All is not well
Regrettably, even as this young country is still struggling to find its own path, over the past 20 years environmental damage has emerged as an ever-more-serious threat. The contributing factors are complex: inadequate environmental management within the country, the fierce shock to traditional lifestyles brought by waves of modernity, and global warming, against which the local people are powerless.
First off, global warming causes the blanching and death of coral reefs, stripping the coastline of its buffers against the ocean waves, while climate change leads to an increase in the frequency and force of tropical storms and storm surges. With these two elements reinforcing each other, the islands are more vulnerable to penetration by seawater or inundation by big waves, ultimately leading to complete salination of the groundwater.
P.K. Tsai, chief of the technical assistance team for Kiribati from Taiwan's International Cooperation and Development Fund, has personally witnessed the deterioration of the environment even just during these three years he has been in Tarawa. He recalls that two years ago, when he went rod fishing at the seashore near the team's HQ, under his feet there was still a rich and colorful coral reef. But today it has turned completely white and is close to death.
The technical aid team has kept tabs on the quality of the groundwater in the wells of the farm households to whom they provide guidance. The result: "Especially these past few years, as a result of the impact of climate change, the dry season has lasted longer, causing the salt content of the groundwater to skyrocket." They have already warned farm households not to drink the salty well water, which can cause kidney problems. Moreover the groundwater has to be diluted with rainwater before it can be used to water fruit trees, because fruit is spoiled by exposure to too much salt.
Tsai further notes that in addition to salination, groundwater is also polluted by human and animal wastes, and for local people who have long bathed and washed their clothes in such polluted water, open wounds on their skin can readily become infected, leading to chronic skin diseases. For the people of Kiribati, who rely heavily on well water and where virtually every home has its own self-dug well, what was once the biggest blessing for any atoll-a stratum of underground fresh water-has today become a threat to public health.
Water, water everywhere, but...
Kautuna Kaitara, the coordinator of the Kiribati Adaptation Project II, who reports directly to the president, admits that deterioration of water resources is indeed a major concern for the country. With help from consultants from the UK, they launched a program last year to improve the supply and sustainability of fresh water. In addition, a new policy outline has been adopted with the ultimate goal of promoting collection of rainwater by households in order to fully replace the use of groundwater.
Kaitara explains that there is enough precipitation during the rainy season (November to March)-with average annual rainfall at 2560 millimeters-to carry the country through the entire dry season, if only the rainwater were properly stored. Rainwater is clean and need only be boiled before being used, requiring no expensive additional processing such as seawater requires. (The capital currently has three desalination plants, mainly for the use of factories and public institutions.) The government plans to create incentives to install rainwater collection systems on roofs, and is considering amending the construction laws so that "in the future people will have to include these in their building plans to get a permit."
However, for people outside Tarawa atoll, who don't have the wherewithal to transform their traditional thatch roofs into hard-surfaced roofs with water collecting receptacles, the rainwater collection idea will prove difficult to put into practice. This is why the government is also considering using the roofs of all "large" structures-such as public meeting halls, school classrooms, and churches-to collect rainwater. Right now everything is still in the planning stage, though fortunately Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union have agreed to join in the effort and provide funding.
In recent years, dreams of instant wealth have made bingo popular in the capital, and since people get paid on Fridays, the games often go on until dawn on weekend nights.