Intergenerational coresidence in developing countries
Living with the in-laws still commonplace in developing countries Authors: S. Ruggles; M. Heggeness Publisher: Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, 2008
Is coresidence of elderly people with their children really on the decline in most developing countries, as much research suggests? This analysis uses new data and measures to assess changes in intergenerational coresidence in 15 developing countries.
Contrary to expectations, the authors find no general decline in intergenerational coresidence over the past several decades. There have been, however, significant changes in the configuration of intergenerational coresidence:
families in which the older generation is household head - a configuration consistent with traditional patriarchal forms in which the older generation retains authority - are becoming more common in most of the countries
intergenerational families headed by the younger generation - the configuration one would expect if intergenerational coresidence were motivated by a need for old-age support - are on the decline in most of the countries Why is elder-head intergenerational coresidence increasing in developing countries, and why is it strongly associated with economic growth? The authors highlight the following factors:
a housing shortage -even when elders can no longer provide the prospect of agricultural inheritance, they often can offer a place to live. In many developing countries, there appears to be a significant positive relationship between intergenerational coresidence and the proportion of the population living in an urban area
with rising female labour-force participation in many countries, the demand for services that can be provided by elders - such as grandchild care and housework - may be on the rise in some areas. Some developing countries have seen unstable or declining employment prospects for youth despite significant economic growth, and some have introduced pension programs for the aged; both of these factors may encourage the younger generation to remain in their parental homes after reaching adulthood
rising incomes - especially among the older generation - have allowed more people to achieve their preferred family structure. If the older generation lacks sufficient land to support the next generation, it may be impossible for the younger generation to stay in the household. The strong positive association between economic development and intergenerational coresidence therefore makes some sense: with rising incomes, more people may be able to achieve their preferred family formThis report's interpretation suggests that the ideal family form may not have changed greatly but that economic growth has increased the opportunities for intergenerational coresidence. This does not mean, however, that family values are indelible; there have been dramatic declines in coresidence in every Western country, and there is strong evidence of a similar change in the most developed countries of East Asia. The positive relationship found between coresidence and development may eventually reverse, as yet, however, there is little sign that this is happening.
http://www.pop.umn.edu/research/mpc-working-papers-series/2008-working-papers-pdfs/Working%20Paper%202008-01.pdf
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Another Air Force Vet Steps Forward
By Tim Smith
A war veteran has flown to Bermuda from Texas as he builds his case for compensation amid allegations toxic waste was dumped at Kindley Air Force Base.
Andrew Moore, 64, believes his ill health has been brought on from his time as an air passenger specialist — whose job was to dump tons of human waste in a deep pit — at the US baselands in 1963-64.
Cancer victim Mr. Moore's concerns have grown since The Royal Gazette reported former serviceman Ronald Slater's claims that he knew of numerous barrels of lethal defoliant Agent Orange being dumped and burned in a Kindley pit from 1965 to 1967.
Other veterans have claimed substances such as mercury and hydrochloric acid were disposed of in the same manner.
Mr. Moore was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer five years ago; he has had surgery to remove a third of his stomach; and he has a history of lung problems including pneumonia. Like fellow cancer victim Mr. Slater, he is locked in a compensation battle with the US government.
During his trip to Bermuda, Mr. Moore has visited the former baselands, where he pointed to the spot he remembers dumping waste, which is now fenced off, and met Works and Engineering Permanent Secretary Robert Horton to discuss dealings between the States and Bermuda.
Recalling his days at Kindley, Mr. Moore told this newspaper he had to empty the "honey bucket" or toilet into a deep pit, and sometimes the waste would go over himself.
He said it was one of the worst jobs imaginable. He was aware the pit was used by other people dumping waste, and believes toxins were brought to the Island, but was not aware of any Agent Orange.
"I don't have the knowledge of what the results were after it was dumped, but I know that I did dump waste," said Mr. Moore.
"Some of the people I worked with dumped the same stuff as me, and it's possible other people dumped stuff in the pit as well."
Regarding Mr. Slater's claims, Mr. Moore said: "I think it's true. I'm in agreement as far as toxins being on the Island.
"One exception is that Slater said it was being burned. I remember stuff being thrown into the pit; as to what happened after that, I don't know.
"But I know this: I know we never filled it. If you keep dumping in it and it didn't fill it up, it's got to be going somewhere."
Mr. Moore also served in Texas during his four year military career. He says the only time he handled waste was when he was in Bermuda.
Following Mr. Slater's allegations last summer, then Works Minister Dennis Lister commissioned a report into the safety of the land at Kindley. Mr. Lister said on the report's completion: "Results do not suggest the presence of dioxin or Agent Orange to be a health risk."
However, months later, when Government finally released the report, the methods described to test the land raised questions from Mr. Slater. Mr. Moore has echoed his concern.
Although veterans say they poured waste into deep pits, the method used by A.L.S. Laboratory was to collect a sample from the top ten centimetres of the surface with a garden spade.
Mr. Slater and Mr. Moore say they would have needed to dig much deeper to carry out a proper test.
A war veteran has flown to Bermuda from Texas as he builds his case for compensation amid allegations toxic waste was dumped at Kindley Air Force Base.
Andrew Moore, 64, believes his ill health has been brought on from his time as an air passenger specialist — whose job was to dump tons of human waste in a deep pit — at the US baselands in 1963-64.
Cancer victim Mr. Moore's concerns have grown since The Royal Gazette reported former serviceman Ronald Slater's claims that he knew of numerous barrels of lethal defoliant Agent Orange being dumped and burned in a Kindley pit from 1965 to 1967.
Other veterans have claimed substances such as mercury and hydrochloric acid were disposed of in the same manner.
Mr. Moore was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer five years ago; he has had surgery to remove a third of his stomach; and he has a history of lung problems including pneumonia. Like fellow cancer victim Mr. Slater, he is locked in a compensation battle with the US government.
During his trip to Bermuda, Mr. Moore has visited the former baselands, where he pointed to the spot he remembers dumping waste, which is now fenced off, and met Works and Engineering Permanent Secretary Robert Horton to discuss dealings between the States and Bermuda.
Recalling his days at Kindley, Mr. Moore told this newspaper he had to empty the "honey bucket" or toilet into a deep pit, and sometimes the waste would go over himself.
He said it was one of the worst jobs imaginable. He was aware the pit was used by other people dumping waste, and believes toxins were brought to the Island, but was not aware of any Agent Orange.
"I don't have the knowledge of what the results were after it was dumped, but I know that I did dump waste," said Mr. Moore.
"Some of the people I worked with dumped the same stuff as me, and it's possible other people dumped stuff in the pit as well."
Regarding Mr. Slater's claims, Mr. Moore said: "I think it's true. I'm in agreement as far as toxins being on the Island.
"One exception is that Slater said it was being burned. I remember stuff being thrown into the pit; as to what happened after that, I don't know.
"But I know this: I know we never filled it. If you keep dumping in it and it didn't fill it up, it's got to be going somewhere."
Mr. Moore also served in Texas during his four year military career. He says the only time he handled waste was when he was in Bermuda.
Following Mr. Slater's allegations last summer, then Works Minister Dennis Lister commissioned a report into the safety of the land at Kindley. Mr. Lister said on the report's completion: "Results do not suggest the presence of dioxin or Agent Orange to be a health risk."
However, months later, when Government finally released the report, the methods described to test the land raised questions from Mr. Slater. Mr. Moore has echoed his concern.
Although veterans say they poured waste into deep pits, the method used by A.L.S. Laboratory was to collect a sample from the top ten centimetres of the surface with a garden spade.
Mr. Slater and Mr. Moore say they would have needed to dig much deeper to carry out a proper test.
Monday, 14 July 2008
Monday, 30 June 2008
A Distant Shore
Television Review 'A Distant Shore'
The D-Day Heroes Who Weren’t White ret
new_york_times:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/arts/television/24heff.html
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
Published: February 24, 2007
With his garrison cap, steady gaze and square jaw, Allen Price of the 3275th Quartermaster Service Company, Omaha Beach, looks like another avatar of the Greatest Generation. He even complains as those superhumans do: levelly, economically, without anger or sadness.
National Archives
An African-American color guard, from “A Distant Shore.”
“You see these movies,” he says. “Like ‘The Longest Day’ — you don’t see no African-Americans. ‘Private Ryan’ — no African-Americans.”
“Where was the balloon barrage outfit?” he continues. “Service company? Fort battalion? They didn’t show you any of that.”
Sixty-three years after he and nearly 2,000 other African-Americans participated in the American invasion of Normandy, he allows himself a trace only of irony. The significant contributions of African-American soldiers to D-Day — little known, even to the buffs to end all buffs who manage the minutiae of Second World War history — are the starting point for “A Distant Shore: African Americans of D-Day,” which has its premiere tonight on the History Channel.
With this enlightening program, the History Channel continues to home-school viewers on a complex national history of its own devising, complete with a thoroughgoing aesthetic and ideology. This time, the channel’s idiosyncrasies mean that black octogenarian servicemen appear on screen: a rare sight indeed during Black History Month, which is known more frequently for featuring civil rights advocates, artists, musicians and academics — men and women with leftist or pacifist aspects who, let’s just say, leave their garrison caps at home.
What we hear tonight are not Toni Morrison-style home-front lamentations, but war stories from a foreign land: slain buddies and precision equipment that was blown to smithereens its first time out. The armed forces were entirely segregated until 1948, and the black companies at D-Day were typically kept from combat. But, as another veteran, Carl Watson, says: “We did anything that the combat soldiers needed. Set up gas dumps. Set up ammunition dumps. Processed some of the soldiers that were killed.”
That “processing,” as we all know, was some of the grimmest and most necessary work on and after D-Day, and the African-American soldiers who were there, like all soldiers at the beachhead, remember the trauma of the gore above all else. But some also recall the bruising prejudice of basic training in Texas, where they were forced to ride in the back of the bus when they went to town, as well as the way white officers interfered with the heroes’ welcome they received in England while they waited to ship out across the channel.
Having served valiantly, the seven who are interviewed here — and who returned from the war to face contemptuous discrimination in the very country they had defended — appear to be living well, in bright and well-loved houses that the documentary permits viewers to examine discreetly. That’s where the channel’s aesthetic comes in: in a style that matches the reserve of its subjects, the film refrains from spending time — any time at all — on their wounded bodies.
Instead, they’re all shot in dignified light, many in uniform. One man, whose leg was lost in the war, describes the injury; while he’s talking, the camera leaves him to his privacy, showing instead a ship from the period, its hull torn open by enemy fire.
For anyone who believes that the documentary form is exhausted — and certainly that there are no more documentaries to be made about World War II — this is a stunning counterexample. For American schoolchildren, it ought to be required viewing, during Black History Month or any month.
The D-Day Heroes Who Weren’t White ret
new_york_times:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/arts/television/24heff.html
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
Published: February 24, 2007
With his garrison cap, steady gaze and square jaw, Allen Price of the 3275th Quartermaster Service Company, Omaha Beach, looks like another avatar of the Greatest Generation. He even complains as those superhumans do: levelly, economically, without anger or sadness.
National Archives
An African-American color guard, from “A Distant Shore.”
“You see these movies,” he says. “Like ‘The Longest Day’ — you don’t see no African-Americans. ‘Private Ryan’ — no African-Americans.”
“Where was the balloon barrage outfit?” he continues. “Service company? Fort battalion? They didn’t show you any of that.”
Sixty-three years after he and nearly 2,000 other African-Americans participated in the American invasion of Normandy, he allows himself a trace only of irony. The significant contributions of African-American soldiers to D-Day — little known, even to the buffs to end all buffs who manage the minutiae of Second World War history — are the starting point for “A Distant Shore: African Americans of D-Day,” which has its premiere tonight on the History Channel.
With this enlightening program, the History Channel continues to home-school viewers on a complex national history of its own devising, complete with a thoroughgoing aesthetic and ideology. This time, the channel’s idiosyncrasies mean that black octogenarian servicemen appear on screen: a rare sight indeed during Black History Month, which is known more frequently for featuring civil rights advocates, artists, musicians and academics — men and women with leftist or pacifist aspects who, let’s just say, leave their garrison caps at home.
What we hear tonight are not Toni Morrison-style home-front lamentations, but war stories from a foreign land: slain buddies and precision equipment that was blown to smithereens its first time out. The armed forces were entirely segregated until 1948, and the black companies at D-Day were typically kept from combat. But, as another veteran, Carl Watson, says: “We did anything that the combat soldiers needed. Set up gas dumps. Set up ammunition dumps. Processed some of the soldiers that were killed.”
That “processing,” as we all know, was some of the grimmest and most necessary work on and after D-Day, and the African-American soldiers who were there, like all soldiers at the beachhead, remember the trauma of the gore above all else. But some also recall the bruising prejudice of basic training in Texas, where they were forced to ride in the back of the bus when they went to town, as well as the way white officers interfered with the heroes’ welcome they received in England while they waited to ship out across the channel.
Having served valiantly, the seven who are interviewed here — and who returned from the war to face contemptuous discrimination in the very country they had defended — appear to be living well, in bright and well-loved houses that the documentary permits viewers to examine discreetly. That’s where the channel’s aesthetic comes in: in a style that matches the reserve of its subjects, the film refrains from spending time — any time at all — on their wounded bodies.
Instead, they’re all shot in dignified light, many in uniform. One man, whose leg was lost in the war, describes the injury; while he’s talking, the camera leaves him to his privacy, showing instead a ship from the period, its hull torn open by enemy fire.
For anyone who believes that the documentary form is exhausted — and certainly that there are no more documentaries to be made about World War II — this is a stunning counterexample. For American schoolchildren, it ought to be required viewing, during Black History Month or any month.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Secret of the 'Lost' Tribe that wasn't
PETER BEAUMONT Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008 LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - Jun 22 2008
They are the amazing pictures that were beamed around the globe: a handful of warriors from an "undiscovered tribe" in the rainforest on the Brazilian-Peruvian border brandishing bows and arrows at the aircraft that photographed them.
Or so the story was told and sold. But it has now emerged that, far from being unknown, the tribe's existence has been noted since 1910 and the mission to photograph them was undertaken in order to prove that "uncontacted" tribes still existed in an area endangered by the menace of the logging industry.
The disclosures have been made by the man behind the pictures, José Carlos Meirelles (61), one of the handful of sertanistas -- experts on indigenous tribes -- working for the Brazilian Indian Protection Agency, Funai, which is dedicated to searching out remote tribes and protecting them.
In his first interviews since the disclosure of the tribe's existence, Meirelles described how he found the group, detailed how they lived and how he planned the publicity to protect them and other tribes in similar danger of losing the habitat in which they have flourished for hundreds of years.
Meirelles admitted that the tribe was first known about almost a century ago and that the apparently chance encounter that produced the now famous images was no accident.
"When we think we might have found an isolated tribe," he told al-Jazeera, "a sertanista like me walks in the forest for two or three years to gather evidence and we mark it in our [global positioning system]. We then map the territory the Indians occupy and we draw that protected territory without making contact with them. And finally we set up a small outpost where we can monitor their protection."
But in this case Meirelles appears, controversially, to have gone out to seek and find the uncontacted tribe in an area where it was known to be living.
According to his account, the Brazilian state of Acre offered him the use of an aircraft for three days. "I had years of GPS coordinates," he said.
Meirelles had another clue to the tribe's precise location. "A friend of mine sent me some Google Earth coordinates and maps that showed a strange clearing in the middle of the forest and asked me what that was," he said. "I saw the coordinates and realised that it was close to the area I had been exploring with my son -- so I needed to fly over it."
For two days, Meirelles says, he flew a 150km-radius route over the border region with Peru and saw huts that belonged to isolated tribes. But he did not see people. "When the women hear the plane above, they run into the forest, thinking it's a big bird," he said. "This is such a remote area, planes don't fly over it."
What he was looking for was not only proof of life, but firm evidence that the tribes in this area were flourishing -- proof in his view that the policy of no contact and protection was working. On the last day, with only a couple hours of flight time remaining, Meirelles spotted a large community.
"When I saw them painted red, I was satisfied, I was happy," he said. "Because painted red means they are ready for war, which to me says they are happy and healthy defending their territory."
Survival International, the organisation that released the pictures along with Funai, conceded on Saturday that Funai had known about this nomadic tribe for about two decades. It defended the disturbance of the tribe, saying that, since the images had been released, it had forced neighbouring Peru to re-examine its logging policy in the border area where the tribe lives, as a result of the international media attention.
Activist and former Funai president Sydney Possuelo agreed that -- amid threats to their environment and doubt over the existence of such tribes -- it was necessary to publish the pictures.
But the revelation that the existence of the tribe was already established will provoke awkward questions over why a decision was made to try to photograph them -- a form of contact in itself -- in order to make a political point.
Meirelles, one of only five or so genuine sertanistas, has no regrets, arguing that the pictures and video released to the world were powerful and indisputable evidence to those who say isolated tribes no longer exist.
"Alan García [the President of Peru] declared recently that the isolated Indians were a creation in the imagination of environmentalists and anthropologists -- now we have the pictures."
But he is determined to keep the tribe's location secret -- even under torture, he says. "They can decide when they want contact, not me or anyone else." -- guardian.co.uk
They are the amazing pictures that were beamed around the globe: a handful of warriors from an "undiscovered tribe" in the rainforest on the Brazilian-Peruvian border brandishing bows and arrows at the aircraft that photographed them.
Or so the story was told and sold. But it has now emerged that, far from being unknown, the tribe's existence has been noted since 1910 and the mission to photograph them was undertaken in order to prove that "uncontacted" tribes still existed in an area endangered by the menace of the logging industry.
The disclosures have been made by the man behind the pictures, José Carlos Meirelles (61), one of the handful of sertanistas -- experts on indigenous tribes -- working for the Brazilian Indian Protection Agency, Funai, which is dedicated to searching out remote tribes and protecting them.
In his first interviews since the disclosure of the tribe's existence, Meirelles described how he found the group, detailed how they lived and how he planned the publicity to protect them and other tribes in similar danger of losing the habitat in which they have flourished for hundreds of years.
Meirelles admitted that the tribe was first known about almost a century ago and that the apparently chance encounter that produced the now famous images was no accident.
"When we think we might have found an isolated tribe," he told al-Jazeera, "a sertanista like me walks in the forest for two or three years to gather evidence and we mark it in our [global positioning system]. We then map the territory the Indians occupy and we draw that protected territory without making contact with them. And finally we set up a small outpost where we can monitor their protection."
But in this case Meirelles appears, controversially, to have gone out to seek and find the uncontacted tribe in an area where it was known to be living.
According to his account, the Brazilian state of Acre offered him the use of an aircraft for three days. "I had years of GPS coordinates," he said.
Meirelles had another clue to the tribe's precise location. "A friend of mine sent me some Google Earth coordinates and maps that showed a strange clearing in the middle of the forest and asked me what that was," he said. "I saw the coordinates and realised that it was close to the area I had been exploring with my son -- so I needed to fly over it."
For two days, Meirelles says, he flew a 150km-radius route over the border region with Peru and saw huts that belonged to isolated tribes. But he did not see people. "When the women hear the plane above, they run into the forest, thinking it's a big bird," he said. "This is such a remote area, planes don't fly over it."
What he was looking for was not only proof of life, but firm evidence that the tribes in this area were flourishing -- proof in his view that the policy of no contact and protection was working. On the last day, with only a couple hours of flight time remaining, Meirelles spotted a large community.
"When I saw them painted red, I was satisfied, I was happy," he said. "Because painted red means they are ready for war, which to me says they are happy and healthy defending their territory."
Survival International, the organisation that released the pictures along with Funai, conceded on Saturday that Funai had known about this nomadic tribe for about two decades. It defended the disturbance of the tribe, saying that, since the images had been released, it had forced neighbouring Peru to re-examine its logging policy in the border area where the tribe lives, as a result of the international media attention.
Activist and former Funai president Sydney Possuelo agreed that -- amid threats to their environment and doubt over the existence of such tribes -- it was necessary to publish the pictures.
But the revelation that the existence of the tribe was already established will provoke awkward questions over why a decision was made to try to photograph them -- a form of contact in itself -- in order to make a political point.
Meirelles, one of only five or so genuine sertanistas, has no regrets, arguing that the pictures and video released to the world were powerful and indisputable evidence to those who say isolated tribes no longer exist.
"Alan García [the President of Peru] declared recently that the isolated Indians were a creation in the imagination of environmentalists and anthropologists -- now we have the pictures."
But he is determined to keep the tribe's location secret -- even under torture, he says. "They can decide when they want contact, not me or anyone else." -- guardian.co.uk
$105million Undersea Resort for Fiji
An artist’s impression of an undersea suite for the new Poseidon Underwater Resort being built on a ‘mystery island’ in Fiji.
Mystery surrounds a multi million dollar undersea resort, being constructed in Fiji, in more ways than one.
Called the Poseidon Mystery Island, the project on an unnamed island in Fiji is being built at an estimated cost of $US105 million.
The Poseidon website says: "The exact location of Poseidon Resort's Mystery Island is still, well, a mystery."
Fiji's trade and investment promotion body, the Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau, does not appear to know anything about this project
at all. A questionnaire sent by fijilive.com last year to FTIB said the bureau was unaware of this project.
But it appears the resort is on the verge of finishing with September this year given as the completion date.
The project is being developed by Poseidon Resorts, whose president, Bruce Jones has a background that includes 20 years of work in
submarine sea technology. Jones and his team of engineers have been designing the hotel since 2001, with the help of a hotel management
team.
"Accessible by elevator and nestled in the crystal clear waters of a 5000 acre Fiji lagoon, the Poseidon Undersea Resort is the world's
first seafloor resort and the only place that visitors can spend the night 40 feet underwater in incomparable luxury," the website proclaims.
According to the website, the Poseidon Mystery Island comprises about 225 acres and is about a mile long. It boasts pristine waters that
range to 90 feet (27.4 metres) in depth replete with abundant sea life. Just outside the lagoon, the reef plunges into an abyss,
providing virgin territory to explore with the resort's submersibles.
The website says the island and its lagoon are within a coral atoll, the remnants of a long inactive volcano. At one time, the island
housed a thriving copra plantation.
Beginning in early 2009, a select group of the world's adventure travelers and undersea enthusiasts will have the opportunity to stay
on the island for weeklong visits, enjoying two nights underwater and four nights in beachfront and over-water bungalows.
The website also encourages corporate companies to say here, saying it is an unforgettable way to celebrate their successful managers and
staff or great customers.
An elevator will transport guests 40 feet (12 metres) under the sea where they will find 24 suites and one luxury apartment with all the
comforts expected from a top rated hotel.
Measuring 33 feet by 17 feet (10 mts by 5.1 mts) the 24 standard undersea hotel suites comprise 550sq ft (51 mts) of floor space. The suites are built as detachable stand-alone modules that can be placed underwater when neutrally buoyant and mated to the main corridor assembly.
About 70 per cent of the room is enveloped in 4 inch (100 millimeter) thick clear acrylic allowing spectacular sights of individual coral
gardens and the ocean beyond.
There are also 48 bungalows (locally known as bures) on the island, 24 beachfront (boasting their own enclosed courtyards) and 24 additional
bungalows are suspended above the waters of the tropical lagoon.
The website says that today only two sea floor underwater habitats are operating, both in the Florida Keys: The US Aquarius, a private
NOAA-sponsored scientific research habitat in 50 feet (15 mts) of water and Jules Undersea Lodge, a successful three-room underwater
motel accessible only to trained divers.
However, other projects are also underway and include Hydropolis, a 220-suite hotel in Dubai, and the Shanghai Shimao Wonderland in
Shanghai. Both also plan to open in 2009.
Anyone wanting to stay at Poseidon (which will also have a couple of submarines for guests) will have to sink $US15,000 into the underwater
experience ($US30,000 for a couple sharing a room).
The package includes private plane transport from a Fiji airport to the resort. The cost for exclusive use of Poseidon Mystery Island is
US$3,000,000 for seven days and six nights.
For reservations, interested people have been asked to contact Poseidon's specially trained reservations staff after March 17, 2008.
Jones is quoted in the New York Times as saying that they have already had tens of thousands of inquiries from people saving up. He is hoping
to open other underwater resorts in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.
Mystery surrounds a multi million dollar undersea resort, being constructed in Fiji, in more ways than one.
Called the Poseidon Mystery Island, the project on an unnamed island in Fiji is being built at an estimated cost of $US105 million.
The Poseidon website says: "The exact location of Poseidon Resort's Mystery Island is still, well, a mystery."
Fiji's trade and investment promotion body, the Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau, does not appear to know anything about this project
at all. A questionnaire sent by fijilive.com last year to FTIB said the bureau was unaware of this project.
But it appears the resort is on the verge of finishing with September this year given as the completion date.
The project is being developed by Poseidon Resorts, whose president, Bruce Jones has a background that includes 20 years of work in
submarine sea technology. Jones and his team of engineers have been designing the hotel since 2001, with the help of a hotel management
team.
"Accessible by elevator and nestled in the crystal clear waters of a 5000 acre Fiji lagoon, the Poseidon Undersea Resort is the world's
first seafloor resort and the only place that visitors can spend the night 40 feet underwater in incomparable luxury," the website proclaims.
According to the website, the Poseidon Mystery Island comprises about 225 acres and is about a mile long. It boasts pristine waters that
range to 90 feet (27.4 metres) in depth replete with abundant sea life. Just outside the lagoon, the reef plunges into an abyss,
providing virgin territory to explore with the resort's submersibles.
The website says the island and its lagoon are within a coral atoll, the remnants of a long inactive volcano. At one time, the island
housed a thriving copra plantation.
Beginning in early 2009, a select group of the world's adventure travelers and undersea enthusiasts will have the opportunity to stay
on the island for weeklong visits, enjoying two nights underwater and four nights in beachfront and over-water bungalows.
The website also encourages corporate companies to say here, saying it is an unforgettable way to celebrate their successful managers and
staff or great customers.
An elevator will transport guests 40 feet (12 metres) under the sea where they will find 24 suites and one luxury apartment with all the
comforts expected from a top rated hotel.
Measuring 33 feet by 17 feet (10 mts by 5.1 mts) the 24 standard undersea hotel suites comprise 550sq ft (51 mts) of floor space. The suites are built as detachable stand-alone modules that can be placed underwater when neutrally buoyant and mated to the main corridor assembly.
About 70 per cent of the room is enveloped in 4 inch (100 millimeter) thick clear acrylic allowing spectacular sights of individual coral
gardens and the ocean beyond.
There are also 48 bungalows (locally known as bures) on the island, 24 beachfront (boasting their own enclosed courtyards) and 24 additional
bungalows are suspended above the waters of the tropical lagoon.
The website says that today only two sea floor underwater habitats are operating, both in the Florida Keys: The US Aquarius, a private
NOAA-sponsored scientific research habitat in 50 feet (15 mts) of water and Jules Undersea Lodge, a successful three-room underwater
motel accessible only to trained divers.
However, other projects are also underway and include Hydropolis, a 220-suite hotel in Dubai, and the Shanghai Shimao Wonderland in
Shanghai. Both also plan to open in 2009.
Anyone wanting to stay at Poseidon (which will also have a couple of submarines for guests) will have to sink $US15,000 into the underwater
experience ($US30,000 for a couple sharing a room).
The package includes private plane transport from a Fiji airport to the resort. The cost for exclusive use of Poseidon Mystery Island is
US$3,000,000 for seven days and six nights.
For reservations, interested people have been asked to contact Poseidon's specially trained reservations staff after March 17, 2008.
Jones is quoted in the New York Times as saying that they have already had tens of thousands of inquiries from people saving up. He is hoping
to open other underwater resorts in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.
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