UNESCO listing fails to revive Levuka economy

Levuka’s economy is still struggling, with businesses facing challenges following the town’s UNESCO World Heritage listing, according to Levuka Town Council Special Administrator Chair Ben Naidu.

Presenting the council’s 2019–2021 annual report to the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Naidu said the listing had not delivered the economic benefits the town had expected.

He says the way the World Heritage system was implemented, in his view, had negatively affected local businesses and contributed to the town’s economic downturn.

Naidu adds that many people had left Levuka, while the local economy continued to struggle to recover.

“But before our heritage, we were okay. The rules were different. When heritage came, they brought in a lot of new rules, and most of the townspeople could not abide by those rules. But having said that, heritage, it’s very good, but if it would have been implemented in the way that they had promised us at the first place, that they were going to pour in so much cash flow into the economy of Levuka town, then it would have been a good thing.”

Naidu argued that the town had been left dealing with new requirements without the expected cash flow to support businesses and development.

“One of the effects that had happened when heritage came into Levuka town was that droves of people left Levuka town and went away. The economy of the town went down and as I speak we are still pretty low right down there and we are still struggling to get out of the place, to get out of this syndrome that we are in.”

Naidu adds that the town was still trying to recover from the downturn and needed a better way forward to ensure the heritage status delivered real economic benefits for the
town.