| WE SAY: Water source of life, force of destruction |
‘It is imperative that a regional organisation not less in stature and importance than the Pacific Islands Forum take up the issue of data collection, collation and analyses of matters that affect Pacific Islanders most vitally, particularly like weather and the environment, is taken up seriously. For as can be seen from the Fiji incident as well as others around the Pacific, planning without adequate data is impossible’
One of the more frustrating occurrences for anyone who is researching data and information anywhere is coming across those two letters “N.A.” which simply means “not available”.
For a researcher or for that matter anyone who wants to make an informed decision based on the data they are looking for, it is like coming up suddenly against a blank wall in the labyrinth of their enquiry.
And this is an all too common occurrence when it comes to research or statistical data and information in the Pacific Islands. Look up any comparative charts against almost any data for the Pacific Islands and it would be easy to lose count in the number of places that the letters that are the bugbear of researchers and decision-makers—“N.A.”—pop up.
This is true not just about the more uncommon subjects that may seem to be of lower importance in the Pacific Islands context but even in the case of vital subjects and topics that closely concern the lives, health, well-being and environments of Pacific Islanders—that, too, despite there being government ministries and departments to look after these concerns.
Data collection and analyses has been on the lowest priority of islands governments as in the case of developing countries in other parts of the world. The lack of know-how, low awareness, poor means for collection and the lack of trained personnel to collate, analyse and present data would be the obvious reasons for this lacuna.
As far as development indices go, it could be argued with some merit that data collection, the importance of collating collected data and their analyses have gained far greater awareness in the islands than ever before since the announcement of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) a few years ago.
Subsequent country reports on development parameters and comparative charts show progressively greater incidence of actual numerals and a lessening preponderance of the once ubiquitous “N.A.”
But even in these reports, it is not uncommon to find glaring “N.A.s” in some very vital indices related to health, well-being, early childhood education and such other important human parameters in some of the countries, pointing to the gaps that continue to remain in data collection systems of those countries.
The intervention from the United Nations’ MDGs as well as from other aid organisations, financial institutions and research outfits of overseas governments has helped close the gaps in data black holes over the years.
Yet, huge gaps still exist in the knowledge bases of such areas vital to the survival of fragile environments like the Pacific Islands such as weather patterns, forecasting and climate change remain quite glaring. This severely constrains any activities such as disaster scenario simulation and planning for infrastructure and processes to reduce the toll on life and property in the event of natural disasters and in the longer term, climate change.
One classic instance of such a disaster that caught both the government agencies and the people completely off guard because of the lack of critical data and analyses is the unprecedented flooding that happened in Fiji that inundated large tracts of land for days on end.
The incessant rains over three days in January this year put the international airport at Nadi out of commission for a full two days because of the volume of water on the tarmac and apron of the airport while the town’s bus station was close to four metres under water, water logging much of the area’s means of public transport.
Further west, the town of Ba resembled Venice with waterways instead of streets causing millions of dollars worth of damage to businesses and homes. The incident showed that whatever disaster management plans the Fiji government and the towns of Nadi and Ba had in place, if at all they did have an updated one in the first place, they were effectively a washout because of the scale of the volume of water which was described as the worst in a century by the country’s top weatherman.
But what came to light was the stark lack of hydrological data in Fiji on the basis of which any effective disaster management plans could be made. Which is indeed shocking because most of the country’s people as in the rest of the Pacific Islands live on the coast close to the water and is known to be prone to the ravages of deadly cyclones.
Referring to the Fiji floods at a recent conference, Llyod Smith of the Pacific Hydrological Cycle Observing System (HYCOS) project, said: “Water is a source of life but it can also be a force of destruction, the difference between the two is good water monitoring, assessment and management. But you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
He added that many Pacific islands countries didn’t have sufficient hydrological data to help them plan for droughts and floods, prevent water contamination and water-borne diseases or better develop infrastructure, industry and urban growth.
This lack of data and information—not only in hydrology but also in other vital areas like climate change, sea level rise, ecological impacts on development particularly of industries like undersea mining and long line fishing—has a huge impact on future generations of the Pacific Islands.
It is imperative that a regional organisation not less in stature and importance than the Pacific Islands Forum take up the issue of data collection, collation and analyses of matters that affect Pacific Islanders most vitally, particularly like weather and environment, seriously. As can be seen from the Fiji incident as well as others around the Pacific, planning without adequate data is impossible.
This needs to de done under an organisational and funding framework, harnessing the best possible statistical and computing expertise the world has to offer under a range of aid programmes that would not be difficult to tap for an organisation like the Forum Secretariat.
At the same time, efforts must be made to build capacity in data collection at the grassroot level and also increasing public awareness of the importance of this activity. Failing which, the islands will perpetually remain open to the vagaries of natural disasters where both the economic and human toll will only grow to be larger because of both economic growth and an increase in the population.
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