Hello ciao-ga!
Nauru is certainly a fascinating island with an interesting history.
Unfortunately, due to mismanagement of it's resources and a lack of
economic foresight, the people of Nauru are facing an uncertain
future.
==
As one of the three 'rock phosphate' islands of the Pacific, the main
industry on Nauru has been phosphate mining. The phosphate has been
exported primarily to Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.
The mines are facing rapid depletion, and Nauru has no other natural
resources of significance.
From "Nauru." Charting the Pacific.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacific/places/country/nauru.htm
==
Nauru is unsuitable for agriculture, except for the small fringes of
land by the coast. Massive amounts of topsoil would need to be
imported to reclaim the land that has been abused by mining.
From "Nauru." The Offshore Manual and Directory
http://www.offshore-manual.com/taxhavens/Nauru.html
==
At least four-fifths of Nauru's total land surface area has been
stripped from the mining of phosphate. "The only fertile areas are the
narrow coastal belt, where there are coconut palms, pandanus trees and
indigenous hardwoods such as the tomano tree, and the land surrounding
Buada lagoon, where bananas, pineapples and some vegetables are
grown."
From "The Republic of Nauru."
http://www.earth.nwu.edu/people/emile/nauru.html
==
Nauru has been called a "geographical minnow adrift in the vastness
of the South Pacific." Comprised of only 8 square miles, decades of
phosphate mining have left the island an "environmental basket-case."
Economically, the island's people are suffering as well. Nauru's past
prosperity came from the mining of guano, or bird droppings, an
extremely rich form of natural phosphate. The phosphate has been mined
so drastically, however, that the reserves are expected to be depleted
by 2008. Economic mismanagement has left the population of Nauru
facing a bleak future.
From "US threatens sanctions over passports-for-cash scheme." Sunday
Herald. 4/13/2003)
http://www.sundayherald.com/33033
==
The world's demand for phosphate has decreased, and the cost of
mining has increased, leaving Nauru facing economic hardship.
From "Nauru."
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Business_Reference_Guides/BIG/nau.pdf
===========================
History and Economic Plight:
===========================
Nauru has a chequered history. It was colonised by Germany in 1886 but
fell under Australian control after the second world war, during which
it had been occupied by the Japanese. They transferred 1200 Nauruans
to the isle of Truk where most starved to death."
"Nauru gained independence in 1968, earning billions of dollars from
the mining and export of guano, or bird droppings, the purest natural
phosphate in the world. During the 1970s, Nauruans enjoyed the world's
second highest per capita income, after Saudi Arabia. But in a bizarre
riches-to-rags story, most of that wealth has been squandered through
ill-conceived investments including, in 1995, a London musical about
the love life of Leonardo Da Vinci."
"The phosphate is fast running out and is expected to be exhausted by
2008. Helen Hughes, a senior fellow at the Centre for Independent
Studies in Sydney and Naura expert , said: 'The islanders are now flat
broke. They have been taken to the cleaners by rogues in Australia,
the US and across the Pacific. They fell for every scam and are still
falling for them."
"The latest idiotic idea is to build a casino, and for the
[Australian] backers to take 50% of the profits. But it will bring in
every type of gangster you can imagine. Nauru has one hotel and not
one lightbulb works."
From "US threatens sanctions over passports-for-cash scheme." Sunday
Herald. 4/13/2003)
http://www.sundayherald.com/33033
==================================================
Is Sheltering Asylum Seekers an Economic Solution?
==================================================
In an effort to stay afloat, economically, Nauru signed a 2001
agreement with Australia to shelter unwanted asylum-seekers, primarily
from Afghanistan and Iraq, in return for several million dollars in
aid. Australia is currently asking for an extension of the
controversial agreement, which is supposed to end in June.
Nauru must consider the positive and negative ramifications of
signing an extension. Certainly, the country needs financial help, and
signing the extension will guarantee a continuation of aid. But what
about Nauru's reputation? The agreement has already given Nauru a bad
reputation with human right's organizations.
"Criticised by human rights organisations, the deal has been plagued
with problems. In April last year, some asylum-s eekers, angry at
being denied refugee status by the UN High Commission for Refugees,
pelted Nauruan police and Australian officials with rocks."
From "US threatens sanctions over passports-for-cash scheme." Sunday
Herald. 4/13/2003)
http://www.sundayherald.com/33033
===========================================================================
How can Nauru survive, economically, without the Phosphate mining
industry?
===========================================================================
According to Helen Hughes, a senior fellow at the Centre for
Independent Studies in Sydney, Nauru has made some drastic mistakes
already.
"The islanders are now flat broke. They have been taken to the
cleaners by rogues in Australia, the US and across the Pacific. They
fell for every scam and are still falling for them. The latest idiotic
idea is to build a casino, and for the [Australian] backers to take
50% of the profits. But it will bring in every type of gangster you
can imagine. Nauru has one hotel and not one lightbulb works."
According to Hughes, "What Nauru needs is a sound financial adviser
who will tell them to pay their debts, see what they have left, and
then live within their means. They certainly don't deserve any more
aid. They have been exploited by every nasty crook in the world but
they are grown-ups, they had a choice."
From "US threatens sanctions over passports-for-cash scheme." Sunday
Herald. 4/13/2003)
http://www.sundayherald.com/33033
==
"The private sector is very small and consists largely of trade
stores, an offshore banking sector, and some fishing operations.
Phosphate output dropped off sharply in the early 1990s and is now at
around a quarter of the levels seen in the late 1980s. This decline
has led to economic activity becoming increasingly dependent on the
government wages bill, compensation and royalty payments to
landowners, and other initiatives as the main stimulus to demand, and
this trend continued over 2001."
"A pressing problem for the economy is the frequent disruption of
supplies of food, fuel, equipment, and materials. Air Nauru, the only
airline servicing the country, faced repeated interruptions in 2001
due to a shortage of funds for lease payments, fuel, maintenance, and
other running costs. Prior to Australian support, fuel supplies on the
island had frequently been exhausted before the next shipment arrived.
Public services, notably power, telecommunications, water, and health
care also faced increasing problems over the year.
Policy Developments:
"It is expected that government revenues from phosphate mining will
continue to weaken over the medium term: primary phosphate resources
are largely exhausted and difficult to access; much of the mining
operation’s equipment is in a poor state; there is gross overstaffing;
and plans to mine secondary deposits are not well developed. This
decline in revenues will place considerable pressure on the budget."
Outlook for 2002-2003
"Despite the short-term boost provided by the financial assistance
received for housing the asylum-seekers, the medium-term outlook for
the economy is weak. Per capita income is estimated to have fallen
from A$9,000 in fiscal year 1988 to around A$4,600 in fiscal year
1998. It is likely that the trend continued since then. The very real
risk of a crisis over the medium term exists if there is a substantial
shortage of public funds, which would further impair the provision of
basic public services and the import of essential goods. This would
have a significant adverse impact on efforts to reduce poverty."
"An important step toward bottom-up reform was made in 1999 through a
National Economic Summit; however, the proceedings of the Summit were
not made public. There is a need to improve transparency. The true
debt position of the Government and its instrumentality, the net worth
of the NPRT, and the reasons for the substantial decline in its value
are not fully known. The economy’s eventual adjustment will be made
more difficult by its limited human resources base and, as the funds
to employ such labor diminish, Nauruan workers will have to seek
employment in the private sector. However, their weak education
background limits their ability to undertake technical tasks, or to
migrate as economic conditions deteriorate."
"Economic adjustment is likely to exacerbate existing social problems.
In the late 1990s, the unemployment rate of those aged 15-19 was
estimated to be 33% for males and 52% for females. This situation will
worsen as employment opportunities in the public sector and the very
small private sector decline; replacement jobs will be very difficult
to generate. There is a high incidence of gout and diabetes, because
of poor dietary habits, and the incidence of these and other health
problems can be expected to rise as incomes decline and funding
tightens for health care and other public services."
From "Nauru." Asian Development Bank.
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/ADO/2002/nau.asp
===
Nauru did receive some financial remuneration from Australia for land
rehabilitation of mining areas, but there is little indication that
the money has been invested wisely.
"The 1993 Compact of Settlement ended Nauru's litigation against
Australia over rehabilitation of land mined by Australian companies
before independence. Under the conditions of the settlement, Nauru has
obtained a cash payment of $A57 million and will receive $A2.5 million
annually for 20 years. This money is to be used on development
projects."
From "Nauru." Charting the Pacific.
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacific/places/country/nauru.htm
"In 1989, Nauru sued Australia in the International Court of Justice
for additional royalties for mining done during the trusteeship
period. Australia agreed to pay $70.4 million over 20 years in an
out-of-court settlement reached in 1993. Phosphate reserves are likely
to become exhausted by 2005. Future generations will draw income from
the government's Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust, but the trust has
lost millions of dollars through failed investments, speculation in
the Tokyo stock market, and international financial scams."
From "Nauru." Freedom House.
http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2002/countryratings/nauru.htm
===
(The following translation needs a bit of work!)
"Now that the phosphate is running out, the Nauruan are facing a
dreary future. The economy is based on the phosphate mining. Almost
everybody at Nauru is working in this industrial."
"Nauru is a neglected island. There have been made plans to evacuate
the whole population to another island. But most of the inhabitants
decided to stay at Nauru. There are plans to establisch a policy fixed
at the restoration of the tropical flowers and plants. They were
mainly lost by the phospfate mining."
"The policy is also fixed at finding alternative sources of incomes.
Men is thinkinig about aviation and shipping and also tourism. But
before this is possible Nauru has to face a lot of changes on the
island.
"Many plants, trees and flowers are gone. A little part of the island
stille is fertile. Also many animals have become rare. Many birds are
gone, for example the frigate. There were many terns also. The people
want them to turn back to the island. To save the island men have to
remove the pinnacles of coral everywhere. Men wants to prepare the
island for new trees, plants and animals. Calculated is that it is
going to take twenty years to restorate the island."
From "About Nauru." UN Seahorse in Polynesia.
http://www.ocean98.org/seahnaur.htm
(Also see some pictures, maps, flag, read National Anthem!)
===
Additional Reading
==================
"Welcome. Focus on Nauru." (A nice website with music and pictures)
http://www.janeresture.com/nauru_focus/
"Boat people arrive at Nauru." BBC News. (Sept. 17, 2001)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1547899.stm
"Republic of Nauru." Atlapedia Online.
http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/nauru.htm
"The Republic of Nauru."
http://www.earth.nwu.edu/people/emile/nauru.html
"Nauru: Restoring the Land." Secondary School Material.
http://globaled.ausaid.gov.au/secondary/casestud/nauru.html
==
Thank you for a fascinating look at this tiny, but very important,
little island!
I hope the information above helps to answer your question. If, for
some reason, I have misinterpretated the information you needed, don't
hesitate to ask for clarification. I will be happy to help if I can.
umiat-ga
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