KIRIBATI, FORMERLY THE GILBERT ISLANDS

The following conversations between Mark Goodwin and Meredith Belbin are excerpts from Mark's upcoming book:

"Mark: It was luck really. I started my tour of duty as the under-secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, which is quite a junior position. My first task was to visit the different islands to help them make the budget for the following year. It was an extraordinary adventure, going from one island to the next on the Government ship, Teraaka, and meeting with the elders to see what was needed. We would meet in the village maneaba, a vast thatched hall which could seat the entire village.  The islands and people were so gorgeous, friendly and warm in every sense. It was heavenly.

After a few months the District Commissioner went on leave and decided not to return. This left a vacancy with about two years to independence and so it was decided, to my surprise, to offer me the position. I felt very honoured, but with a huge sense of opportunity, and I grasped the challenge.

Meredith: So how did you set about the task, you cannot have been more than twenty one years old?

Mark: You are right. It was when I was twenty one. So I decided to consult the elders in the different villages to see what they wanted. It did not seem to be my place to be setting the direction so close to independence and therefore I felt myself to be in the service of the local population to help them. I relied a lot on the guidance of an elder named Reuben who was clearly very influential and wise."

"Meredith: I feel as if your trip to the Gilbert Isles enabled you to see further back in time (as if in astronomy).  You were almost in a Garden of Eden.  I would like to know something about local beliefs. 

Mark: They have a creation myth of the world being created by a giant spider, called Nareau. In the Gilbertese language a white man was called “Imatang”. Matang refers to the land of the ancestors, so Imatang means from the land of the ancestors. Like other primordial societies, the ancestors are sacred.

Meredith: This must have been a powerful aid in your work.

Mark: It was. I remember being called on my radio by the head of police in Abaokoro, a small island to the north of where I lived. He was in a panic as the three prisoners were rioting in the small jail. He was alone to try and keep the situation under control. It was very early in my career and I had no idea what to do. I told him that I would come over to help him. It was a journey of about a couple of hours by boat. I said I would be on my way in about half an hour once my boat was readied.

Meredith: So how did you handle it?

Mark: Well, a few minutes before I set off, I received another call on the radio. The policeman told me that the prisoners had calmed down.  Now there was no need for me to come. I asked him how that happened.  He replied he had told them “the Imatang is coming”. With that they all went quiet. I thought it was magic."

other activities included:

▸ Setting up a wildlife sanctuary on Christmas Island with Roger Perry (previously Director of the Charles Darwin research centre on the Galapagos Islands). Note: The Kiribati language does not have an S in the alphabet so "ti" is used and pronounced like the "ti" in the middle of 'station'. Thus Kiritimati is pronounced as Christmas, just as Kiribati is pronounced Gilberts.

▸ Building a Botanical Garden on Betio Island, known as “Mark’s Garden” with all the Central Pacific flowers in commemoration of the 3,000 American Marines lost at the 2nd World War Battle of Tarawa.

▸ Deciding to designate a wildlife sanctuary on the uninhabited Vostok Island which was unique in the Central Pacific due to a deep covering of peat influencing its flora and fauna. Looking back, Mark now remembers his thoughts at the time: "Vostok island is precisely 4,038 kilometres away from Tarawa and a three week journey by sea. How will we enforce this legislation?" But it was the right thing to do, and luckily the island was so far away from another inhabited island that we all hoped it would stay safe.

▸ Mark discovered that all Kiribati refuse was dumped from a barge into the Pacific Ocean, which was a ghastly and unsustainable practice, particularly when some of it floated back to the islands. Instead a system was designed to transform stagnant and polluted inland pools by infilling them with a mixture of compacted refuse and coral mud, producing more village land for housing.

With Mark’s reputation with the World Wildlife Fund and with the British Government being aware of his concern for the Pacific environment, he was chosen to represent the British Government and all the Pacific islands under British protection at a symposium at Apia, Western Samoa on the Pacific Environment. This involved detailed negotiations with Ambassadors and High Commissioners from Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, the USA and the independent Pacific States resulting in signing a new environmental treaty. Mark was 22 years old when he signed this treaty on behalf of Britain and her Pacific dependencies.

▸ Reforming local Government finance through the abolition of the poll tax and achieving financial independence.   

▸ Enhancing the role of the Elders in Local Government

▸ Finding a kindred spirit with Ieremia Tabai from Nonouti Island (who was three years older than Mark). Ieremia had been elected to Parliament in 1974, was leader of the opposition, and shared with Mark a strong belief in moving forward with the traditional Kiribati culture instead of adopting “excessive Westernisation”. After independence, Ieremia Tabai became the first President of Kiribati, at the age of 28.