AFTER keeping the issue private for some time, the country’s first Miss Hibiscus, Liebling Marlow, believes it is now time to go public.
Yesterday, the 80-year-old walked from the comfort of Pearce Home in Butt St, Suva to make her voice known on the proposed Indian High Commission project within Botanical Gardens.
“I’ve been following the story for some time but this morning I just said I can’t wait around anymore, I am going to The Fiji Times,” Ms Marlow said.
In doing what every law-abiding citizen is entitled to do, she said, there was nothing wrong about expressing one’s views in the media over issues of public interest and concern.
Back in the 1960s, a few years after she was crowned Miss Hibiscus in 1956, Ms Marlow worked as a tour guide for Hunt’s Travel, one of the Pacific’s pioneers in tourism.
It was during this time that she got acquainted often with Thurston Gardens as a site of tourist attraction during Fiji’s pre-independence years.
“Besides taking people who got off cruise ships from time to time to the Botanical Gardens, I remember they’d bring firewalkers from Beqa there and tourists will have a taste of real Fijian culture,” she said.
“I personally feel there’s more that can be done about the place. The proposed area for the Indian High Commission buildings can be made into a world-class cultural hub where tourists could see and experience people weaving, carving wood or doing pottery, just like they would do in an old Fijian village.”
“This would give locals and tourists the chance to see the things on static display inside the museum.”
According to historical accounts, in 1879, Sir John Bates Thurston, Fiji’s fifth governor, invited and asked one John Horne, a botanist who worked as the director of Forests and Botanic Gardens in Mauritius, to visit and make recommendations for a Botanical Garden in Fiji.
This led to the establishment of Suva Botanical Gardens, which was renamed in 1976 in memory of Governor Thurston. In 1913 the gardens were reorganised, drains were laid underground and avenues of 101 Royal Palms and 39 tree ferns were planted. The Clock Tower and band stand were constructed in 1918 in memory of the first mayor of Suva. Thurston Gardens are built on the site of an ancient village belonging to the original landowners of Suva whose descendants now live in Suvavou, Lami.
“If you put in a commercial building or office block in the area it will take away the whole aesthetics of the place,” Ms Marlow said.
“Anything built in that space should complement the history and culture of Fiji which the Museum and Thurston Gardens are both part of.”
Ms Marlow said she always felt the Thurston Gardens and Museum were places of beauty and peace, where locals and tourists could momentarily escape the noisy and fast-paced city life.
“Back in my days, bands would play in there and we’d come with our mats and listen to music in the weekend,” Ms Marlow said.
“A lot more could be done to enhance the beauty of Suva, preserve aspects of our history and colonial past and attract tourists and locals alike.”
On the museum, Ms Marlow said she would like to see a section on the history of Fiji Airways.
“I would also love to see a hibiscus or orchid house somewhere in the gardens, something that will add to the beauty of the place and make it stand out.
“People who know nothing about their past suffer from social amnesia. If we don’t preserve historical landmarks that were part of our early history then we might have a future where people will have little idea of what Suva was like or have no connections to their past.”
A few weeks ago, the Suva City Council invited written objections to the amendment of the Approved Suva City Town Planning
Scheme to alter the zoning of land forming Lot 2 Botanical Gardens from Recreation Space to Special Use Embassy.
Minister for Local Government Premila Kumar was later reported in the media confirming the same land in question, valued at $1.5
million, was being exchanged with the Fiji High Commission land in Delhi.
The Indian government would lease the said state land for 99 years.
In return, the Indian government has given a piece of land to Fiji in Delhi which is valued at $107 million.
Many citizens have already voiced their concerns through a variety of platforms to show their dislike over the move.
The SCC is giving members of the public until February 25 to register their objections.
