing is that the Cook Islands is home to Professor Ron Crocombe, who many regard as the region's absolute expert on questions just like this.

Crocombe has long questioned how Fiji "hijacked" regional resources for its own use. The USP campus in Suva is a classic case of this, he has said.

Aid which was supposed to benefit the whole region ended up mainly going into USP resources in Suva. Fiji and Fiji people gained far more from this than any of USP's other member countries, Crocombe said.

Because of his standing, it is likely Crocombe is already being consulted about the Fiji situation.

So people in Fiji would do well to heed what they are hearing from the direction of the Cook Islands.

However, there is also something else that is definite. Not even an expert like Crocombe will have a quick and easy answer.

Nobody, realistically, could imagine USP's main campus being suddenly moved from Fiji. Nor all the offices that have been built to house the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat being suddenly abandoned.

What is more likely to happen, LETTER FROM SUVA hears, is increased pressure for decentralisation. Aid donors are likely to be pressured to put their money into developing USP campuses and centres in other countries around the region.

Australia, New Zealand and other islands countries are also going to be more vocal pushing for regional organisations to set up their offices outside of Fiji. The Australians and New Zealanders will even offer Auckland, Sydney and Brisbane as alternatives.

In many cases, the changes won't happen overnight, unless there is an outbreak of violence in Fiji.

But in the years ahead, visitors will definitely have to look harder to find signs of headquarters of regional organisations and regional offices of international organisations in Suva. Fiji's fourth coup in 20 years has guaranteed it.