Last Week in Fiji II: Fact and Opinion

[Flashback: This weekend Fiji (and Serevi) are in Wellington for the Rugby 7's. Remember Trevor Mallard's embarrassing comment that he hoped the Fiji team wouldn't get very far in the competition (because of the 2006 coup)? And then Fiji went on to thrash NZ in the finals. A double embarrassment.]

Does anyone know why the Fiji Human Rights Commission website cannot be contacted?

• Floods First, Forum Later
• Help Sugar Now -- or Else
• Singh and Beddoes Speak Out
• People's Charter
• Samoan and Ni-Vanuatu Commentary
• Litigation: Qarase and the Interim Government
• Wages Up, Fares Down - Helping the Poor
• Minimum Wages
• Mischievous or Just Bad Reporting - Fiji Daily News
• The Good News: 3000 New Jobs?
• And from NZTV 7 Robie, Dreaver and Khan

(G) Attention Floods First, Forum Later
Interim PM Voqere (Frank) Bainimarama has called for sacrifice in the face of suspended EU loans and further sanctions following Fiji's possible suspension from the PI Forum later this year. “Every now and then we need to make sacrifices for the betterment of our future generations,”he said. "“Maybe we lose some now, but in the long run, we are more independent, confident and our children will have a lasting multi racial, cultural and tolerant society they can develop in.” He said discussion on the Forum resolution will take place after the flood victims are taken care of but, according to FijiLive, he was adamant about changing the country’s race-based voting system.

The Floods
The final cost of the Floods is not yet know but costs so far include an estimated $30m for the Sugar industry and at least $8m for Nadi rehabilitation. Meanwhile, according to Fiji Village, over 17,000 people received rations in January, and more than 147,000 people still need them, all in the west and north of Viti Levu, approximately 18,000 in Nadroga, 8,500 in Navosa, 70,000 in Nadi, 13,000 in Lautoka and Yasawa, 9,600 in Ba, 10,000 in Tavua, 5,000 in Nadarivatu and 12,800 in Ra. Overseas donors include PNG $1 milion, India $185,000, N Z about $600,000. The Government is distributing water purification tablets to affected areas.
This is the worst environmental crisis Fiji has endured in recent years. One might have hoped NZ would have put politics aside and been considerably more generous.

(o) Help Sugar Now or Else, Aid Donors Told
FijiLive 6 February 2009
Fiji's main sugarcane farmers' organisation has warned aid donors to front up now with badly needed assistance or face the consequences of salvaging a potentially bankrupt industry.Sugar Cane Growers Council CEO Surendra Sharma said aid donors should take heed as they will all be implicated if the industry fails."Aid donors will all have to spend a lot more to try to salvage the industry as well as deal with the wider implications when poverty levels spin out of control," Sharma said. The SCGC has written to the EU and the NZ and Australian governments for assistance, so far to no avail. NZ is playing a major role in tying up EU aid. Hitting cane farmers and workers will not "restore democracy".

(-) Movement for Democracy in Fiji chairperson Attar Singh appealed to the Interim Government to "return to democracy" so that the EU's $350 million aid to the ailing sugar industry will be paid.

(-) Former General Voters MP, Mick Beddoes, asked how the interim government will amend the Constitution without breaking the law. This followed Interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum's statement that the constitution will be amended to allow electoral reforms, the end of racial voting and the introduction of the a one man one vote system. (Fiji Sun).

(G) People's Charter Paper is Out
The Fiji Daily Post reports (5 February 2009) that the 42-page People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress has now been accepted by the President, Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda, and is being widely distributed. Translations into Fijian and Hindustani will be available soon The Interim Government's Information Department said the Charter process was a national level initiative which was inclusive and participatory, representing Fiji’s own way of addressing its deep-rooted, complex and fundamental problems.

“Integral to this process has been the firm commitment of all stakeholders as well as the interim Government towards the restoration and sustenance of true parliamentary democratic governance, stability and peace in Fiji,” the statement said.

The Ministry of National Planning has been tasked to integrate the Charter into the Corporate Plans of various ministries.“The general public is therefore encouraged to make an effort to read the Charter and contribute to the interim Government's endeavour to rebuild Fiji into a non-racial, culturally vibrant and united, well-governed, truly democratic nation that seeks progress and prosperity through merit-based equality of opportunity and peace,” the statement said.

(-) Samoan leader, Tuilaepa Malilelegaoi says unless the armed force in Fiji is removed there will be no peace in the country. Major Neumi Leweni replied that Fiji was a sovereign county and asked that it be left alone to attend to its problems. [Unfortunately, it could well be that it will be left alone.]

(o) Vanuatu Finance Minister, Sela Molisa, chairperson of the Monitoring Group for the People's Charter, speaking of the Forum's ultimatum to Fiji, said "I don't believe that it is the best option for the countries of the Pacific.

(+) Abuse of Office?
The case brought by the Interim Government against Former PM Laisenia Qarase, adjourned until 5th March, has been transferred to the High Court in Suva.

(-) In a counter move, Qarase's SDL party is challenging a ruling by Justice John Bryce which allowed the People's Charter process to continue, over-ruling an earlier injunction by Justice Jitoko that would have stopped the use of civil servants and government funds in promoting the Charter. [Tit-for-tat litigation is about the last thing Fiji needs at the moment.]

(+) Help for the Poor
Whatever its faults, the Interim Government is showing concern for the poor. This week it has increased minimum wages by 20% (see below), ordered a reduction of bus fares by 10%, and taxi flagfall prices by 50c, following the recent drop in fuel prices.

Minimum Wage Increases
Fiji Employers Federation chief executive Ken Roberts said federation representatives at the council's board argued against the wage increase that will give low paid workers increases of between 20 and 50 cents an hour. He said employment creation in the country will be hindered and those business affected by the flood would suffer further. National Wage Council Chairman, Fr Kevin Barr, had earlier said some employers had refused to raise wages despite generating huge profits through increased productivity, and added that when asked many employers refused to show their financial records to the Council. (Fiji Times).

The wage regulation order was gazetted in November last year and came into effect February 1st. Minimum hourly wage rates: Garment industry $1.36 ($61 weekly, assuming a 45 hour week. The urban poverty line in 1991 was $101!); most unskilled workers $1.65 to $2.08; Hotel and Catering workers from $1.84; Mining and Quarrying from $2.57. http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=110204

In 2003 the bottom 30% of urban households had 10% of urban incomes, while the top 20% had 47%,, and the top 10% had 30%.(See Walsh 2006:357-359)

(-/o) Mischievous or Just Bad Reporting
(-) Fiji Daily News: "Democracy Still Elusive in Fiji".

Whoever wrote this article should get their facts right and not infer Prof Brij Lal said things that he did not.

FDN: "The military-man has ... suggested he’d like to keep the top job for another 10 years."
The Facts: Bainimarama actually said “I want to reform electoral laws and change the constitution to remove discrimination against Fiji’s large ethnic-Indian minority. The reforms will come before elections - even if the process takes five to ten years.”

FDN: "...he has replaced many key government figures with military officials"
The Facts: Yes, this is worrying -- but it is at least partly because of the difficulty in filling these position due to Australian and NZ travel bans.

FDN: (He has) "repeatedly broken promises to hold an election to return the country to democracy."
The Facts: Not repeatedly. Two "promises" were made, the first in April 2007 by Chaudhry, Nailatikau and Sayed-Khaiyum to the EU; the second in October 2007 by Bainimarama to the PI Forum in Tonga, and then only made after Tonga said they'd support a later date if this became necessary. Being pressured to say something is not a promise. Opponents say the promise was broken because of the date change (March 2009) but that was only one part of the promise. The other part promised "free and fair elections." [The "six million dollar" question is how this can be achieved. All parties -- the Interim Government, its opposition, the Forum and international community -- need to lift their eyes from dates and focus hard on possible answers to the far bigger question.]

DN:"The reason for the delay, he claims, is the need to reform the current communal voting system that assigns votes along ethnic lines, giving indigenous Fijians an advantage over the Fiji Indian minority."
The Facts: Yes, but not for the reason stated. The majority Fijian population has long had that advantage. What the Interim Government wants is a system that gives all votes an equal value. [Note: The present system makes (rural) Fijian, General and Rotuman Communal votes far more valuable than those of urban Fijians and Indo-Fijians. A case can be made to allow over-representation of Rotumans and General voters.]

Municipal Councils Dismissed
The Local Government Association will legally challenge the Interim Government's decision dismissing all councils to facilitate municipal reform. Their case will be heard on 13th March.

And the Good News? 3,000 New Jobs for Nasinu?
FijiLive reports that Cayman-based ICT call centre business, Mindpearl Ltd., could create 3,000 fulltime jobs over two and a half years, starting this September, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau. Mindpearl provides full contact centre facilities and services to a consortium of 11 airlines, flying globally to over 400 destinations across all time zones. Wages are likely to be between $12,000 to $15,000. Fiji was chosen because of its "neutral" English accent and Southern Cross Cable access. Mindpearl, to be located in the TaxFree Zone at Nasinu in Greater Suva, will enjoy a 13-year-tax holiday.

And from NZ TV7: (o+) Robie, Dreaver and Khan: Fiji Needs Help by its Powerful Neighbours
New Zealand's TV7 (unfortunately only accessible on the internet or with Freeview) offers programmes that rarely pander to the "lowest-common-denominator" audience typical of most progammes on other TV channels. There seems to be an intent to inform and educate, the kind of TV we were promised when we first had TV in the 1960s. Thursday's 9:10pm slot was a disccussion on Fiji between three people with Fiji experience: journalist and educator David Robie of AUT, TV1's Pacific reporter Barbara Dreaver, and Radio Tarana owner Robert Khan (www.tarana.co.nz/fiji-news/fiji-news/index.htm).

I hope, but doubt, that someone in the PM's office or Foreign Affairs was tuned in. The main message: Fiji needs help, not confrontation, from its more powerful neighbours. Things are very wrong that need to be fixed if Fiji is to have a genuine democracy.

You can listen to what they said on http://tvnzondemand.co.nz/content/media7/ondemand_video_skin?tab=&sb=date-descending&e=media7_2009_ep2#ep_media7_2009_ep2

Postscript 17.2.09. The NZ Media7 programme on Fiji is now available on the Pacific Media Centre YouTube site so it can be seen in Fiji http://cafepacific.blogspot.com/2009/02/media7-bares-all-on-fiji.html

The second item, on Waitangi, is also pertinent. My thanks to David Robie's Cafe Pacific for the link. See also my posting "Fiji Needs Lasting Solutions and Compassionate Neighbours" by Auckland-based journalist Thakur Ranjit Singh. Fiji Times 5 February 2009. http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=113597