years and some of these seawalls were built generations ago, which can only mean that the island has suffered coastal erosion for generations or the islanders picked up on land reclamation long ago.

Brackish wells are also a common occurrence during long periods of drought on the island. The people however have freshwater sites further inland. As a broad island, there is always an abundance of potable water further away from the eroding coastline.

Table 5: Nikunau Climate Change & Profile GPS Coordinates

No. Village Description Position 1 Tabomatang Taburitongoun's Shrine S1 24.122 E176 29.606 Urin Nei Tekakauba shrine, 2 Tabomatang Taburitongoun’s wife S1 24.093 E176 29.577 Urin Nei Tengare’s shrine, 3 Tabomatang Taburitongoun’s wife S1 24.212 E176 29.470 4 Tabomatang Giant Burial Ground S1 24.143 E176 29.383 Te Kai ni Kamaen (Boouri’s teapot) 5 Tabomatang shrine S1 23.943 E176 29.552 6 Tabomatang Tabomatang Burial Ground S1 24.091 E176 29.230 7 Tabomatang Kaitu ma Uakeia shrine & pond S1 24.024 E176 29.151 8 Tabomatang Migration Beach S1 24.258 E176 29.518 9 Tabomatang Accretion S1 24.075 E176 29.119 10 Tabomatang Eroded area S1 23.983 E176 29.079 11 Tabomatang Fresh Water S1 23.939 E176 29.072 12 Tabomatang Eroded area KPC Tabomatang S1 23.850 E176 28.879 Fresh water where the solar pump 13 Tabomatang was S1 23.773 E176 28.935 14 Tabomatang Eroded area S1 23.765 E176 28.757 15 Nikumanu Last Village Mwaneaba S1 23.331 E176 28.524 16 Nikumanu Eroded area S1 23.334 E176 28.487 17 Nikumanu Eroded area KPC Nikumanu S1 23.253 E176 28.475 18 Nikumanu RC Nikumanu S1 23.056 E176 28.442 19 Nikumanu Migration Beach S1 22.859 E176 28.424 20 Mwanriki Eroded areaRC Mwanriki S1 21.200 E176 26.896 21 Mwanriki Eroded area from South S1 21.453 E176 27.133 Fresh water where the solar pump 22 Mwanriki was S1 21.316 E176 27.176 23 Mwanriki Eroded area KPC Mwanriki S1 21.365 E176 27.056 24 Mwanriki Erosion at Mwanriki S1 21.125 E176 26.809 25 Rungata Eroded area S1 20.963 E176 26.560 26 Rungata Migration Beach KPC Rungata S1 20.545 E176 26.100 27 Rungata Eroded area RC Rungata S1 20.401 E176 25.949 28 Rungata Eroded area S1 20.261 E176 25.804 29 Tabutoa Eroded area S1 20.160 E176 25.678 30 Tabutoa Eroded area S1 20.074 E176 25.615 31 Tabutoa Migration Beach S1 19.758 E176 25.241

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32 Tabutoa Fresh Water S1 19.592 E176 25.265 33 Tabutoa Eroded area/KPC Tabutoa S1 19.977 E176 25.492 34 Muribenua Migration Beach/RC Muribenua S1 19.618 E176 25.105 35 Muribenua Migration Beach/KPC Muribenua S1 19.505 E176 24.998 36 Muribenua Eroded area S1 19.335 E176 24.770 37 Muribenua Eroded area S1 18.781 E176 24.257 38 Rungata Council area S1 20.828 E176 26.388 39 Rungata Muribenua Burial Ground S1 19.025 E176 24.430 S1 18 45.89 E 176 25 40 Muribenua Erosion at end of runway 08.15

Note: The following maps may not be north oriented for better display of the climate changed impacted areas.

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B SOCIAL SERVICES/INFRASTRUCTURE

3.5 Education

The data used in this section are derived from the Educational Statistical Yearbook for the years 2004 to 2006, census data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) and SPC 2005 PopGis statistics derived from the NSO data. The National Statistics collects such data during census times while the education data are compiled by head-teachers and, submitted to the Statistical Unit of the Ministry of Education who update their database every year from the received data from the outer island schools.

There are 4 types of schools (not counting tertiary schools) within the formal education system in , namely primary, junior secondary, combined junior/senior secondary, and senior secondary and these types of schools are present on Nikunau including preschools. The first 2 types of school, primary and junior secondary are independently located on every island for accessibility by all children of school age. However, even though pre- schools are not yet included in the Government school system as yet, the Nikunau Island Council has seen the importance of pre-schools and has established three of them (each shared by two villages) throughout the island. The national/universal junior secondary schooling program started in1998 initially with four schools established on different islands and by 2002, all islands in Kiribati had one JSS established whence free absorbing of primary school pupils straight into junior secondary school. Class 1 to Form 4 are free education services by the Government of Kiribati to the nation.

Pre-school attendance generally starts at the age of 3 when the children are still learning to talk and continue until the child is 5 years old. At age 6, formal education officially commences at Class 1 in the primary school for the children until they reach Class 6 at the age of 11. At the age of 12, the children then automatically enter Junior Secondary School after completing Class 6 in Primary schools. They remain in JSS for 3 years (Form 1-3) before competing for a place in Form 4 in one of the various Senior Secondary Schools located mostly in South and the outer islands of the Gilbert group including in the Line group. There are several church schools belonging to the Roman Catholics, Kiribati Protestants, Mormons and the SDA respectively that are located mostly in , Kiritimati Island and others on the outer islands of Kiribati. The Government, after KGV/EBS located in South Tarawa also has another high school, Teabike High School in North.

To teach in primary school, one has to have at least reached Form 5 (minimum qualification) to be eligible to enter the Teacher’s college whereas to teach at junior or senior secondary schools, one has to have at least reached Form 7 in senior high school. Having undergone the required trainings and having attained the minimum academic qualifications required by the national authorities to be qualified to give classes at schools (Education Digest 2006), teachers can then enter the education system as qualified teachers. Teacher trainings are given out at the Kiribati Teachers College in South Tarawa that requires a minimum two year intensive training to be qualified or certified to teach classes in schools. Prevalent on the outer islands in the education system is the recruitment of so called ‘monitors’ (those who have not undergone or attained qualification to become teachers) to assist in teaching the children especially when teachers are lacking due to transfer and traveling problems.

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Table 6 Senior secondary schools in Kiribati Name of School School Type Location 1 Chevalier School Senior Secondary (SS) 2 Church of God High School SS South Tarawa 3 George Eastman High School SS 4 Hiram Bingham High School SS 5 Immaculate Heart College SS 6 Kauma High School Combined Junior & Senior (CS) Abemama 7 King George V & Elaine Bernacchi SS South Tarawa 8 Meleangi Tabai High School SS 9 Moroni High School CS South Tarawa 10 Sacred Heart High School SS South Tarawa 11 St Joseph's College SS 12 St. Francis High School SS Kiritimati 13 St.Louis High School SS South Tarawa 14 Stephen Whitmee High School SS Abaiang 25 Teabike College SS 16 William Goward Memorial School SS South Tarawa

3.5.1 Number of school age children, proportion enrolled in schools

In 2005, a total of 367 children enrolled in the three primary schools on Nikunau – Muritoa, Mwanrunga and Nikumatang Primary Schools. This number comprised 185 (45%) boys and 182 (55%) girls. JSS students totaled 171 comprising 87 (50%) boys and 84 (50%) girls. 54 (15%) children from the 367 enrolments for the year 2005 were enrolled in Muritoa Primary School, 239 (65%) at Mwanrunga Primary School and the rest 74 (20%) were enrolled at Nikumatang Primary School.

The chart below depicts the number of student enrolment in the three primary schools and Nikunau JSS for the years 2005 and 2006.

Fig 8: Proportional enrolment in primary and JSS Evidently, the proportional enrolment of JSS primary school students as against the 142 Primary 2006 enrolment of Tekabangaki JSS students 371 was quite high. In 2005, out of the primary and JSS aged children, 343 (67%) enrolled in the three primary

Survey year Survey 169 2005 schools on the island while 169 (33%) 343 enrolled in Tekabangaki JSS. In 2006, primary school enrolment increased by 28 0 100 200 300 400 (5%) while Tekabangaki JSS enrolment No. of Students also decreased by 5% (27). Source: Education Digest 2006

68 children enrolled and attended Muritoa Primary School in 2005. 24 (35%) of these were females and 44 (65%) males. The figures changed slightly in 2006 in which the number of pupils decreased from 68 to 54 with 23 (43%) girls and 31 (57%) boys. Mwanrunga Primary School had the most pupils numbering 209 out of the total 343 primary pupils in the year 2005. Of the 209, 100 (48%) were girls while the rest 109 (52%) were boys. The number of children that enrolled in the following year 2006 increased for Mwanrunga Primary School to 119 (49%) girls and 122 (51%) boys. Nikumatang Primary - 35 -

School had the least number of pupils in 2005 at 66 students from which there were 34 (52%) girls and 32 (48%) boys. The pupils at Nikumatang Primary increased by 10 in the year 2006 in which there were now 40 (53%) girls and 36 (47%) boys.

Tekabangaki JSS students on the other hand, initially had 169 students in 2005 that later decreased in 2006 to 142. Education statistics showed that of the 169 students in 2005, 39 were enrolled in Form 1, 61 in Form 2 and the rest 69 in Form 3. Form 1 comprised 21 females and 18 males, Form 2 had 31 females and 30 males while Form 3 comprised 37 females and 32 males. The year 2006 showed in an increase in the number of Form 1s and a decrease in both the number of Form 2s and 3s. Form 1 comprised 20 females and 26 males, Form had 21 females and 19 males while Form 3 had 30 females and 26 males. The overall enrolment for the years 2005 and 2006 respectively were 53% females and 47% males , and 50% females and 50% males.

3.5.2. Breakdown of school enrolment at different levels

There are four schools in Nikunau namely:

1. Tekabangaki JSS (pictured above) 2. Muritoa Primary School (accommodates pupils from Muribenua and Tabutoa) 3. Mwanrunga Primary School (Mwanriiki and Rungata children – school pictured below) 4. Nikumatang Primary School (Nikumanu and Tabomatang children)

Table 7: Nikunau School enrolment 2006

2006 Females Males Total Muritoa Primary School 23 31 54 Mwanrunga Primary School 119 122 241 Nikumatang Primary School 40 36 76 Tekabangaki JSS 71 71 142 Total number of School Children 513 Source: Education Digest 2006

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3.5.3 Teacher/Pupil ratio

The national teacher pupil ratio was 26 pupils to one qualified/certified teacher in 2006 however, the teacher: pupil ratio on Nikunau for the three primary schools varied between 18:1 for Muritoa, 30:1 for Mwanrunga, 25:1 for Nikumatang Primary School and 13:1 for Tekabangaki JSS. Combined, the average pupil teacher ratio for the schools on Nikunau was 21:1 as further depicted in the following table: Table 8: Teacher/Pupil ratio 2006 Total Total No. Pupil No. Teachers Teacher Pupils Ratio Muritoa Primary School 54 3 18:1 Mwanrunga Primary School 241 8 30:1 Nikumatang Primary School 76 3 25:1 Tekabangaki JSS 142 11 13:1 513 25 21:1

3.5.4 Percentage of pupils completing Primary and JSS

Unfortunately, completion of Primary and JSS school data are not available to clarify the completion percentage of the above stated school students.

However, the PoPGis data recorded the level of education for 806 people aged over 25 in 2005. Of the 806, 134 (17%) had no schooling, 488 (61%) had primary education, 84 (10%) had junior secondary education, 68 (8%) had senior secondary education while 32 (4%) had graduated.

Out of the 488 islanders that attended primary school, 482 (99%) completed their primary education. 54% of the number that completed primary were males while 46% females managed to complete primary. Combined, from the 152 secondary school students, only 69 (45%) completed their secondary education. 57% of the 69 that completed secondary education were males while 43% were females. However, these figures cannot be taken as approximate figures to calculate the literacy rate of the people on the island as the data does not fully encompass the whole Nikunau population of 1912.

Generally, among reasons such as being disabled, poor beyond reason or plain parental ignorance of the importance of education, there is no other apparent reason for children not being able to attend any form of education at all. The Gilbert group trend in the last years of families and parents inviting and sending children to South Tarawa to access schools there that are believed to offer quality training than on the outer islands has slowly been solved through the upgrading of present teacher training and existing teacher qualifications. The establishment of Junior Secondary Schools on the outer islands has also helped considerably in stemming the flow of junior secondary students from the other islands. Another reason for children having left school includes having parents as Government employees being transferred to another location on another island within the country or migrating to the other island in Kiribati or New Zealand under the Pacific Access Category.

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3. 5.5 Number of schools, type and state of facilities

Nikunau has two types of school not counting the pre-school and these are primary schools and a junior secondary school. The three primary schools are strategically located at the most convenient locations for villages to each share a primary school. Muritoa Primary School accommodates primary school children for the villages of Muribenua and Tabutoa, Mwanrunga Primary School accommodates those from the villages of Mwanriiki and Rungataa while Nikumatang Primary School accommodate those from the villages of Nikumanu and Tabomatang.

Generally throughout the country, the JSS schools, which were all established in the late 1990s are in better/good conditions and adequately furnished while primary schools are generally lacking in status and furniture. Most classrooms are however, equipped with blackboards, the main teaching instrument for schools on the outer islands.

As a legal requirement for all schools, they are to be provided with safe and appropriate toilet facilities. The following toilet / person ratios were deemed appropriate for Kiribati conditions including Nikunau: • 1:40 for girls; • 1:60 for boys; and • 1:25 for teachers in urban schools only (it is assumed that teachers in all other schools will have access to toilets at their quarters).

Teacher living quarters at the different schools are all located around the school compounds and are maintained by the Council and funded by the Government. Updates or information requiring maintenance work to be carried out is collected annually by officers from the Ministry of Works and Energy who have to include the maintenance costs in the following year’s budget. Funds for local houses maintenance are sent to the Island Council whereas materials are bought and sent to the island council who then supervises maintenance of the buildings with the islanders.

3.5.6 Performance of Pupils in national tests/exams

In the formal education sector, children at pre-school and primary school levels transit to primary and JSS respectively without having to sit entrance examinations. This policy supports the concept of compulsory and accessible education for every child, especially at the early stages of formal education.

With the introduction of preschools, children on Nikunau are now starting their formal education at the age of three before they attend primary school at the age of 6. Primary school lasts for 6 years at which time, the children enter JSS straight away. At the end of JSS at Form 3 level, students must compete with each other nationally for the limited places available in Form 4 in any of the few Senior Secondary Schools in the country (See Table XX above). The students of Tekabangaki JSS therefore have to compete with all Form three students all over Kiribati to secure entrance to Form 4 in the senior high schools. With Rongorongo in their neighborhood, most children from Nikunau choose HBHS as one of their school options to continue their senior secondary education but again, for some, it is cheaper school fee wise to encourage their children to opt for Government schools as the fees are generally lower compared to church owned schools.

The Digest of Education Statistics does not provide information on the performance of pupils in national examinations and consequently, student performances are not included in this profile.

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3.5.7. Community involvement to improve standard of education

Normally the community does not interfere with the school curriculum, as it is the responsibility of Government to design them to suit the ages being taught to and ensure their effective implementation. However the community, through the school committee, often takes the initiative to address a wide range of other issues, such as children and teachers comfort, security, staffing, sports, and even school infrastructure. In a lot of cases, the teachers have to take the initiative and assign each pupil a specific task to do for a class activity or a school project at which times, the children always seek and are given help and support from families. This kind of help and support from individual families can take the form of money, food or their own involvement such as in the building of a school mwaneaba or singing in a school dancing practice and competition etc.

Over the past years the community has assisted both the primary and junior secondary schools especially in performing critical maintenance work on classrooms, offices and teacher residences. These buildings are by right the responsibility of Government who, in many cases has been very slow in providing the financial support needed to keep school infrastructure in good shape. Nikunau is not an exception in these slow provisions of financial support from the Government, Despite this, the community continue to support their school children and their schools by being guardians of the school property as well as in provision of pupil/student’s school needs for school activities or other school requirements as may arise from time to time. A common support activity by the parents is provision of coconut frond mats (‘inaai’) to their children when there is a need to renew these for the children to sit on during classes. Fundraising activities carried out are normally in the form of raffle tickets, cleanup activities for individual households and sale of local brooms and frond mats.

There is also a school committee on most of the outer islands who plan school development activities including fundraising activities and projects. This committee is normally made up of the teachers themselves who when required, raise their needs to the Island Council or the island community whenever their support are needed for their school projects or involve their pupils who in turn involve their parents.

3.6 HEALTH

“The Ministry of Health and Medical Services will provide optimal level of health to the people of Kiribati using a Primary Health Care (PHC) approach that promotes both prevention and curative services to improve outcomes through accessible, affordable, integrated, and quality services at every level of the health delivery system”. This is the mission statement of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services contained in its Operational Plan for 2004-2007, which reflects the overall responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services for the nation as a whole.

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3.6.1 Health Facilities & Staff

The Ministry of Health Family Planning and Social Welfare through its Medical Assistant and two qualified Nurses stationed on the island are doing the promotion and maintenance of health on the island.

There are three health centers on the island namely, Muritoa, Mwanrunga and Nikumatang Health Clinics. Fortunately for the island, the EU health clinic construction project has already visited their island consequently resulting in three newly erected health clinics (pictured above) for the islanders. These new clinics accommodate the clerical and clinical office, the dispensary and the obstetric theatre in one building while the toilet is placed outside and separately from this main clinical building. The clinics are manned by qualified nurses from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services thus Government while the nursing aides are all employees of the Island Council.

The three clinics are all equipped with solar lighting and a motorcycle for out-patient visits.

Each village has its own Village Welfare Group, which is helping the medical staff on the island. Members are representatives of different groups or associations, such as youth, old men (unimwane) association, women, pastors or catechists and medical personnel. There is a mother village welfare- working group that coordinates the work all the other village groups.

Some of the activities carried out by this mother welfare-working group include the following:

i) Fundraising; ii) Construction of toilets bowls; iii) Ensure that cleanliness is observed by villagers; iv) Assist medical staff in preparing an taking patients to airport who are to be admitted to the Tungaru Central Hospital in South Tarawa; v) Construction of safe and protected wells and vi) Assist the island council in the general maintenance of its buildings.

Most common health problems Fig 9: Common health problems The left chart shows the most common health problems on the island. As can be seen, the highest health problem was listed as others and these include the common headache, stomach ache, injuries/wounds, constipation, flu etc. Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are self explanatory in that they are infections of the respiratory system that according to WHO (February 2009) is still the leading cause of acute illnesses worldwide and remain the most important cause of infant and young children mortality, accounting for about two million deaths each year. It includes

- 43 - health problems such as pneumonia and Tuberculosis amongst others. Acute fever syndrome, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, dysentery and meningitis are other health problems that have been experienced on the island.

Conjunctivitis in the southern islands is also somehow connected with long periods of drought and most probably due to the high amount of dust resulting from the dry conditions of the islands. Diarrhea is also quite a common ailment throughout the islands in which all age groups are affected. Reasons for incidences of diarrhea are numerous but one of them includes the way and life of the people in their existing conditions.

Fig 10: Household types 3.7 HOUSING

3.7.1 Total number of residential houses, type and status

There are 335 households on Nikunau. 284 (85%) of these are made from local materials while 40 (12%) are made from a combination of local and permanent materials and a further 11 (3%) are of permanent material.

All houses are located in the village areas where people were brought together during colonial times to make administration and management easier for the then administrators.

Local housing structures are similar throughout the country with some differences here and there. Local sleeping quarters are normally placed off the ground while the rest of the houses most of the time do not have raised platforms and are either used to carry daily chores, meal, social gatherings or canoe shelters. Houses made from local materials require regular maintenance especially the roof thatches. Depending on the type of thatch used whether it is made from coconut fronds or pandanus leaves determines the regularity of maintenance. Those made from coconut fronds require maintenance every 2 or so years while pandanus thatches can last for more than 4 years.

A local house is made up mostly of pandanus, coconut, ironwood and guettarda wood which the men hack out of their own lands or with permission from others lands. The pillars for the houses are either

- 44 - made from wood or stone pillars such as in the deserted home pictured left. The women on the other hand have to prepare thatches, string and mats made out of pandanus leaves while the men have to put the thatches on. Pandanus roof thatches generally last longer than those made out of coconut fronds thus women and men alike prefer pandanus thatches than coconut thatches that however require that women make and store thatches in readiness for house maintenance. The weather also affects how long the thatches last and in rainy climates, house maintenance is more frequent. Deserted homes are a common occurrence on the outer islands where household members have migrated to urban areas in search of better opportunities.

306 (91%) of the 335 households are privately owned while 29 (9%) are owned by the Nikunau Island. That there were no Government houses listed in the 2005 census would be untrue as primary JSS and medical are but some of the Government funded buildings that they constantly have to provide funds to upgrade or renovate. However, the island council is in essence the Government on the island and consequently, the Government houses may have been listed as council houses instead. What is important is the fact that because Government houses in Nikunau are not listed in the census statistics when they are in the rest of the other outer islands does not mean that the Government is not looking after Nikunau but rather an oversight in census surveying. Generally, Council houses comprise council staff houses built in the Council campus at Bukerua, pre-schools and copra sheds found throughout the island. Government houses include those of the council office, school and medical facilities amongst others.

3.8 WATER AND SANITATION

3.8.1 Water Supply Sources Fig 11: HHs source of water The only water source for drinking and sanitary purposes on the island are groundwater and to a small extent, rain. Piped water is basically an introduced water system where PVC pipes provide the means of transporting manually pumped water from wells to cooking areas and toilets. Full piping systems however are rare on the outer islands and can be found mostly in Council households and Government infrastructure. However, Nikunau is generally luckier than the rest of the islands as the 6 villages have a much up-to-date supply of water system. It comprises an erected tank (pictured right) that is placed atop the well (closed) itself and is powered by solar and a timer that starts pumping the water to the villages (pictured below) at certain times during the day.

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The 2005 census stated that 48% (325) households main source of water are open wells, 46% (315) households use closed wells as their main source of water while a mere 3% are using rainwater as their main source of water and the remaining 3% were using piped and shop water as their main source of water.

Rainwater tanks are not abundant on the island and where available, the rainwater is normally a guarded commodity that is rarely used except for cooking and drinking. The rainwater in the southern islands is generally saved for times of drought when the wells turn brackish and used mainly for consumption. During rainy seasons, the rainwater can be used for washing, cooking, cleaning and bathing. Most of the water tanks are owned by church groups, the Island Council, the Government and some individuals who own brick houses and aluminum roof slats, which, on Nikunau is limited to 55 households constructed out of permanent materials and a combination of both local and permanent materials.

3.8.2 Status of Water Supply

Groundwater in occurs as a lens of freshwater floating in hydrostatic balance on salt water below it. Toward the center of the atolls, the water is generally potable and is where most of the wells used for drinking are dug (Preston E. Cloud Jr. 1952). Wells for other general purposes such as washing, cleaning and gardening are dug next to households for easier access. The fresh water wells however are subject to brackishness during times of drought. During these times, potable water can be fetched from as far as a kilometer away but in Nikunau, blessed with being wide, potable water is always available all year round. The wells and tanks in pictured above water system are well placed behind the villages (inland), about 0.5 km from the village coasts.

Supply of water from the wells are dependent on the amount of rainfall that falls and even though Nikunau suffers periods of drought, water does not become an issue during times of drought as it is wide. Data collected from a 1991 hydrology on by the Project of the National Research Council’s Pacific Science Board in Hawaii indicated that a well dug at the center of the wider (>1000 feet) parts of the island has a good chance of producing a continuous supply of potable ground water. On the other hand, wells in narrower parts of the island are apt to be brackish (Preston E. Cloud Jr. 1952). Water supply is therefore abundant throughout the year with wells close to the coast prone to brackishness while potable water is always available even in times of famine.

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3.8.3. Lighting Fig 12: Households source of light The main and most popular source of light for the people on Nikunau is the pressure lamp portrayed in the illustrated chart on the right. It shows that of the 335 households, 290 (87%) of them stated the pressure lamp as their main light source of light. The introduction of the solar system to the outer islands by the Kiribati Solar Company Limited in 2000 has allowed 87 (26%) of these households an alternative source of light as solar while the rest 39 (12%) households use generators as their main source of light. The 1 household listed in the statistics that PUB was their main source of light which could be a census oversight given that the Public Utilities Board (PUB) operates on South Tarawa only.

Pressure lamps are normally owned by the majority of households on the outer islands as it is not only used as a source of light for the homes but is also mobile enough to be moved to required places such as in night fishing expeditions known locally as ‘te kibee’. Where before this kind of fishing required two people (the fisherman and someone to carry plaited coconut fronds), the pressure lamp has conveniently allowed only one person to carry the lamp and fish at the same time without needing another to carry extra loads of coconut fronds. Table 9: Distribution of solar systems by island Kerosene is the normal energy source for these kinds of pressure lamps and including other simple innovated bottle lights common throughout the rest of the Kiribati islands. Generators on the other hand are powered by benzene or what is universally known as unleaded petrol (ULP)and are not run daily but occasionally.

The promotions and provision of a solar system to the outer islands in 2000 has enabled the people of Nikunau the opportunity to gain an alternative means of electricity for light and other electrical appliances. A total of 77 solar systems were installed on the island for households/homes including two ‘mwaneabas’. All the installed solar systems are working properly except one.

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3.9 Energy

The traditional form of fuel is firewood, mainly in the form of coconut husks, dry coconut leaves and dead wood of existing vegetation and trees. Firewood is never an issue on the island due to its limited population, vast coconut land and daily copra cutting.

Fig 13: Nikunau fuel supply However, people still use kerosene 2007 31 stoves especially during rainy days or DPK 55 2006 functions. Gas stoves on the other hand 77 2005 still have to be used on the island but are not particularly popular due to the

66 remoteness of the island and the difficulty ADO 63 in transporting gas cylinders to the outer 78 islands. Even though people are

Type of Fuel of Type resorting to the use of modern

335 technology to provide energy to meet ULP 580 their private and public needs, wood, 510 coconut husks and dried wood still remain the main energy source for - 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 cooking. These imported fuels are Fuel drums received imported and distributed to all the outer islands by the Kiribati Oil Company (KOIL) that is based in Betio on South Tarawa.

To reduce dependency on fossil-based fuel Government has been promoting the use of solar energy on the outer islands, through its company – the Kiribati Solar Energy Company Limited (KSECL). Over the last 3 years KSECL, with funding from the European Union, has installed more than 2000 stand alone solar photovoltaic systems throughout the Gilbert group excluding those in the Line Group of islands. The objective of this “Outer Island Electrification Project” is to enhance economic activity and improve children performance in school through the provision of affordable and efficient lighting, as well as to provide an alternative environment-friendly energy source that does not pollute the air and is abundant all year round.

Nikunau fuel energy needs since 2005 as provided from KOIL 2007, totaled 1,795 drums comprising 1,425 (79%) un-leaded petrol (ULP) drums, 207 (12%) automotive diesel oil (ADO) drums and 163 (9%) drums of dual purpose kerosene (DPK). At 200 liters per drum, Nikunau has received a total of 285,000 liters of ULP, 41,400 ADO and 32,600 of kerosene (DPK).

The ULP is used solely to run vehicles such as trucks and motorbikes as well as an energy source for generators and outboard motor engines. Kerosene is used mainly as fuel for kerosene stoves and also as fuel for ‘bottled’ night lights, lanterns and pressure lamps. ADO on the other hand runs cars and generators. However, data for 2007 were received in November 2007 at which time KOIL had not yet completed entering their data for the months of neither November nor December thus the figures for 2007 could have been more than those already received and entered in the KOIL database.

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CHAPTER 43: TE RAOI – SOCIAL CAPITAL, COMMUNITY LIFE AND GOVERNANCE

4.1 Local Institutions and Social Change

4.1.1 The Mwaneaba System and ‘Unimwane’ Association

The mwaneaba was, and remains the most important institutional symbol and foundation of community life in Kiribati. Its importance is related to its function as the center of social life, where matters pertaining to the social, economic and political life of the community are discussed and resolved with the leadership of the ‘unimwane’. Such a tradition still exists on Nikunau and the ‘unimwane association on the island is called the ‘Aan Nikunau’.

Beside the mwaneabas traditional function as a community hall, court of judgment/reconciliation, and sanctuary for all, the purpose of the mwaneaba has considerably widened to include shelter for the sick, storage facility for copra, fundraising venue, and more. Despite the additional uses invented for this culturally important structure, the system of governance and leadership that developed with and revolves around the mwaneaba has remained largely intact. This was the result, first of colonial support, and later on of Government’s recognition of the importance of traditional leadership vested in the ‘Unimwane’ and secondly by the shortcomings of foreign governance in solving local community issues. In all Island Councils (outer island local governments) including Nikunau, there is a seat for a representative of the ‘Aan Nikunau’ Association, who embodies the highest traditional authority for the community on the island.

Where village ‘mwaneabas’ are no more, the traditional positions in these ‘mwaneabas’ also went with them when they were replaced by church mwaneabas. The church mwaneabas are still used for open discussions, functions and as a focal gathering point for the village church members. Even thought, women still take the support role during mwaneaba discussions, they are however not discriminated as their views are channeled through their husbands or their ‘unimwane’. . Fig. 14: Structure of traditional authority

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