Andre, interesting article about the Cook Islands. My wife and I were there two years ago and witnessed much of what you write about. For such an island paradise, we couldn't fathom that the Cook Islands was actually shrinking in population and tourist development was virtually at a standstill. Your article is not complete, however, since there are other factors stifling the economy in the Cook Islands. We spoke with many people on Rarotonga, Aitutaki and Mangaia about the plight of the Islands and for most the story was the same: adults leave to seek work in New Zealand, leaving the children home to be cared for by grand parents. We heard quite the opposite about the labour shortage you mention, and perhaps this is only the situation on Rarotonga. In Aitutaki and Mangaia, there were no jobs. About a decade ago (if I remember correctly) the Government of New Zealand severely cut the Cook Islands civil service and took away many subsidies that helped support the Cook Island economy. Unemployment soared and wages plummeted, forcing many to seek employment in New Zealand as wage slaves predominantly in the shipping industry, where they're ghettoized and suffer drug and alcohol addiction. Given the choice, the vast majority of Cook Islanders don't want to leave, and some return by extradition, fighting addictions and criminal records.
If Rarotonga is hurting economically, they're nowhere near as badly off as the outlying Islands. Many on Aitutaki claim Rarotongans do their utmost to dissuade tourists from venturing forth. We heard this first-hand from people in Rarotonga when we said we were planning on flying to Aitutaki. We were told it was too commercialized, there's nothing to do, its full of mosquitos and swamps, that it has no "soul." We ventured to Aitutaki anyway and nothing could have been further from the truth. It's a veritable paradise in the South Pacific, with all the scenery of Bora-Bora (according to travel writers) at a fraction of the price. Their soul is evident everywhere, from the children waving as you pass them on a motorcycle, to the local dancers and drum bands that consistently rank highest in Maori and South Pacific dance competitions. The single largest boon to Aitutaki's economy was the filming of Survivor: it provided three months of full time work for a large percentage of Islanders and was bringing thousands of dollars into the stagnant economy; however, its reverberations were being felt hundreds of miles away in Mangaia.
Aitutaki was positively cosmopolitan compared with Mangaia, an Island that has seen it's population drop by half in the previous decade. There are only about 600 souls left on this unspoiled Pacific jem that was once an exporter of pineapples (reportedly the best in all the South Pacific) and coffee. Cheap exports from Asia and Central America eventually squashed these cash crops and now what few people live on the Island exist solely for the meagre tourist dollars. They claim too that Rarotonga does little to market them to the tourists that arrive in the Cook Islands, preferring to keep all the tourists to themselves. While we were on Mangaia, there were rolling blackouts, actually blackouts of 20 hours per day because diesel was in short supply. We found out later that the one tanker used in the Cook Islands was booked to bring Survivor supplies to Aitutaki and thus Mangaians had to go without fuel and fresh supplies for weeks on end, further diminishing their tourist appeal. Mangaians are wonderful people and fiercely loyal to their Island and the land of their forefathers. Tere, our guide on a cave tour in Mangaia, said the Island had been approached numerous times by big resort pitchmen and every time Mangaians turned them away. I asked Tere why, when the population was dwindling so drastically, they could turn down such major investment. He said it would be an insult to their ancestors, that Mangaians were connected to their land and they would never sell even an inch their Island to foreign investors. Mangaia was one of the last Islands in the South Pacific to adopt Christianity as well, the first three or four missionaries were killed and eaten, so perhaps distrust is a cultural trait. I asked what would happen if the population went to zero: he said he hoped it wouldn't, that all they wanted was enough tourism so they could keep their way of life intact, that's all they ask for. Stubborn, yes. Stupid, no. There are probably few places in the world that have the rugged untouched beauty of Mangaia and it's so refreshing to hear they insist on keeping it that way.
Back in Aitutaki, there's another deterrent to big development. Land ownership has been divided and subdivided for centuries into a dizzying web of small plots. Any attempt at purchasing a parcel of land requires hundreds of signatures of sale, by people living on the Cook Islands and those ancestors living abroad. Our lagoon tour guide "Captain Fantastic" said the Survivor crew required acceptance from over 400 land titles in order to use seven islands in Aitutaki's lagoon for two months. Captain Fantastic's oldest son, "Captain Nuisance" told us he hoped Aitutaki wouldn't get any more developed than it already was, that he didn't want Survivor fans flooding into the Island. For them, like Mangaians, it was about achieving a balance between tourist development, the environment and the laid back lifestyle many appreciate. It was what makes the Cook Islands such a beautiful place with such a beautiful spirit.
My fear is that panic over global warming will be the ultimate death knell to Island economies as people decide flying is bad for climate change and choose to take their vacations closer to home. You cannot get to the Cook Islands with flying or braving the open ocean and I'm sure most people choose the former. Cook Islanders need our tourist dollars to a) keep the big developers away and b) to ensure their proud culture can subsist on their Islands. What you get out of the deal is a few weeks in paradise. It's an even trade I would think.
Sincerely,
Paul Panchyshyn
Winnipeg, MB
Znet reader
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