By John Nicholls
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This is where families collect water while donor consultants sit in expensive resorts composing reports on how to best help the locals. As the sea level rises around Vanuatu, wells like this will be rendered unusable, at which time whole island populations will be without fresh water and deep-rooting trees will die off. The coconut palms are already gone from beach degradation as this small island (Uliveo) shrinks. The immediate needs are obvious: the people need help catching and managing rainwater, harnessing energy for pumps and making bricks for effective retaining walls. Soon the problems will be too big to tackle, but the donors are busy with expensive studies.
Private enterprises usually operate on the principle of the smallest amount of energy and funding required to produce the greatest outcome. In striking (and disturbing) counterpoint to this, it seems to me that too many donor organisations – both international or domestic – operate in a parallel but opposite world guided by the principle of the greatest amount of energy and funding required to produce the least outcome.
Precious Resources Wasted
A couple of years ago, a major donor in Vanuatu decided to provide assistance in tourism. The donor sent out requests for expressions of interest in producing (wait for it…) a ‘Pre-Feasibility Study’ on developing tourism to the outer islands of Vanuatu. Even better, the ‘Pre-Feasibility Study’ in question had two programmed follow-ups: a ‘Feasibility Study’ and an ‘Implementation Plan’!
The winning tender went to a consultant company from northern Europe. They assembled a crack team with representatives from all over the world. Unfortunately, all but one had never worked or studied tourism in Melanesia (the team leader had spent a week in New Guinea). Read More…
Posted under General, Vanuatu, countries, opinion, responsible organisations
This post was written by editor on July 1, 2010










