Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)

Thursday 26 January 2012

News and Comments Thursday 26 January 2012

26.1.12 
Photo: Fiji Live.
FRIENDS IN NEED, FRIENDS INDEED. The deep tropical depression that has brought rain and flooding to large parts of the Western and Northern divisions has immediate and long term effects. (Video)

With 600mm of rain (the height of a table) falling in three days, most shops are closed, many roads are closed, over a thousand people are in evacuation centres, many areas are without power, and water and sewerage disposal systems are threatened. It is the worst flood in three years and much work on road improvement, bridging and the dredging of the Ba River has been undone. With more rain forecast, intending tourists are reported to be changing their plans. Most food crops have been destroyed and there have also been losses of livestock. The areas most affected lie at the heart of the sugarcane industry and cane on low lying land will also have been affected. And more rain is expected in the next 24 hours.

The rehabilitation cost to Government and those directly affected can only be imagined, and responses to the disaster will say much about Fiji's friends. There have been several blog comments along the lines that Fiji will again be begging for assistance; asking where the aid is from its new friends to the North, asking where the soldiers are, and criticising the efforts of Government and other agencies in their handling of the situation.  I find such comments distasteful and lacking in compassion.  The lives and livelihood of ordinary Fiji citizens are being threatened by the flooding. No true friend of Fiji would seek to capitalise on this "Act of God."

CREDIT TO AND FROM VODAFONE.Vodafone Fiji has topped up all its prepaid customers’ mobile numbers from Nadi to Rakiraki with $5 worth of free talk time today as immediate emergency assistance. The total credit is $1.25million. Managing Director Aslam Khan said in times like these, families are often cut off from communications with their loved ones whereby communication is essential to gather information on the needs of people and organize associated logistics to provide relief assistance as soon as possible.

REDS UNDER THE BED. The Republic of Fiji is preparing for the first-ever high-level visit by an official from the Russian Federation. H.E. Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, will be visiting Fiji on February 1-2. The trip underscores the important role Fiji serves as a hub of trade and diplomacy in the Pacific region.

YOUNG VOTERS. Minister of Education Filipe Bole said senior officials at the ministry have begun work for students who are still in secondary schools and who will be eligible for voting by 2014. “This includes cross checking school registers, birth certificates and the distribution of figures of 16-year-olds in the nine education districts as part of government’s preparations for the 2014 general elections,” he said.

KONFUSED KELERA. Kelera Tallis is a regular contributor to Facebook's Fiji Economic Forum that is worth visiting or joining for comments like those from Rishab Nair, previously mentioned. Kelera expresses her  anti-government views well but sometimes, as in this comment, I struggle with her conclusions.

On the electronic registration of voters, she writes: "Using bio-metric techniques, it will ensure that the regime has a grip on everyone over the age of 17 in Fiji. Anyone who does not vote in accordance with the Regime’s wishes will be found out. Put in the context of a dictatorship, it is just one more step to complete control over the population. The uses to which the system can be put would include targeted murder, intimidation, harassment, discrimination of all kinds ... The system is to ensure the registration of the population, no matter where they might be hiding in Fiji. It says nothing at all about the conduct of an election. That is a separate issue. But it would certainly help to identify persons who might possibly vote against Voreqe and assist in the effort to deny those people the vote or target them for intimidation and harassment."

How on earth can she draw such a conclusion? You register a person's name and bio data and you can tell how he will vote? Beware, citizens!  Your FEA (electricity) and cellphone  accounts, your name in the telephone directory and your household census records  could be incriminating documents.

ACCUSED CONSPIRATORS ASK FOR BAIL.  Former politicians, Mere Samisoni, Mataiasi Ragigia, Semesi Lasike and Apete Vereti, charged with "urging  political violence, have appealed for bail.  Chief Magistrate Usaia Ratuvili has given the defence council 14 days (until February 8) to make a proper application for bail variation. Under the current bail conditions, all the four accused are not allowed to change their addresses, surrender all their travel documents, report to their nearest police stations between 8am to 6pm daily, remain inside their houses between 7pm-6am and not to interfere with state witnesses.They may not interact with each other and their names will be put on the watch list.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

On a side note Croz,

There is a Pacific Fellowship in ANU.

http://masalai.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/anu-pacific-visiting-fellowships-2012-2013/


Wonder if you knew anyone (fitting the criteria) who would be interested?

Anonymous said...

Maybe Dr. Mere Samisoni

Can you organize an Aussie navy pick up.

Anonymous said...

And why the need for approval before comments are posted, Croz Walsh? Afraid of being challenged or are you taking a page out of your beloved Frankie's playbook...silence all dissenting voices?

Crosbie Walsh said...

@ Anonymous 3 ... When people are prepared to use their names and contact address, as is required by the mainstream media, it will be less necessary to vet comments. Then they could be held accountable for what they write. If you could see some of the libellous, insulting, violent and racist comments I decline to publish, you would see the problem. I regret to say most are from people who share your views on Fiji's current situation.

sara'ssista said...

Yes perhaps providing contact details in aus and nz for mainstream comment doesn't get u picked up, bashed and intimidated or deported by goons.

Anonymous said...

Croz Walsh, and here's the problem-- your blog does not qualify as "mainstream media". You equating and somehow claiming that your blog has the reach and breadth of mainstream media is ridiculous. And besides, your own guidelines for commenting on your blogs specifically says: " REAL NAMES OR PSEUDONYMS PREFERRED." -- Capital letters and bold fonts are YOUR emphasis...not mine. From now on, my pseudonym will be Anonymous3.

And Croz, how do you know what my views are about Fiji's current situation? Just because I asked you if you took a page out of Frankie's playbook, you think I am against Frankie? It was a question Croz, not some great insight into my political views. Which would you rather have Croz, a media that is free to report the news without government interference or a media which only reports what the government approves? A journalist reports the news, a blogger like yourself expresses his or hers opinions.

I ask you again: Afraid of being challenged or are you taking a page out of your beloved Frankie's playbook, Croz? And no, you can't hide behind the claim of "mainstream media". And why did you not publish my 1st comment regarding Fiji Economic Forum? It met your guidelines for commenting on this blog.

Anonymous3.

Crosbie Walsh said...

@ Saras'sista ... You never miss an opportunity. Why should providing me with a real name be any less secure than providing one for a mainstream outlet? Do you think I would reveal it to the "authorities"? But the issue was not the name but the need to vet content so that it complies with the wording following "Leave your comment." You say nothing on this, turning the main issue at hand into a subsidiary issue.

Anonymous said...

Croz, and how exactly did my comments violate your guidelines?

Anonymous3.

Crosbie Walsh said...

@ Anonymous 3 ... Huh! And how exactly did you arrive at this conclusion? I did not say they did. A general point was being made to explain why comments are vetted before publication. Moce.

sara'ssista said...

Croz...myself and others don't have a great deal of confidence in a blog so closely aligned with the regime to have any level of trust.Always prepared to go beyong reportage, comment and analysis to explaining, interpreting and excusing on behalf of a regime so bad at getting it right themselves, and so uninclined to take any advice from others. My point as you well know is that in fiji itself it istill an open question as to what happensd now if i should publicly publish any comments adverse to the regime. You don not have this issuesin many other countries in the region. The 'consequences' as you know full well, are VERY different in fiji, which the regime (and you), is all too happy to perpetuate with veiled threatsof what may happen if we don't behave ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Right Croz, feign ignorance when you can't defend your position. How disingenuous.

You say you review comments to make sure they don't violate your comment posting guidelines before you publish them. My point is that if my comments don't violate your guidelines, why do you refuse to publish them?

Let's get real here, reason you refuse is because you can't and won't engage in an honest debate about the issue's. Shame, really.

Anonymous3.

Crosbie Walsh said...

@ Anonymous 3 ... Which of your comments have I not accepted? Identifying them may be difficlt with so many anonymouses. Please use a unique name. The word "violate" is yours. I wender whether your comments have not been accepted because they were "repetitive or unhelpful to further discussion will be DELETED."

Say something which requires a reply. At the moment I'm swatting at shadows.

Back foot said...

croz
Like the junta you support, you increasingly appear to be on the back foot?