The delayed registration of children by their parents has emerged as a pressing national issue. Siromi Turaga, the Minister for Justice, expressed his ambition to achieve a complete birth registration rate within the next two years. Currently, the registration stands at 80 percent nationwide. Turaga highlighted that many parents neglect to register their children in their early years and only seek registration when it becomes necessary before school enrollment.
He raised this concern during a community meeting with the residents of Dreketi on Wednesday. Turaga was also present at the Fiji Day celebrations in Labasa the following day, where he acknowledged that the lack of birth registration is particularly pronounced within the iTaukei community. He noted that a significant number of iTaukei births go unregistered, especially among the youth, which is alarming.
To address this issue, the ministry has initiated proactive measures, including community outreach efforts to raise awareness. During recent visits to Koro and Ovalau, his team worked to bridge the information gap between the Government and local communities, revealing instances of children attending rural kindergartens without birth certificates.
Turaga emphasized the importance of registration, stating that when a six-year-old is unregistered, it means they are not officially accounted for in the country.
In addition to birth registration, the minister urged the iTaukei community to ensure timely registration of death certificates. He noted that death certificates must be recorded with the Fijian Affairs Board’s Vala ni Kawa Bula (VKB) system to update the entitlements associated with the deceased. Turaga warned that a new head of a yavusa cannot be registered until the name of the deceased is removed from the official records, which has become a recurring challenge for the iTaukei ministry.