Rumours, the Shopkeeper and Mary Bainimarama's One Million Dollars

N0115.
The latest story from CoupFourPointFive (citing a "source that has been reliable from the outset and is from within the military ranks") is that Renee Lal, a female lawyer accused of fraud, was "beaten about her head with a full bottle of water and that her beating was apparently organised by an army officer by the name of Ben Naliva.

"The officer is believed to be part of the illegal leader Frank Bainimarama's personal security detail. And it's claimed, as we said, that he was given $10,000 to ensure Lal got beaten.".

Saras'sista, a  commentator only too well known to readers of my blog, had this to say on CoupFourPointFive (I leave it unedited) :

"of course Croz would see nothing contradictory in the police commish demanding that police know the 2009 domestic violence decree by April, but the governments own thugs beating upa woman. No sir. For all the bleatings about how we should be nice, polite, positive and constructive, Croz is never keen to decry the appalling treatment handed out by the military before some has even been charged. Credibility anyone ??"

I'm not sure how or why  I should decry something before it is known to have happened but it should go without saying that such behaviour, if it did happen, is to be condemned, but until we have some reliable report on the incident I'll go along with the following letter about Renee Lal and rumours that was published by Fiji Today, another —but more reasonable and reliable—  anti-Government blog.

Letter to Fiji Today

"Sir, When the mainstream media cease to report or investigate anything controversial the rumour mill winds up and goes into overdrive. It is a quirk of our Fijian nature that rumours are treated as fact and passed on and added to with relish. Recently we have been hearing new rumours of beatings and unreported detentions under PER.

"One story had a shop owner at Nine Mile detained and beaten for being vocal in his opposition to the “Bainimarama Junta”.  I admit he was never slow at letting his opinion be known and his customers were under no illusions as to his opinions.  In fact I was leaning towards believing this story as he was suddenly not serving in his store and his wife was evasive on his whereabouts. 

"This story was in my mind as a fact when I ran into the gentleman concerned in Lami yesterday in the Hot Bread Shop.  He looked unmarked and greeted me effusively. I raised the story of the beating with him and he sheepishly told me he had been caught out with a neighbour’s wife and had been kicked out of home. As his wife’s relatives had financed the store he had lost that also.  His wife was obviously embarrassed and this showed as being evasive and helping the rumour along. Small facts apparently confirming the rumours become proof. No investigative reporting by the media is making “facts” out of any and all claims that manage to get into the public arena.

"We have a recent Coup 4.5 story claiming that Renee Lai was beaten by the military. While we all accept beatings have happened in the past I have problems with the idea of paying a soldier $10,000 to beat someone up. This to me sounds far fetched.

"But the part of the story that is believable to me is the use of a bottle of water as a club to beat her. This is a tactic first used in the Sinai to extract confessions without leaving visible marks on the prisoner.  Our boys from the Sinai would know of this. Small facts apparently confirming the rumours.

"We urgently need the news media to step up and investigate such rumours even if they have to report that the military refuses to answer the queries. Find the person concerned. Ask them what happened. I believe most of the rumours would go down the path of the Nine Mile shop owner and have a more mundane and  logical answer."

 Last Year's Prize Rumours

Small "facts", of course, only apparently "confirm" rumours.  Readers may  remember the rumours last year that the PM was dead (Rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated) or seriously ill, and that Public Service Permanent Secretary Parmesh Chand had resigned and Solitor-General Christopher Pryde had been sacked. I didn't comment on these rumours either, until I'd checked them out. The Permanent Secretary was still in his office and the S-G told me he was going on a short overseas trip. Yet all these rumours had been "reliably" reported by CoupFourPointFive.

But last year's top prize must surely go to another anti-government blog, Solivakasama, that reported on September 20th that PM Bainimarama and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum had been arrested by "some senior military officers."  They told their readers to "Watch this space."  We're still watching.

Rumours Serve Political Purpose, Need Oxygen to Live and Multiply

I agree rumours abound partly because of PER (that I also would like to see lifted) and I agree the media should verify the more serious and credible rumours, but rumours of this particular type also abound because they serve an important political purpose.

Those inventing and spreading these rumours believe the old saying: Thrown enough mud at the wall and some of it is sure to stick. They seek to distract and destabilise government, and keep alive the dwindling hopes of the government's opponents, most especially the SDL supporters of Laisenia Qarase, Ratu Naiqama and others like them.

Giving such rumours unnecessary publicity is to give them the oxygen they need to live and multiply.  So I'm no more likely to rush in to publish them than I am to publish the "reliable" rumour that Mary Bainimarama recently won a UK $1,000,000 lottery.   -- Crosbie Walsh

Twittering on Egypt, Kai Solomoni Organize, Minerals to Pass Tourism, Govt Looks Silly

Check out the new Quote for the Week in the right sidebar and the Weekend Reading and 

late Friday postings  (and comments) by scrolling down.

N0110. I DON'T GET IT. Perennial anti-government agitator, Peter Waqavonovono, president of the Fiji Young People's Concerned Network that appears to have no other members, has told ABC's Bruce Hill that many Fiji youth are using Twitter and Facebook to get information about the political unrest in Cairo. He says this is because the Fiji media is self-censoring news on Egypt. A quick survey by ABC, however, found that the Fiji Times and Fijilive have both carried comprehensive and balanced reports on the events in Egypt. So why, ABC, did you give this Peter Pan, who incredibly sees parallels between Fiji and Egypt, this free air time? When is no news news?  My source: via www.pacmediawatch.aut.ac.nz

N0111.BETTER THINGS TO DO. The news that the PM may tour Russia later in the year to boost tourism and trade makes incredible reading. The PM is critical to what is happening in Fiji and the less time he spends out of the country the better. Each overseas trip offers opportunities for rumour and speculation. Someone should go to Russia and other new countries where Fiji's interests can be advanced, but not the PM. -- Based on 2011 No:0305/MOI.

N0112. KAI SOLOMONI ORGANIZE. One of Fiji's most disadvantaged groups, the 35,000 plus descendants of Solomon Islander indentured labourers who worked the European copra plantations in the late 19th century, have formed the Solomon Islands Descendants Association to protect their interests. The Kai Solomoni married Fijian women and today they are all but Fijian except in name.  But the name is very important. Among some Fijian tribes, inheritance was only through the male line and this practice was adopted by the British for all Fijians. The result, for Kai Solomoni, is that they have no rights to Fijian-owned land. Had their fathers been Fijian, it would have been another story.

N0113. MINERALS TO PASS TOURISM. Lands and Mineral Resources Minister Netani Sukanaivalu  predicts that the booming mineral resources industry will earn billions of dollars annually for the next 20 to 30 years, and will overtake tourism as Fiji's biggest income earner.  Besides the Namosi gold-copper mine and the Vatukoula gold mine, the Tuvatu Gold Mine and the black sand in the Ba delta will soon be operating, and oil and gas exploration will commence in five months."We have three companies that are applying for an exploration licence to mine our deep sea and we have the oil exploration right now and they will start drilling in June or July at Naselai," the Minisster said.  Bauxite in Bua and a re-opened Mt Kasi gold mine are only a little further down the road.

N0114.GOVERNMENT MADE TO LOOK SILLY. Former PM and FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry  was charged for breaking the Public Emergency Regulations and detained for three days last October. He claimed at the time that the charges were baseless, as he was meeting with sugar cane farmers in his capacity as general secretary of the National Farmers Union. But he was charged nonetheless.  After several delays in bringing the charge to court,

Government withdrew the charges last week. What a waste of everyone's time and money. Chaudhry is right. PER should be lifted. Other laws exist for those who seek to break the peace.

Ratu Iloilo Passes On

The former president of Fiji, Ratu Josefa Iloilo Uluivuda, has died. He was 91.
Ratu Iloilo was vice president in May 2000 when the Government of Mahendra Chaudhry was overthrown by a coup led by George Speight.
He became president after the military took power in July, was deposed in the 2006 coup led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama but restored to the presidency the following year.
When the Court of Appeal in 2009 ruled the interim government led by Commodore Bainimarama was illegal, Ratu Iloilo abrogated the constitution, sacked the judges and reinstated the Commodore as prime minister. He retired last August.  -- RNZI.

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

WEEKEND READING.  ♦ Why the Roadmap? Part III by Crosbie Walsh ♦ The two postings on Friday.


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.

From Cybernet to Internet Nanny

Well, what else is new!  Some parents are using internet cafes to baby sit their children while they go out and party. Is this really true? What kind of people would do this?  I remember the times when parents would get the TV to babysit children, now it’s the internet. Furthermore, some parents leave their children with neighbours and some parents just leave their children, alone at home.

We hear of these instances when a house burns down and we find out the parents had gone to drink grog, party or gone to a church meeting. Some people leave their children at home and when they go past the neighbour’s home they call out to say the children are at home and if they can pop in from time to time. And when they come home the first thing they see are the blue blinking lights of the police and the fire engine and they cross their fingers that they aren’t parked at their home. Then they see a body bag come out and they rush to see the charred remains of their children being carried out. These people should never have had children. Oh, how my heart aches for these children. Just writing this brings tears.

Parents whose children die or get hurt because of neglect should be taken in and reprimanded and given a two week study on how to be a responsible parent.  Fining them is not the way to go  because the children are affected by money lost in fines. 

The police can’t be everywhere.   May I suggest that during every festive season the police force deputise prominent citizens who are willing to work for free and with the police officers so that we can keep Fiji safe. The deputies can be called Peace Officers. They will only be allowed to check and report on the safety of children and fellow citizens. In this way, the  police will have extra eyes on the road and in towns.

I am certainly willing to work for free, and I am sure others will be too, if we  can ensure our vigilance will make the city safer for our  family and friends, especially for our children.

Why the Roadmap? The Politics under the Bridges Part III

                                               By Crosbie Walsh

Government opponents have made much of the fact that the Roadmap has not yet been published and released for pubic scrutiny, and some have doubted its existence. I have no doubt the Roadmap exists in draft form, sufficient for government planning but clearly not sufficient for release.

I suspect Government reasoning, as in all else they have done, is that the Roadmap and the Strategic Framework for Change (that also has not been published) are operational documents based on the well known principles of the People's Charter. Publication for the general public is therefore not a priority at this time. 

If this is the case, it demonstrates government's step-by-step approach to change. First, the infrastructural changes discussed in Part I, followed by the constitutional and electoral changes that require public participation and the publication, if by then if it has any residual relevance, of the Roadmap. We should know the answer by the end of this year.

The purpose of this three-part article is to set the everyday actions and statements of Government within the broad framework of the People's Charter in order to reveal the main elements of the Roadmap and their likely outcomes. Thus, in Part I we discussed the hoped for political outcomes (the “winning of hearts and minds”) of the infrastructural reforms (the politics under the bridges) and  in Part II the sorts of changes that are likely, because of perceived shortcomings in the 1997 Constitution, to be part of the constitutional reforms. 

In this, the concluding section, I itemise and comment on the likely electoral changes and their intended purposes.

Telling the PM, Corruption Deep-Rooted, Pacific Backs Fiji ACP Re-entry - Except Samoa, Rumour

WEEKEND READING. ♦ Allen Lockington column ♦ Why the Roadmap? Part III by Crosbie Walsh

N0106. PM TO LISTEN TO VILLAGERS' CONCERNS. The PM's  visited Ba earlier in the week to open the new road from Magodro in Ba to Nanoko Village, Navosa, commission the new solar system at Nubutautau Village, in the interior of Navosa, and listen to villagers. Commissioner Western Col Joeli Cawaki said they were expecting people from all nearby villages and tikina in the two provinces to raise their concerns with the PM, advise him on the constraints holding back increased agricultural production and tell him what they think can be done by the government to assist.

N0107. CORRUPTION IS DEEP-ROOTED. Government's "Clean Up" campaign, given as one reason for the 2006 coup, clearly has some way to go. When corruption and misuse of public office are deeply rooted in a country, it is a far harder task to uproot than Bainimarama first thought.

The  resignation this week of two Government-appointed Fijian Holdings Ltd executives, the Chairman and the CEO. would appear to be related to misuse of office and possible "double dipping."

 Government is carrying out proper assessments on the performance of the people appointed to statutory boards to ensure that they remain focused and address issues relating to corruption, fraud and abuse of office.    

An investigation is  also underway into  dealings by former executives and board members of a major Fijian company. The West-based construction company is alleged to have been awarded tenders to construct a port and sawmill as well as upgrade a supermarket owned and managed by subsidiaries of the major Fijian company. The allegation is that the company also did work on the homes and private businesses of the executives and board members for which they did not pay or had received a discount from the construction company. Investigations are continuing.

N0108. FIJI GETS PACIFIC BACKING. Seven Pacific countries belonging to the African, Caribbean and Pacific group which is supported by the European Union,  have pushed for the restoration of Fiji's full participation in future ACP meetings.

One Pacific delegate said that it was good to see some of the smaller countries speak up with strong and unconditional support for Fiji. Samoa was the sole dissenting voice, citing Fiji’s suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum as the reason it cannot be allowed back to ACP meetings, organised by the Forum’s secretariat.
Fiji’s participation at the ACP trade officials and ministers meeting in Apia this week has been made possible at the invitation of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, of which Fiji remains a member.

N109. RUMOURS.  This interesting letter published by Fiji Today on rumour

Thank You, No Thank you, Ratu Naiqama; Revisiting the Lease Payment System

N0104. THANK YOU, NO THANK YOU, RATU NAIQAMA.
Coup 4.5 has released a statement from the Gone Turaga na Tui Cakau dated 3 January offering to help Government.

These extracts capture its essence:

“The Tui Cakau wants to open a dialogue with the PM to show him “the reality of what is happening in Fiji, [assist him] with an alternative set of advice from that which he is receiving at present [and impress upon him the] “the folly of disregarding the role of the Great Council of Chiefs and its role in national affairs in times of distress:- eg. 1874, 1987, 2000 and the present.” [my emphasis]

Comment

The Tui Cakau, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, seems to think all the Cakaudrove vanua are behind him (which is certainly not so) and that the only way forward is to reconvene the Great Council of Chief, several of whose members were party to the 1987 and 2000 Coups.

The GCC was so politicised during the time of the Qarase government that it did nothing to warn against or stop the divisive and racist legislation that was a major factor in causing the Bainimarama coup. Indeed, Ratu Naiqama held several portfolios in the Qarase government including Fijian Affairs and he personally was instrumental in advancing the proposed legislation.

Ratu Naiqama was also a leader of the ultra-nationalist Conservative Alliance (Matanitu Vanua) party that included prominent Speight coup supporters and chiefs.

Its policies called for Fiji to be a declared a Christian state and for the offices of President and PM to be held solely by ethnic Fijians. Many members also thought the British government should repatriate Indo-Fijians to India!

To avoid splitting the ethnic Fijian vote (and because it was deeply in debt with legal costs arising from defence of the 2000 coup plotters), his party dissolved after the 2001 elections in which won six seats. Its more prominent members joined the Qarase's SDL party.

In 2003, while a Cabinet Minister in the SDL government, Ratu Naiqama is reported to have called for an overhaul of the country's constitutional institutions, saying that political authority should be returned to the chiefs. As a first step, he called for the abolition of Senate and its replacement by the Great Council of Chiefs.

So last month's statement is not the first time he's made the same incredible suggestion.

Ratu Naiqama is head of the Tovata Confederacy (Qarase is one of his subjects) and one of Fjii's three paramount chiefs. In early 2006 some chiefs wanted him to become President or Vice-President but the Great Council of Chiefs, wisely on this occasion,  re-elected Ratu Iloilo and Ratu Madraiwiwi.

His latest public statement should fool no one of his true intentions.

N0105. LANDOWNER PAYMENTS SYSTEM SHOULD BE RE-VISITED. Two readers have raised concerns about the NLTB new system of distributing rent money.

Rusi Baleisale says "It would not take much for each family of a tokatoka or mataqali to have a bank account for family members and this is how most landowners read Frank's [earlier] announcement. Giving a lump sum to each trustee account is only  continuing the past problems but shifting it from chiefs to trustees. Tinkering with the problem does not solve it. I already know of two trustees who are going to forward the normal percentage to their Ratu. The rest of the trust members are too timid to protest and claim their share."

Cicero raises the question of the NLTB 15% administration charge: "Can you think of anywhere at all in the world where 15% would be considered a 'reasonable' rate to deduct for admin costs? Those responsible would be sacked then and there! Outsourcing should be imperative and it should be done NOW! 3% MAXIMUM for administration. Who is creaming off this fat? It would merit a riot anywhere else.

I take back my hasty comments on this issue, apologize to Fiji Today, and urge government to address these very legitimate concerns. Why can't money be paid into family accounts, and how inefficient — or grasping — is a government rental agency that it charges this exorbitant 15% admin charge?

Infant Bank Accounts? NLTB $40m Distribution, School Fees and Funding

N0101. INFANTS SHOULD HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS.  The announcement by Native Lands Trust Board Manger Alipate Qetaki that all itaukei whose names are recorded in the iVola ni Kawa Bula (land registry), including infants, are entitled to a share of lease money, and that once tokatoka and mataqali (land-holding units) have appointed their trustees,the money will be deposited in their bank accounts, was greeted by this, to me incredible, heading and argument from the Fiji Today blog:

"Now lease money will be paid into a single account for each Tokatoka/Mataqali. This is different to the promised payment to each member and open to abuse." 

Government had said all money was to be distributed equally (and not, unequally by rank, as previously) but no mention was made of how. Of course, one common tokatoka or mataqali account is open to abuse, as is all trust money, but surely Fiji Today doesn't expect every single person whose name is registered in the Vola Ni Kawa Bula to open a separate bank account -- even where there are no banks. My estimate is that this would require over 250,000 new bank accounts.

Fiji Today would be making a more positive contribution to Fiji's future if it criticised government when criticism is due, did its arithmetic, and suggested a better way to distribute the money and prevent abuse. Or they could at least say this is a fairer and more open system than was previously in place where provincial administrations and chiefs at several levels took their cut with the balance being paid to the  grassroots landowners -- Based on 2011, No:0243/MOI

N0102. NLTB DISTRIBUTE $40.1 MILLION. This is the amount distributed in 2010, after NLTB had deducted its 15% adminisitation costs. Rent arrears, $25m at the start of the year, were reduced to $17m by year end.$25 million and by the end of the year it had reduced to $17 million. The NLTB is considering out-sourcing its lease money collection.

N0103. PRIMARY SCHOOL FEES AND FUNDING. State grant-aided primary schools, all of which receive a government fees grant of $30 a child, are not to charge fees over $10 a child unless that have prior approval from the Education Ministry, and anything charged in excess must be refunded. The government announcement follows concerns about much higher fees beeing charged by some schools.  Teachers Association General Secretary-Maika Namudu  says the all-up $40 fee is insufficient to run a school.

Litiana Loabuka nee Bainimarama, Revenue Collection, Freedom of Information, HIV/AIDS Decree

QUESTION: FIJI LIVE. Are any other readers having difficulty accessing FjiiLive? Google repeatedly tells me the site is suspicious and visiting it could harm my computer.

N0097. ALLEGATIONS OF FIJI SPORTS COUNCIL NEPOTISM. Several readers have stated, some more politely than others, that the appointment of Litiana Loabuka, the PM's daughter, as the CEO of the Fiji Sports Council, was a "further example of jobs for the boys" — and the anti-government blogs took up the chorus. This sort of accusation has followed almost every new government-related appointment.

I asked Peter Mazzey, President of the Fiji Chamber of Commerce, hotelier and Chairman of the FSC, for his comment.  He replied that the position was  advertised twice in local papers, 13 people applied and three were shortlisted for interviews by the full ten-member Board that, besides Mazzey, includes sports and youth directors and selectors, a lawyer, an accountant, the Commissioner Eastrn, and the Ministry of Sports Assistant Director. The FSC is a government statutory body and the appointment of the CEO requires the Minister's approval.  Board members are appointed by the Minister of Education, Youth & Sports, Filipe Bole, for a period of two years.

Referees of the shortlisted candidates were all contacted for formal comments. Each candidate was asked to respond to the same 22 questions relating to requirements of the position (as advertisement) and the Key Performance Indicators established for the position. These were prepared by Human Resource Manager and the Board. Assessment of each candidate's responses was based on points awarded by each Board member and then averaged.  Each Board Member was also had the opportunity to question candidates. Candidates were then asked  how they would move the Sports Council forward.

Litiana Loabuka was unanimously recommended by the Board to the Minister of Sports who approved the appointment.

Litiana was more qualified than the other candidates. She has a BA in Economics and Management and Public Administration from USP. To take up the position she resigned as Commercial Manager of Telecom Fiji and as Secretary of Fiji Netball. Her salary and allowances are the same as the previous CEO and she dropped salary to take up the position. [There goes another wrong accusation!]

So, as we used to say to detractors in my younger days, "Put that in your pipe and smoke it." Being the PM's daughter was not the reason for Litiana's appointment, and the PM is not privy to the Board's deliberations or its recommendations to the Minister of Sports.

It is surely time the anti-government blogs and commentators made some effort to check the "facts" they want to believe in before rushing into print. Constant error undermines their credibility. Soon only their core faithful will believe their lies.

N0098. REVENUE COLLECTION HIGHEST EVER. Government collected $1.3 billion in different forms of taxation last year,$91 million more than in 2009, and surpassing the revised projected revenue by $22.3 million. The increase was largely a result of improved collection but tax arrears (some $52.3 million) remain a problem. The revenue forecast for 2011 is $1.496 billion.

N0099. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION. Government is working on the implementation of a Freedom of Information Decree, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum  told lawyers at the recent A-G's Conference. He did not say why this is needed with the Media Decree in place or whether it would result in more public information. It is regrettable that the implementation of the Media Decree has not yet resulted in the lifting of PER, as intimated prior to its passing, or a better flow of information.

N0100. HIV/AIDS DECREE 2011. Victims of HIV/AIDS in Fiji and the rest of the Pacific have new hope this month, with the interim Fiji Government adopting the HIV /AIDS Decree 2011. The decree has been widely praised locally and internationally for leading the way in the Pacific for dealing with HIV/AIDS.Its proponents argue more people will have the confidence to be tested without fear of discrimination and will have better treatment options. Listen to the ABD interview with Laitia Tamata, Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation Legal Trainer and Policy analyst