Building a Social Safety Net, FSC's Alleged Negligence, Some Crook Pharmicists, Lottery Zero Point Five

WEEKEND READING.  ♦ Allen Lockington column ♦ The Eleven Pillars of the People's Charter 
♦ Jone Baledrokadroka's Ideas on Legitimacy  ♦ Fr Barr on VAT.

 
BUILDING FIJI'S SOCIAL SAFETY NET. Food vouchers of $30 a month at a cost of $7.5m were introduced in March 2010 and initially affected 27,000 needy people. In the December 2011 Budget Government announced a further allocation of $4m and a widening of criteria for rural families to cater for another 10,000 people.

Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni (photo) said the additional money will allow assistance to people 70 years and over, and families with children, the sick and infirm, and pregnant mothers living in households where the annual income is under $10,000. The measure is one of several that go some way towards providing a welfare net to Fiji's more needy families. Other measures include:

• Raising the income tax threshold from $9,000 to $15,000
• School bus fare subsidies and free school textbooks
• Price controls
• More rigorous work by the Consumer Council and Commerce Commission
• More worker protection and "promise" of minimum wages
• Exemption from user-pays medical costs
• VAT exemption on essential food items
• Delay on VAT increase until after schools start

A total of 10,000 recipients in rural and remote areas will be identified under the Government’s new food voucher programme. The Ministry's permanent secretary Govind Sami said: "The $4million that has been set aside in the new food voucher programme is only for 10,000 recipients living in rural communities. Categories range from old, sickly and also pregnant mothers in the rural communities who will be visiting rural dispensaries and health centers for their clinics and about 4000 to 5000 families with children attending primary schools.”. Meanwhile, the introduction of the Westpac Handy Cards to Family Assistance (FA) and Care and Protection (C&P) recipients will see social welfare services taken to an improved level.(2011, No:0014 /AG).

The Fiji Times, however, reports that the Ministry is having some difficulty in winning the support of small shops and cooperatives in some rural areas, and intends to re-advertise requesting their participation.

DISTURBING REPORT ON NORTHERN SUGAR. The FSC and the Fiji Cane Growers Association are disputing the amount of unharvested cane in the Northern Division that has been allowed to go to waste. FCGA Labasa Branch President Mohammed Rafiq wants  PM and Sugar Minister Bainimarama to come and see "what is the real story about the sugar industry in the Northern Division."

"We are very much concerned as I have mentioned that sugar cane farmers are suffering a lot. They are crying on the farms because they all had the hope that their cane would be crushed and than they will get something at the end of the day.At least a tonne of harvested cane went to waste after the Labasa Mill ended crushing on 24th of last month, and there would have been more except that many farmers could not deliver all their harvested cane as there were no quota and rail trucks provided.

SCGA Acting CEO Sundresh Chetty says a survey conducted by the council showed that more than one thousand tonnes of harvested cane was not accepted by the Labasa Sugar mill before it ended its crushing season. The Council claims negligence on the part of the FSC in Labasa and as submitted a full report to PM’s office.

PHARMACISTS BREACH RULES. A survey by the Consumer Council that included 47 of Fiji's 55 pharmacists found numerous examples of overcharging (57%), mislabelling (40%), incorrect prescribed dosages, and receipts that did not include the pharmacy's name or address. None of the receipts specified the individual medicine names. The Council recommended the prosecution of offending pharmacies and a review of the functions of the Fiji Pharmaceutical Society with a view to strengthening its Code of Conduct and monitoring its members'  trading practices.

Meanwhile, doctors are being advised and medical students taught to prescribe according to  generic drug names, that Fiji imports in bulk, not the far more expensive branded names. Individuals who can afford originator drugs have the freedom to purchase these items and pay a premium price.  The retail pharmacies can make their margins from these patients.  The role of government is to protect and care for the vulnerable, sick, poor and aged patients of Fiji by controlling the price of common generics. -- Based on 2011, No:0018/MOH.

LOTTERY ZERO POINT FIVE. The Fiji Rugby Union's decision to cut the price of its lottery tickets from $20 to $10 because they had too many unsold tickets would be laughable in most other rugby-playing countries, but not in Fiji where an aggrieved FRU Chairman Bill Gavoka, faced with a likely $125,000 fine for breach of Commerce Commission regulations, could only say "It's mind boggling that the process is in place."  For some reason, NZ Stuff in reporting the event, had to said that "Bainimarama has been at odds with [FRU] several officials, including trustee and former military dictator Sitiveni Rabuka and the CEO Keni Dakuidreketi." What's that got to do with the price of fish -- or a lottery ticket!

But there's more.  FRU chief executive officer Keni Dakuidreketi has now accused the Commerce Commission of acting unlawfully, and hurled personal insults at the Commission chairman, Dr Mahendra Reddy.

I  have no way of knowing what the law says but if it allows lottery tickets to be sold to some customers for $20 and $10 to others, where the prize is the same for both, it is demonstrably unfair and needs to be changed.  This was not a post-Christmas sale with prices discounted 50%!

Naivalurua, Fact and Speculation; Ratu Joni Needed in Fiji, if only by E-mail

NAIVALURUA: OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT & MORE BLOG SPECULATION.
Ioane Naivalurua (photo) has just signed his contract with the Public Service Commission today, so he's likely to be Police Commissioner until September 2013, but CoupFourPointFive obviously doesn't think he'll last that long.

It says he's on Bainimarama's hit list — "It is widely believed Bainimarama doesn't want Naivalurua presiding over both [prisons and the police] because he wields too much power and is therefore a threat."

Despite the blog's forewarning, PSC chairman Josefa Serulagilagi said Government was grateful to have a highly motivated, experienced and dedicated officer such as Brigadier General Naivalurua assume the role of Commissioner of Police.

“This is a very critical position in the public service, which not only demands exceptional leadership qualities and skills but also someone who is prepared to go that ‘extra mile’ in our quest for changes and reforms to build public institutions that are strong, professional, accountable and most of all entirely committed to bringing about improved efficiencies in their operations and service deliveries,” he said, adding that the Commissioner "meets these requirements given his 31 years of service in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and in the last four years the excellent work he did in the Fiji Prisons and Correctional Services.”

For his part, Naivalurua said he had "settled in the job well and had received tremendous support from within the force as well and its stakeholders in turning around the work culture, performance and professionalism in the institution to meet the expectations of Government and the people of Fiji." -- Based on 2011, No:0011/MOI).

CoupFourPointFive, however, claims that "rank and file officers have fed Coupfourpointfive with material they say proves Naivalurua is corrupt." Well! Well! We know there are some corrupt police officers and that it is part of Naivalurua's brief to ferret them out. One cannot help but wonder whether the blog's informants are trying to get their punch in first. The rank and file officers should offer the condemning material to a safe and neutral party so that others may assess its plausibility.

Given the growing list of misinformation regarding appointments and resignations from the CoupFourPointFive blog, one must also ask what steps it takes to ensure the reliability of its information — and why it never corrects its errors when proved wrong.

One further point for the blog editors. They claimed in the same posting that PSC Permanent Secretary, Parmesh Chand, has resigned. "Sources have told us that he has, as we tipped earlier, vacated the post." I checked with the PSC Information Officer. She replied: "Bula Mr Walsh, No he hasn’t. He's still at the job."

He could, of course, resign some time in the future, but what is so sinister about this? I do remember in talking to him last year he was very concerned about the travel bans as they affected his family. He thought it unfair that the bans should apply to career public servants who had nothing to do with the military or the coup. If he does resign, CoupFourPointFive should at least visit the possibility that this could be the reason.

CONGRATULATIONS TO RATU JONI. Radio Fiji reports that former Vice President and High Court Judge Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi has been bestowed the title of Lord Madraiwiwi Tangatatonga by King George Tupou V of Tonga. As a law lord he will provide legal advice to the King and be responsible for the settlement of disputes over noble titles. Ratu Joni is currently serving in the Solomon Islands as one of the two International Commissioners with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  His service to Tonga will be provided mainly by e-mail.

For all of Bainimarama's  doubts about this man (and his of the Bainimarama Government)  he is, in my view, ironically one of the few people who has sufficient knowledge and mana  to ensure that Fiji not only gets to 2014 with the People's Charter principles in tact, but also ensure the principles are embedded permanently in  Fiji society.

Despite their obvious differences, Fiji would benefit if both men would step back from their former positions and explore the principles they share in common.

Unfortunately, “History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.” (Abba Eban).

Why Government Needs Fuller People Empowerment NOW; Land, NLTB, VAT, Tourism

ALL LAND LEASE MONEY WILL BE DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY    Previously, the NLTB took 15% of lease money as administration cost. After that, 30% went to chiefs at different levels (5% to the Turaga i'Taukei, 10% to the Turaga ni Yavusa and 15% to the Turaga ni Mataqali). The other landowners — the ordinary people — then shared the remainder.  --  Fiji Sun.

Doing the Right Thing — the Wrong Way

 

  Citizens Constitutional Forum's CEO, Reverend Akuila Yabaki, says that while his organisation welcomes a greater democratisation in the distribution of lease money to indigenous landowners, more consultation is needed.

He says discussions were talked about but due to media censorship he does not know if any have taken place, and the CCF has been unable to obtain a copy of the relevant decree to examine the details. Rev. Yabaki said “it’s a painful change and therefore there will be people who will feel undermined in terms of their authority but that sort of thing should be all the [more] reasons why there should be greater engagement and dialogue with all stake holders.” He says he is aware of at least one province that has said it does not agree with the changes.

I think it more probable that formal dialogue has not taken place. There would be no point in censoring this information. But the continuation of the emergency regulations (PER) allow rumours to flourish, such as the supposed opposition of "at least one province", and for this reason, its continuance is regrettable. But this criticism of the CCF statement is nitpicking.

Overall, the  statement is a wise and timely reminder to Government that doing the "right thing" is not enough. People need to agree that it is the right thing, and the only way to ensure this is by including those most affected in dialogue: different levels of chiefs, ordinary landowners, the NLTB, and different types of leasees.

Sure, this will give those "chronically opposed" to government opportunities to criticize and perhaps rally some support, but there is no other way.

Empowerment means involvement.  Change that is imposed that does not have public acceptance rarely lasts. If Government is looking beyond the elections in 2014, as it must be, it needs to ensure its major changes are permanent.

What do you think?

Readers are invited to suggest what form(s) of participation (not just on land leases) might be acceptable to the general public and to Government. A distinction should be made been acceptable NOW, and the type of dialogue we can expect in 2012 when constitutional and electoral reform will be discussed. 

 GOVT AIMS TO EMPOWER EVERYONE. Top-down theories sound fine but the reality is that Government needs to provide the institutional structures and environment for people to empower themselves. Nothing else will last.  -- Fiji Village.

MISUSE OF UNCLAIMED NLTB LEASE MONEY. Radio Fiji.

VAT INCREASED by 2.5% on Monday but school stationery will be exempt until after schools resume.

TOURISM LOOKS BRIGHT. With $23.5m allocated by government to promote tourism,  Seeto says prospects look bright.

Two Thoughtful Comments: On Collective Memory and Conventional Media Practices

Moment of assassination of US President John F Kennedy, Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963. Photo credit: Obrag.org 

COLLECTIVE MEMORY Ni bula, Croz, e na vakatawase has left a new comment on your post "The Tongan Elections":

A great piece, Croz, and yet more evidence that the youthful naivete so prevalent in the island media is no substitute for the age and experience of an old hand like you. When you've been in these parts for nearly half a century, you're fully entitled to express whatever opinion you like, however much it offends the critics. Anyone who remembers the Tofua and the Matua, let alone sailed on them, or negotiated the raised centre aisle of a Fiji Airways De Havilland Heron deserves to be heard with respect.

A recent editorial by Fred Wesley in the Fiji Times reminded me of how little collective memory is brought to bear on current events. In a piece on someone who'd managed to reach the ripe old age on 101, Wesley wrote in apparent awe that there were still people in Fiji who could remember the assassination of John F, Kennedy, the British colonial era and Fiji's independence. I've yet to reach three score years and can remember all three! You go back a lot longer and have accumulated much more knowledge. As the old saying goes, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

But in the case of Fiji, it's the appalling general ignorance of the past that produces the same mistakes again and again. You've now got to be 23 years old to have even been born at the time of Rabuka's 1987 coup. And you've got to be 40 to have been born at Independence. Is it any wonder that these events are now regarded as ancient history and irrelevant to peoples' lives?

Yet the same racial, political and social pressures remain largely unresolved and blight what could and should have been the brightest of futures. With the Fiji media, it's a case of the blind leading the blind.. You, on the other hand, are able to shine a torch on history and relate it to the present. May your battery continue to hold out for many years to help light the path ahead. Happy New Year!


THE ABC INTERVIEW AND COUP4.5'S ANONYMOUS MR X
 The ABC of getting it wrong has left a new comment on your post "PM's 2011 Message, Great Council of Chiefs Politic...":

Conventional practice in news and current affairs has it that interviewees should only have their identities concealed when there is a clear threat to their positions and the information being imparted is of such importance that there is a clear public interest in granting them anonymity.

The ABC would undoubtedly argue that one of the principals of Coup 4.5 deserves the cloak of anonymity because of the possibility of government retribution. But that's where any justification ends and even this depends on whether the person being interviewed was actually in Fiji and within striking distance of the alleged bully boys of the military.

Is he in danger on the streets of Auckland or Sydney? Not on the evidence thus far. Not only do regime critics thrive there but there's no indication whatsoever that Frank Bainimarama is a Saddam Hussein who orders death squads to pursue his opponents abroad. So how hazardous is this individual's position beyond being unmasked as a regime critic? Would he be captured, tortured and forced to reveal the secrets of 4.5? Maybe in Fiji in more fevered minds but nowhere else,

Where the ABC is really vulnerable to criticism and complaint is that this person's contribution to the debate was so pedestrian. Merely parroting the usual anti-regime line meant that nothing of what he said met the public interest test. There was no new information of such pressing urgency that the public benefited from hearing from the man with the mask.

Now, one might argue that I am anonymous in these columns. But this is comment, not news, an important distinction. And in any event, the whole world accepts that an entirely different set of conventions applies to the Bloggersphere. When it comes to news and information programs on a mainstream public broadcaster like the ABC, the audience clearly deserves better.

Yes, there are times when whistle-blowers deserve anonymity in the public interest, as well as their own, but this wasn't one of them. The whistle wasn't being blown on anything. Bruce Hill and his editors allowed a run-of-the-mill regime critic to sprout run-of-the-mill anti-regime criticism and in doing so, debased not just an importance convention but the credibility of the ABC.

PM's 2011 Message, Great Council of Chiefs Political, Fiji to Complain NZ Misreporting Bainimarama's Death, Coup4.5's Mr X

SCROLL DOWN TO WEEKEND POSTINGS

PM'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE. "We must all work together and not shy away from taking tough decisions." Click here.

GREAT COUNCIL OF CHIEFS MUST BE APOLITICAL. For many years the GCC has been a body that exerted considerable influence on Fiji politics.  It appointed the President and Vice-President, appointed nearly one-half of the members of Senate (that could veto legislation), and "approved" the SVT and later the SDL parties to represent ethnic Fijians in parliament. It supported Qarase's Qoliqoli and Reconciliation legislation, and after the 2006 coup refused to appoint a Vice-President nominated by the Bainimarama goverment which led to its suspension. 

Government is committed to removing politics from the Great Council of Chiefs, and wants chiefs, not politicians and civil servants. These comments were made by the permanent secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, Colonel Pio Tikoduadua while confirming that the re-convening of the Great Council of Chiefs was among the issues discussed by the PM and the Tui Cakau Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu at their  meeting before Christmas. The GCC remains adjourned for now but government is looking into this and will call a meeting  as and when the need arises. Meanwhile, Government has been convening the meeting of tikina (district) chiefs, and the Bose ni Turaga (Council of Chiefs that has a much larger membership) has already sat three times. These chiefs are constantly in touch with the people and provide a wider representation of  chiefs from the 14 provinces.

FIJI TO COMPLAIN NZ HERALD MISREPORTING. Bruce Hill of the Australian Broadcasting Commission interviews Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and a spokesman for CoupFourPointFive on the story carried by the NZ Hereald earlier this year that PM Bainimarama was dead.  The A-G says Fiji will complain to the NZ media authority. The blogger said such false reports were due to media restrictions in Fiji; the Bainimarama government was "hugely unpopular" and "hanging in by the skin of their teeth" which was a good political plug but irrelevant in the context of Bainimarama's misreported death.  Khaiyum said the paper could at least have checked out its story.  Asked what sort of penalty he expected, he said he was not familiar with NZ penalties but thought the paper could at least apologize. Thank you,  Bruce, for airing this story. It apparently did not merit a mention by the NZ media.

VOICE BUT NO FACE. So whose was the mystery voice on the ABC interview, and why if we had a voice did we not also have a face and a name?  I couldn't hear every word he said, and had to listen twice before I could pick up his general argument, but he sounded male in his thirties, causasian or someone who has lived for years and been educated in NZ, and he's possibly a journalist or someone who makes his money from words.  I doubt he's been to Fiji in recent years but he obviously has some connections, perhaps through once living or working there, or through friendships in Auckland. CoupFourPointFive has several editors.  I suspect he was chosen as spokesman because he had the least reason to conceal his identity. Other anti-Bainimarama bloggers such as Sai Lealea (FijiCoup2006), Peter Firkin (FijiToday), Adi Elisapeci Samanunu Waqanivalu (Luvei Viti) and even Mere Samisoni in Fiji (Matavuvale), reveal their identity.  It would be good if we could put a face to Mr X from CoupFourPointFive.

"A Camel is a Horse Designed by a Committee"

2011 PUBLIC HOLIDAYS, SCHOOL TERMS, see left sidebar. 

New QUOTE FOR THE WEEK, see right sidebar.

NZ COMMITTEE'S NON-REPORT ON FIJI. The multi-party NZ Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee was charged in March 2006 to investigate and to report to Parliament on NZ's relations with Pacific Island nations. This it did in December 2010 following numerous consultations and a visit to four Polynesian islands. Few of its ten members had any prior knowledge of the Pacific but they were assisted with advice from MFAT. The report covers 96 pages.

The single page on Fiji and the country's  rare mention elsewhere shows that Fiji was peripheral to the Committee's main interests, but clearly it had to say something. Of the 116 written submissions I can identify only three from people with Fiji knowledge. Not surprisingly, the report provides no new insight into the Fiji situation, and makes no recommendations on NZ-Fiji relations.

In essence, it merely restates the already well-known position of the NZ government and appears to have been unaware of, or unwilling to visit,  alternative interpretations. I thought its tone a little patronising and its assessment of the situation on the ground in Fiji dated and lopsided.

The Tongan Elections

by Crosbie Walsh

When I lived in Tonga nearly 50 years ago, parliament comprised 7 nobles representing 33 nobles,  7 elected commoners representing about 25-30,000 adults, and a Cabinet of 8 which including the Prime Minister, appointed by the much loved Queen Salote.

I doubt many people were concerned about this inequality.  Nuku'alofa was barely urban. There was little industry or commerce. Most people were subsistence or semi-subsistence farmers. Few Tongans had been educated overseas and overseas communities were small.  There was a weekly Heron flight to Fiji but most overseas travel was by the Tofua or Hifofua that took five days to get to New Zealand.  There was a weekly foolscap-size government broadsheet but no newspapers and one government-owned radio station.

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen 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.

Shocking Accident

The story of the class-seven boy who accidentally strangled himself with a belt is shocking. More shocking is the fact that there are other incidents when young boys have accidentally strangled themselves while playing with their belts. What is even more shocking is why and how they used what happened in a move to do what they did.

We need to tell the public that it could be  Autoerotic Strangulation.  Its something that is depicted in the movies and I am still in shock from reading the article. We teach our kids all the best and how they should look after themselves physically, morally, mentally and religiously, yet the ills of man still find their way into our lives and a life is lost.

We need to reexamine the family unit, the very core of what a good nation is built on. Morality is slowly waning in our much adopted western lives, we need to put things back in place, if not more unspeakable things will happen.