Transcript
Ngatau Neneia: At the moment we are gathering people, the families of the victims. And we try to make that manage, maybe, if we can manage to get at least 50 percent of the families of the victims them we might be able to take legal action against the government or whoever is responsible for the disaster. But at this stage we are just getting all these people together and we are trying to get support from other NGOs.
Mackenzie Smith: How many people have you got so far?
NN: We have this group from the island Nonouti that came here a week ago and they have asked us to meet with them, but we will have to make an appointment next week because ... very busy this week. So next week we'll be making this work and then from there we might be able to know the progress, because there's quite a number of them coming and asking to meet up with them.
MS: Has there been any conversation with the government over this yet?
NN: No, I haven't talked with the government directly but we've heard from them, their stance on this issue as discussed by the President at the last sitting of the house and he made it clear that he will be holding on to the report, not releasing it until further notice. So, we don't know how long will that be. Sorry, no idea. But we haven't dealt directly with the government on this issue.
MS: And would this legal action, would it be seeking the release of the report or would it be seeking more than that?
NN: That's the thing, we have to work on that with our legal advisor. We're still in the process of trying to identify one because it's going to be quite a task. But at the end of this ... there are two sides of the story. First we will be having a referendum on the island of Nanauti to see if they would like the government to release the information and the reports by the commission of inquiry, that's one, that's the referendum. And then the second part is the legal action.
MS: Tell me a bit more about this referendum, and has this already been agreed to?
NN: Our NGO is going to carry out this referendum with the approval of our board. I still have to give a clearance from our board of directors, so hopefully by next week. But the concerns is among the directors, even though we haven't met regarding this issue, they are supporting this move. And I have heard from the people of Nanauti - I am from Nonouti myself, and I've got family members who perished in this disaster, so I've talked to some of my family, and they are willing to take this referendum. But I'm still waiting for the formal approval from our board of directors.
