Yesterday, on the public holiday that celebrates democracy in Fiji, thousands
of Indian-Fijians fled Suva, panicked by
armed rebels who terrorised the capital on Sunday night.
The 150-kilometre Coral Coast road that links Suva and Nadi in Fiji's west was
choked with cars and trucks laden
with Indian-Fijians and their luggage.
Resorts outside Suva, such as Pacific Harbor, emptied of tourists after the
rebels' seizure of the Indian-led
government, were rapidly filling with Australians and New Zealanders who live
in Suva but now consider the city too
dangerous.
Those who own businesses in the capital have sent workers home and closed down
while they await a resolution of
the crisis.
Radio announcers appealed for people in Suva to spend the public holiday locked
in their homes because of the danger
on the streets.
The public holiday is known as Ratu Sukuna Day and celebrates the name and life
of the native chief credited with
founding democracy in Fiji when he formed the country's Great Council of Chiefs.
This is the body that has capitulated to rebel leader George Speight's demands
that Fiji's three-year-old constitution be
rewritten so that no Indian can ever again lead the nation.
On Ratu Sukuna Day it is traditional for Fijians to go to the nation's parliament
and polish his statue. Yesterday they
would have had to do so under the guns of Mr Speight's men and the eyes of the
hostages.
Many of the Indian vehicles on the Coral Coast were travelling at high speed
and in convoys, those fleeing included
some of the nation's senior public servants, including magistrates. Hardly any
shops or businesses appeared to be
open in Suva.
Many government departments, closed for the public holiday, are not expected
to reopen today. Schools are closed
and the public bus system is running a skeleton service.
Yet, in Nadi last night, the city appeared to be calm and operating normally.
Many shops were open and twilight
golfers were out in force on the Nadi course.
Along the coast road, Fijian and Indian villages appeared calm. Many people
were at the roadside watching the almost
constant lines of vehicles fleeing Suva.
In Nadi the only signs of a coup were banners on some homes that supported President Mara and derided Mr Speight.
Fiji's west, which is the centre of the cane-growing industry, cattle farming
and logging, is wealthier and more
industrialised than Suva and its surrounds in the east.
It also has a higher proportion of Indian-Fijians and its indigenous Fijian
population has lower rates of unemployment
than those in the east.
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last revision 5/30/00