The first prison in Fiji was established in the old port town of Levuka, Ovalau in the second half of the 19th century. Originally a makeshift facility for those who disrupted the peace in the lawless town, an official prison was not built until 1874, following the Deed of Cession. Records from The Fiji Times suggest the initial prison was surrounded by an 8-foot wooden fence and located across from Totoga, the first police station. In addition to various prison sites across Fiji, the British set up small lockup facilities, called “lokamu” by locals, at locations with stationed magistrates. Initially simple structures, these lockups evolved into stone and limestone buildings constructed by inmates.
One of these early detention centers remains in the Village of Naburenivalu, formerly Namena Village, where stone and crushed coral walls and a stone jetty still stand. Although the precise construction date is unclear, historical records indicate the facility closed in 1888. Recently, The Sunday Times team visited the old prison remains in Namena, located in a place called Nasese, on the outskirts of the village.
The village was in mourning for its late chief, Tui Nawainovo Ratu Filimoni Verebalavu, who had welcomed a previous team from the newspaper in 2009. Naburenivalu’s turaga ni koro, Jese Mamanavesi, guided the team along Namena’s mangrove-fringed mudflats to reach the old jetty, now visible due to low tide. Mamanavesi noted that few had seen the jetty where prisoners disembarked from Levuka.
Adi Lusiana Canavanua Verebalavu-Senibulu, sister of the late chief, explained that Namena was chosen as a lockup site due to its administrative significance, Bau alliance, and available construction resources. The British Magistrate Eastgate, stationed there, was remembered by villagers for his solid wooden house with a thatched roof and the first tap possibly installed in a Fijian village.
The jetty, constructed from carefully laid rocks, now lies vulnerable to climate change. Mamanavesi pointed out a path that prisoners once took from the jetty to the lockup, which was lined with mango trees, of which only three remain today.
The earliest record of a gaol in Suva dates back to 1887 when the prison service took over a mental hospital, beginning today’s St Giles Psychiatric Hospital. The Namena prison, named Nasese, was intended for those committing wrongful acts. Prisons in early Fiji were simple huts behind reed fences until attempts were made in 1912-1913 to improve accommodations.
Despite the deterioration of Namena’s old prison, Adi Lusiana hopes it and the jetty can be preserved as tourist attractions. Naburenivalu, now consisting of 425 people in 83 households, maintains the premises of the old prison through periodic cleanups.
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