3. What New Zealand Can Do to Help Resolve the Fiji Political Situation

Since writing the previous article in this three part series, Bainimarama's remark about the "people" wanting  him to stay on after 2014 has been taken up by his opponents as the first sign he's not serious about elections. His remark was not read in its context. He was illustrating the support he had during his provincial tours to debunk Smith and McCully's remarks that the situation in Fiji had deteriorated. There never was any suggestion that  elections would not be held in September 2014. See this FijiLive clarification.  

Photo: NZ PM John Key --- looking for an answer?

"They still cannot and do not want to understand the situation in Fiji and in doing that Australia and New Zealand have failed to understand and recognize my Government’s efforts in creating a country that is non-racial, culturally vibrant and united, well governed, fully democratic nation that seeks progress and prosperity through merit based equality, opportunity and peace. That is what we been telling these people for the last four years.” --- Bainimarama. http://www.radiofiji.com.fj/fullstory.php?id=28260

Opinion: Crosbie Walsh

There are four essentials.

• One, Bainimarama and the Fiji Government must be treated with the respect due to a sovereign nation. It is a studded insult to refer to Bainimarama as the interim PM and Ratu Inoke Kubuabola as the interim Foreign Minister.  Bainimarama is the de facto PM and there's nothing interim about it. Nothing is achieved by insulting the man you wish to influence. 
• Two, the first move, aimed at triggering positive responses from Fiji, must come from New Zealand or Australia.Why? Because Fiji already made its move in inviting the Ministers to Fiji. The invitation was withdrawn after the Ministers' comments.  It's our move.
•  Three, each positive step taken by Fiji should be publicly acknowledged and welcomed, and followed by a further quid pro quo "concession" from New Zealand.  One-off negative steps by Fiji should not be exaggerated or dramatised. They are better overlooked or discussed behind the scenes. An open exchange of angry or disparaging words should be avoided. 
• Four,  no further attempts should be made to bring the elections forward from 2014; concentrate instead on the suggested actions listed below.

Our government and Australia's should also cease their covert support for the ousted Qarase government and urge Fiji government opponents to reassess their position. No SAS paratroopers are coming to their rescue and no helicopter will swoop down on the military barracks to abduct Bainimarama.

While, ultimately, it is what governments do that decide national outcomes, our media should be encouraged to play a better informed positive role -- or at least stop playing a negative role. Its Fiji coverage  has been so partisan that it's often an embarrassment to the fair-minded. And TV could start by showing Bainimarama wearing something other than a military uniform.

Governments and politicians do not pluck foreign policies, strategies and tactics out of the air. Our Government turns for advice  and information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and NZAid.  Government should instruct these advisers to prioritise work on how to break the impasse and improve our relations with Fiji. The longer the present situation is allowed to deteriorate, the harder it will be to remedy.The Ministry needs to re-think its sources, information and advice on Fiji and start again from square one.

These are the things I think NZ (and Australia) can do to restore relations with Fiji and  help resolve the political situation. My suggestions are listed in roughly easier-to-harder order of difficulty, with a comment added where necessary.

• Try immediately to restore the lost ground, by behind the scenes approaches
• Amend travel advisories, indicating that visitors need only take the normal precautions
• Make the NZ High Commission in Suva more pro-active in meeting government and trade officials
• Restore the previous normal access to the NZ High Commission floors in the Reserve Bank Building.  I understand even applications for visas now have to come by courier post!
• Do not discourage, and in some areas encourage, NZ trade and investment activities in Fiji
• Ease up on the Travel bans, starting with the families of non-military officials
• Restore full working relations with Fiji in all regional agencies other than the Forum
• Progressively encourage more Fiji participation in Pacer and Forum affairs
• Sustain pressure for human rights improvements by all means but give, where it is due, credit for social justice and other improvements.
• Inform the Commonwealth, the EU and other international agencies that some social justice issues are improving, and generally give credit where credit is due.
• Offer technical assistance on anti-corruption measures, legal draftsmanship, constitutional law, electoral reforms, and other areas where Fiji lacks, and we have, the necessary expertise
• Progressively restore full diplomatic relations

Finally, there should be no sense of shame or back pedalling in modifying our dealings with Fiji. In the real world, policies often have to fit situations because ever-changing situations rarely fit policies. 

We will not be adopting a new approach because we approve of coups or the Bainimarama government. Our new approach will simply reflect our improved understanding of how best to deal with the realities of a de facto government. We will be making the most of a difficult situation, ever intent on the need to achieve the best outcomes for our near neighbour -- and for ourselves.

The last thing either country needs, and this is not the first time I've said it,  is a failed coup.  Some permanent traction needs to come from the roller coaster events of the last three and one-half years.

New Blog Weapon, FNPF Wants Transparency, Campbell Bias, Russians, Crime, Economy, Udu Peninsula Road

MINOR BLITZ ON MY BLOG. There was a spate of anti-government comments to this blog last week. I've published the least offensive, but am left wondering whether it's the same two or three people using a sort of automatic comment release weapon. Most say almost the same thing. I would welcome more counter-comments.

There's a lovely poem about Frank's 01 number of Allen Lockington's Saturday feature.  Start your week with a smile.

(+) DELOITTE FNPF REPORT FUND TO GO PUBLIC. The report by international accountants Deloitte into the Fiji National Provident Fund will be made public, subject to possible legal exception,  says NLTB CEO Aisake Taito. He said this was part of a strategic plan to ensure that all people who had defrauded the national pension fund in the past years would be taken to task.

Chairman Ajith Kodagoda said they were determined to see justice was done. “This will serve as a lesson that what has happened will not be repeated. People need to know what happened here,” he said. Bad decisions in the past resulted in a succession of boards and management "running with the flow without creating ripples. Now the management has said: Look, we don’t want any of this, and we want a clean-up act both inside and outside.”

(-) 'LIVING ROUGH IN FIJI.' 4 June 2010. ABC Pacific correspondent Campbell Cooney "reflects on his assignment to Fiji and how ordinary Fijians are faring under the rule of interim prime minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama." I think readers will be disappointed with this light piece from ABC's Pacific expert. Most could have been written from his desk in Canberra. Sorry, Campbell, but I've got to ask how long were you there? Where did you go? Who did you meet other than the hotel worker and the poor man who couldn't afford neck chops and mutton flaps, and had to make do with local chicken? This was your fifth visit since 2006. Why didn't you learn more? How much did this cost ABC?

(o) HIGH RANKING RUSSIAN DELEGATION. Russia may invest in ten new projects, ranging from agriculture to the film industry, according to Ambassador Alexander Blokhin as it seeks to develop economical, political and cultural relations with the country.The delegation includes high ranking officials from the foreign ministry and ministry of industries and trade.

(G) INFLATION UP 9.4%. Fiji’s average annual rate of inflation  stood at 9.4 percent in May 2010, compared to the same month in 2009, the Bureau of Statistics said in figures released last week.

(G) $22 MILLION ARREARS ON STATE LAND. This is the amount owed as of May 2010,  says permanent secretary for Lands and Mineral Resources, Lt-Col.Neumi Leweni.

(+) CO-OPERATION AGAINST CRIME. Defence Minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau has welcomed a new memorandum of understanding between police and prisons which will see a coordinated work to combat crime. He said “The concept of institutionalising initiatives and intents has brought about sectoral divisions and turf protection amongst agencies, which is a barricade to achieving institutional objectives. Yes, such initiatives not only maximises cooperation but categorically sets out the right rhythm for the way forward in achieving corporate outcomes through optimum sharing of resources, skills, knowledge and information.” Source: Minfo.

(o) THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC in Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, is getting worse. At least seven people have died and there are now said to be as many as 600 suspected cases that have been detected since August, in coastal villages around Port Moresby. 

(+) ANOTHER ROAD STORY. The near completed 10km half-million dollar Udu Peninsula Road in the extreme east of Fiji's second island, Vanua Levu, is being praised by villagers who presently have to spend $400 for boat hire to Labasa in cases of medical emergencies, and leave costs outweighing sales for prospective fish sales. What cost $400 by boat will soon cost villagers from Vunikodi, Nabouono, Cawaro, Nukudamu and Nukusa villages $50 by bus. Improved rural roading is part of the government's Roadmap to stimulate development and lift the living standards of people in rural areas and the outer islands.

(+) AGRICULTURE'S POTENTIAL. Primary Industries Minister Joketani Cokanasiga told a consultative forum that science-based and market-driven agriculture and agro-industries remain the country's "economic backbone."

“The agriculture sector now faces many challenges and issues which need to be addressed and there are strategic issues which are currently being addressed by government such as the availability of arable agricultural land and security of tenure. Once these issues are addressed, farmers will be able to achieve production targets thereby reducing imports, increase exports, which will in turn reduce poverty and achieve economic prosperity and food security for Fiji and her citizens."

(B) Democracy in Fiji : Unravelling the Myth

by Rodney V. Cole

Fiji-born and now Australian citizen, Rodney Cole spend 20 years in Fiji's public service, in both district and the central administrations. At various times he was a Member of the Council of Ministers, the Executive Council, the Legislative Council, and the Fijian Affairs Board. He held a Commission in the Fiji Military Forces and in 1984 led a team which resulted in changes to the structure of the Fijian Administration. In this brief article, he traces the erratic path of Fiji's incomplete democracies, and considers what Australia can do to break the current impasse.

It could well be regarded as Fiji’s ‘day of infamy, May 14th 1987, the day a senior officer of the Royal Fiji Military Forces led a coup to usurp the authority of an elected government. Acting as he did the perpetrator of the coup not only shattered the idea that Fiji was a democratic country but also destroyed the long held belief that Fijian commoners venerated the authority of their traditional chiefs. Further, the belief that Fijian soldiers were unswervingly loyal to their Commander in Chief, the Governor General, no longer held.

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in www.connectme.com.fj/news/opinion. I thank Allen and Connect for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.

Phone Calls

When I read that Commander Frank Bainimarama had given his 01 phone number to the people of Lau, I thought back to the days when politicians came around villages and towns to make promises. At a rally a few years ago, the vying politician would say, “I will be your voice if I get into Parliament. I will make sure you get what you want.” Well, maybe not in those exact words but the manifestos usually said it.

Many politicians also gave their phone number to people but when people did call, they would get irritated. The promise was, “Please come to my office anytime.” But when they got there they had to make an appointment because the line was “two years” long. This, of course, was after the politicians had entered the hallowed halls of Parliament.

For some of them it was like the fairy story when the bad man is banished from the kingdom and never to be seen or heard from again.  Until, five years later and elections came round again, when they would emerged from the woodwork with shirt buttons almost busting at the belly button. Usually with a grin on their faces that would put the joker to shame.

But, coming back to the 01 number, I do hope people only call up the Commander to give valid information, and not to ask what he's having for dinner.

Allen Lockington

2. What Bainimarama May Be Prepared to Do

Opinion: Crosbie Walsh

One way of answering the question of what the Bainimarama Government may be prepared to do in response to Forum requests for "progress" on democracy is to start by asking what the Government would definitely NOT be prepared to do. Photo: Bainimarama and Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, mid-2006. newcom.au

To which the most straightforward answer is no major change will be made to the three Roadmap "stages" leading to elections in 2014, and the main pillars or constructs of the People's Charter are non-negotiable.

The first stage, until 2012, will continue to focus on administrative reforms and improvements to physical infrastructure.  The former involves public sector reform, land and sugar industry reform, and anti-corruption and abuse of office measures; the latter involves roads, to a lesser extent airports and seaports, and greater agricultural productivity, in sugar, vegetables, import substitution and food security. All these  measures are aimed at growing the economy in difficult times.  Government action to de-politize this phase, which has resulted in the censorship of the media and restrictions on rights of assembly, is because, at this stage, they think the  divisive influences of politics will put their immediate aims out of focus. The constant calls for national unity and nation-building is about as political as it is likely to be.

The second stage starts in earnest in 2012 when the focus will be on Constitutional and Electoral reform to be completed by 2013, when the third stage will allow the country a clear 12 months to prepare for the September 2014 Elections.

The three stages are more statements of intent and focus than absolute boundaries, and some issues that might be expected later are already receiving attention. Many deal with  issues that  Australia and New Zealand  should applaud  because they concern material human rights at a personal level. Most can be grouped under the heading of social justice: the introduction of minimum wages, a number of actions action against poverty, non-discriminatory scholarships, educational assistance for poorer families, the protection of women and children, work on HIV/Aids, homosexuality, prison reform and prisoner rehabilitation, and making government services more accessible to the public.  The only direct "political" actions have been two representative, but not totally inclusive, Dialogue consultations, and taking the People's Charter, a foundation document for Constitutional and Electoral reform, for explanation and discussion to people in the provinces.

What Bainimara is prepared to do will, I think, be influenced by what those currently opposed to him, in Fiji and overseas, are prepared to do in exchange.  I will deal in more detail with this issue in the next and final article in this series, but for now one thing should be made clear: he is far more likely to respond positively if he is not attacked and insulted and if some credit is given for what he is has achieved and is attempting.

So, given these constraints and presumptions, what might Bainimarama be prepared to do during stage one, between now and 2012?  Most suggestions relate to different types and levels of civilian participation.

With tactful pressure from Fiji civil society he may be prepared to increase civilian direct and indirect participation in government and, if efficiency can be assured, reduce military participation. To some extent this is already happening with the Dialogue process, but these people are not dealing with the day-to-day issues of government.

A greater number of "credible" people could be invited to be advisers to Government. By credible,  I mean well-known and appropriately qualified people who are not currently government supporters.  It may be too much to expect former Vice-President and lawyer Ratu Joni Madrawiwi to be either invited or to accept, but it may take people of his mana to persuade Australia and New Zealand that "progress" really is being made.

The Dialogue process could be accelerated with more forward-looking issues dealt with earlier. Here we might have more details, discussion and even possibly debate on what Government wants in the Constitutional and Electoral reforms, and what it intends the military role to be after 2014.  I have tried to start discussion on some of these "which path forward" questions in the Na Sala Cava features on my blog.  With increasing goodwill and sensible monitoring, it would be good to see matters such as the future possible roles and composition of Senate and the Great Council of Chiefs, an elected President, and the pros and cons of fewer electorates, discussed in the media. It would also be good for Government, not just to hear public feedback but because more public involvement would lead to more support for Government. More people would think it is "their" government. Why wait until 2012 to take the doubters on board?

The Dialogue process, and further work on the People's Charter, could become much more inclusive, involving people from widely different backgrounds, and meetings could be held on a regular basis at different localities. Government could be willing to accept participation from all former politicians (with the possible exception of Laisenia Qarase and his cabinet) who are prepared to accept the People's Charter.

The Media Decree could be quickly finalised, with most matters questioned in the Draft attended to, and the Public Emergency Regulations (PER) lifted. Independent observers could monitor the implementation of the Decree to ensure a free but responsible media. The lifting of PER will hopefully lead to more open but responsible political discussion and freedom of assembly.  This could also  include lifting the ban on annual meetings and lesser assemblies of the Methodist Church-- if the Church is first de-politicized.

It is too early for reconciliation along the lines of South Africa or the Solomons, but conciliatory moves taken now will make reconciliation easier later.

The changes we might reasonably expect from Bainimarama are not earth-shattering. Considered separately they may appear piecemeaal and incremental, but once change starts in the right direction the momentum should be sufficient to persuade Australia and New Zealand to make major changes to their current approach to Fiji.  In the next and final article, to be published on Monday, I shall consider what those changes might be.

Two Announcements, Land, Visas, Airlines, Typhoid

ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. New Na Sala Cava questions will be posted next week when a new approach to this feature will be announced. Scroll down for this week's questions.
2. The second commentary on the Forum MCG meeting fallout, promised for today, will now be published tomorrow.

(G) STATE LAND REGISTER UNDER REVIEW. The land register administered by the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources is currently under review to ensure an effective administration of state land, says Permanent Secretary for Lands and Mineral Resources, Lt-Col Neumi Leweni.

“With whole of Government seeking social stability and sustainable economic development, the state land register is crucial to these aspirations being realised,” Lt-Col Leweni explained. The ministry recognises that land is a source of wealth and for the ministry to unlock that wealth an effective system of state land registration needs to be in place. “Good land registration would enable Government to clearly determine the best use of the land and get maximum returns from it."In addition, Lt-Col Leweni says one of the major concerns is the poor policing of state land and the developments undertaken on these lands.

With rental arrears of approximately $22million as of May 2010, and 284 state leases to expire by the end of this year, Lt-Col Leweni stressed that the ministry will focus on how state land could be best utilised, to ensure maximum return to Government while at the same time contribute effectively to land reform in the country. -- Minfo release.

ONGOING VISA RESTRICTIONS imposed on Fijian military personnel by the Australian government has cost the Fijian side to play the Wallabies in Canberra on Saturday the services of two key players.

BUDGET AIRLINE VIRGIN BLUE is considering cutting its loss-making Fiji service rather that complete with Qantas and its budget subsidiary Jetstar.

FLY DIRECT AUCKLAND TO SUVA. Air Pacific has re-introduced direct flights from Auckland to Nausori, saving time and money for business and other people wishing to visit the capital.A Boeing 737-700 aircraft with eight seats in Tabua/Business Class and 110 in Pacific Voyager/Economy Class will be used. Tickets are for sale now.

TYPHOID UPDATE.The vaccination of all people in the outbreak area started yesterday.Parental consent is being sought for the vaccination of children. All pubic gatherings,sports functions,  the sale of uncooked food and grog (kava) drinking are banned until further notice. The Ministry of Health is grateful to the assistance given by AUSAid and WHO. No further cases have been reported outside the affected area that is located in five villagers in remote inland Navosa on the main island of Viti Levu.  There is no perceived threat to tourists if their normal sanitary standards are maintained.

Having said that, it would appear that some typhoid cases (not outbreaks) have been reported in many areas and that all up there are 263 reported cases. The actual figure could be much higher, with new cases being reported after mass gatherings such as weddings and funerals.

On a more positive note, World Health Organization officials in Fiji  think a mass immunisation of the population over the age of two could "completely eradicate the disease." Funding is being sought for this purpose.

1. Bainimarama and McCully: the Way Backwards

 Opinion -- Crosbie Walsh

We know Bainimarama is no diplomat.  He calls it as he sees it, and the devil take the consequences.  Sometimes this is refreshing. It's not often a country's leader speaks so openly. But most times it is not the best way to speak to -- or about -- other governments if you want to defrost relations, and find a way forward.


 Now Bainimarama has a twin, Murray McCully, who cannot be excused, as some would say Bainimarama can, for his lack of lèse majesté. McCully is not a military man. He is an experienced senior politician, Godzone's foreign minister, a diplomat who should know better than to say what he feels -- even when his bigger Australian brother, Stephen Smith, sets a poor example and says almost the same thing.

Speaking immediately after the Forum's Ministerial Contact Group meeting "broke up" in Auckland on Monday afternoon,  McCully reported no progress on Fiji. He said the situation had deteriorated on human rights, censorship, arrests, no preparations for the 2014 elections, etc., and, most importantly, dialogue to date had not included all "stakeholders," by which he meant the former political parties and former parliamentary leaders such as Qarase and Chaudhry. If only he had chosen his words more carefully and said "there appears not to have been as much progress as we would have liked" and omitted the reference to the stakeholders.

Until that point in time the Fiji government had invited the MCG to visit Fiji to see things on the ground, and the MCG had accepted. Unfortunately, this slight glimmer of hope that some progress had been made at the meeting was about to be extinguished. And anyone who knows even the tiniest thing about Fiji or Bainimarama could have seen it coming.

McCully's remarks may have been acceptable if confined to a NZ public to explain the lack of progress. But there's no way, in this electronic age, that public remarks can be confined. He must have known his remarks would also reach Fiji. From this point on, the outcome was entirely predicable. Bainimarama took offence at the "deterioration" remarks. And I must say I have some sympathy with his position. Much progress has been made, but not with consulting NZ's stakeholders.

Why come to Fiji, Bainimarama asked, when they (the Australian and NZ Ministers) already have their minds made up?  Pacific Islanders leaders, he said, will meet without you under the Melanesian Spearhead Group umbrella later this month. Forget your pretended open-mind visit to Fiji.  The invitation is withdrawn.

Relations may improve as time goes by, but for the moment it looks like another lost opportunity.

This leaves me wondering if NZ really wanted dialogue with Fiji.  McCully is no fool. Why were his remarks so negative and poorly chosen?  Could it be that the MCG meeting in Auckland was only a face-saving tactic to appease those Pacific Island leaders who do not agree with Australia and New Zealand's hard line? Or could it be there's an expectation that, given time, the Bainimarama government will collapse or be replaced, and the Pacific will ease back to the kind of cosy relations we once had with our Island neighbours? Dream on.

On Friday, I'll make some suggestions on what McCully (and Forum leaders who agree with his position) can reasonable expect as "concessions" from Fiji -- and what they can not. And on Monday,  I'll write about possible New Zealand "concessions."  It takes two to tango.

Postscript. The PM has told the Acting Heads of the NZ and Australian missions in Suva to get out of their offices and see what's going on around them.The PM said he is concerned that misleading information is being fed by the officials of the two High Commissions to their governments. "The problem also with some of the officials is that they are speaking to a group of people who always oppose or see wrong in everything the government does."

Roads, Loans and Roadmap,Forum & ABC Reporting Bias, Prisons Showcase

(G) PRESIDENT CALLS FOR UNITY. Ratu Epeli used the occasion of the opening of the Ratu Naevo Road in Nadi to call for "unity among the different ethnic groups for a better Fiji for the future." The 320-metre four-lane link road built at a cost to the Town Council of $1.3m will lessen conjestion in Nadi's narrow main street and speed traffic along Queen's Road, the most direct route from the West to the southern coast and Suva.

Stressing its infrastructural importance, Ratu Elepi said "Nadi is one of the fastest growing towns in Fiji and with a sizeable population and hub of tourism activities, infrastructure developments play a very important role." The road is named after the late Ratu Apisai Naevo, a former senator and Nawaka chief. Based on Minfo release.

(o+)  PM THANKS MALAYSIA EXIM BANK for its US$40m loan for  road upgrading work. The PM was speaking  at the ground breaking ceremony in Nadi yesterday to mark the commencement of a US$40 million road rehabilitation project financed by the Exim Bank. of Malaysia. The two-year project will improve over 100km of Queens and Kings highways.

The PM said the project’s implementation would assist Fiji's still fragile economy as it  recovers from the global financial and economic crisis in addition to three natural disasters. Infrastructure development,  particularly roads, is a major component of the government's Roadmap.

“The poor condition of infrastructure is due to a number of reasons which are well known to all. These include poor maintenance, lack of funding and resources allocation to infrastructure development and our vulnerability to natural disaster. In the last 15 months, we experienced three natural disasters which have made the situation much more worse when $80 million worth of roading infrastructure were damaged.”

He said the Malaysian government was approached for support “taking into account the lack of support from some of our development partners and the limited resources available to government”.

(-) IMPARTIAL, BALANCED REPORTING ABC-STYLE. RadioAustralia's Campbell Cooney interviewed Ministers McCully, Smith, Abel and academics Brij Lal and Stephen Ratuva yesterday on the outcoming of the MCG meeting in Auckland. Fiji Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola (or another representative of the Fiji goverment) was not interviewed.

This is a precis of Campbell's  introduction: It is 12 months since the Ministerial Contact Group last met. In that time the interim goverment has scrapped the Constitution, enforced censorship, banned public meetings, arrested church, community and political leaders, devalued its currency by 20%, 40% of all families are estimated to be living in poverty, jobs are down, and the government has applied to the IMF for US$500m to meet its costs.  [Now for the good news![

 (+) LET THE PEOPLE KNOW. Making the public service more efficient and accountable is part of the government's Roadmap.  So also is informing the public of the work of the different ministries. The latest move here is by the Government Information and Referral Centre that this morning hosted the first of a series: a  four-day showcase on the  work of the Prisons and Correction Services.

Prisons Media Officer Fred Elbourne said,  “What we will be showing is our programs in prison our rehabilitative program, our recruitment training, our commercialization, we have people from the fire department we have hapkido experts, we have our emergency unit our dog unit. Our works will be on showcase to show the people how taxpayers’ money is being spent." He urges the public to come out in numbers and support their rehabilitation work for our fellow citizens behind bars.

STATE-CHURCH RELATIONS AND THE GREAT COUNCIL OF CHIEFS. Scroll down to the Na Sala Cava questions on these topics. For earlier topics, click on the link to our companion blog in the left column. New questions will be posted next week.

Forum MCG Meeting, Text 01, FNPF Loss, Typhoid, Charter, Church-State and Chiefs

FLOP OR NOT? The Auckland Forum meeting yesterday closed with little obvious change in the Forum's stance on Fiji, but channels are to be kept open and the Ministerial Contact Group will visit Fiji within the next five weeks to "see things on the ground." I shall have a substantial opinion piece on what messages can be taken from the meeting today or tomorrow.

(G) PM'S 01 TEXT SERVICE a HIT.So far 237 queries have been received from the public on the Prime Minister's 01 text service. Most queries and complaints were about water supply, the time police took to process cases. and road conditions. Agencies are given 24 hours to responde or take action, and if they don't a message is sent to the respective permanent secretary.  Condensed from Ministry of Information release. photo:mediabistro.com

"It's the PM's eyes and ears on the ground,"says Personal Staff Officer PMO, Capt Rokoura, adding that the 01 unit "is essentially a command, monitoring, coordinating unit. We monitor, we coordinate, and we direct, that's why it's effective." The public can also email the PM at pmsoffice@rocketmail.com

WHY THE FNPF LOSS? The Fiji National Provident Fund has announced a net loss of $181.15 million for the 2009 financial year http://www.fijilive.com/news_new/index.php/news/show_news/26033 saying it would have recorded a net surplus of $146.49 million if it had not been for the fund’s recently announced $320 million write off.

TOURISM AND TYPHOID. Tourism Fiji chairman Patrick Wong said there is "no cause for alarm [for tourists] at this stage as the typhoid outbreak is confined to Navosa only and the Ministry is closely monitoring the situation." No new cases have been reported in the area but there are previously unreported cases in Wainunu, Bua province, in Fiji's other "big" island, Vanua Levu.

EMPLOYERS SAY FNPF UNREASONABLE. The Fiji National Provident Fund is going too far in trying to recover $7.65million in contributions owed by employers says the Fiji Employers Federation.[I'd be interested to know if readers agree.]

OFF-SHORE DEBT THREAT TO ECONOMY.The IMF thinks the US$150m debt taken out by the Qarase government will be difficult to repay next year unless GDP and export growth improve, and this needs economic reforms that may not go down well with the public.

CAKAUDROVE, REWA AND THE CHARTER. Cakaudrove Provincial Council reports that it will decide soon on whether to support the People's Charter. Rewa has yet to decide whether to discuss the matter. Many provinces now support the Charter. Government says it respects their deicision but the PM previously warned those who do not support the work of government to step aside and not try to stand in its way.

STATE-CHURCH RELATIONS AND THE GREAT COUNCIL OF CHIEFS. Scroll down to new Na Sala Cava questions on these topics. For earlier topics, click on the link to our companion blog in the left column.

Afghanistan: the Blog's Latest Flag

Presuming that the blog readers in Afghanistan are Fiji soldiers, a sincere welcome to, and best wishes from, this blog site. Take care.