While not privy to the intricacies of the issue (Qantas apparently has veto powers on some matters) my gut feeling would be to leave well alone. Government has the controlling share in Air Pacific and seems to have little to gain from taking on more debt. Further, retaining Qantas's financial interest in the airline —at no cost to Government and considerable cost to Qantas— is a handy card to have and hold. Present arrangements should not prevent the intended rationalisation processes and restructuring to ensure Air Pacific's continuing competitiveness.
N0056. CHINA 'NO GOOD' FOR PACIFIC. The Director of the Melanesia Program at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Jenny Hayward-Jones believes China is no longer a force for good in the Pacific due to its activities in PNG and Fiji. Listen to the ABC interview.
N0057. CHINA AWARDED CONSTRUCTION JOBS. China Railway First Group has been awarded the contract to build bridges at Naqia and Balekinaga and a nine kilometre road from the Wailotua to Nayavu stretch at Wainibuka in Tailevu. The existing bridges on King's Road (that together with Queen's Road to west circles Viti Levu) have been labelled death traps. The project is funded by the Asian Development Bank at a cost of over F$22 million should be complete by the end of the year.
N0058. AZIZ AND FHL. BrigGen Aziz Mohammed, a government nominee and deputy Chairman of Fijian Holdings Limited since June 2008 has resigned from the FHL for personal reasons. The Ministry of I-Taukei Affairs is expected to name a replacement soon. [Whatever the reason, the fewer changes the better. Each one gives extreme anti-govt people more grist for their imagination.]
N0059. FREE BUS FARES CONTINUE BUT BLOG CRITICISES. Nearly 95,000 children whose parents combined incomes was under $15,000 benefited from Government's $12m free transport assistance last year, and another $12m is budgeted this year. School children in all nine education districts are eligible, including those who travel to school by boat. -- 2011, No: 0133/MOI. In another announcement the Education Ministry said that e-tickets that contain the student’s name, his/her identification number, the issue and expiry dates of tickets, the bus stages where tickets are to be used and the subsidy given should be ready by Term II. --2011, No: 0136 /MOE.
Bus fare coupons for Term I have been supplied to District Education Offices for distribution to schools but since this will take some time to accomplish parents have been asked to pay their children's fares for the first week of school.
This announcement led the anti-blog FijiToday to criticise Government under the heading Twelve Months after "Free Bus Fares" are announced parents are stung with having to pay bus fares at short notice. I would agree with their suggestion that a better choice would have been for Government to pay a bulk fee to the bus companies for this period if the coupons were for all children which they are not. Only those whose parents earn under $15,000 are eligible.
Once again, we see an ungracious nitpicking. The blog did not applaud the Government's free fares in the first place; they never mentioned that the previous government never had free bus fares; but now, with a distribution glitch in the system, they seek to lampoon a genuine attempt by the present government to help the poor.
N0060. FREE TEXTBOOK DELAYS. Schools resume next week but free secondary school textbooks will probably not be ready for distribution until Term II because some of the books are still being written. Last year $1.5m was allocated to provide textbooks for the primary schools but the allocation of $600,000 for secondary schools was insufficient. With some $12m needed, it was decided the only affordable option was for Curriculum Development Unit officers to write the textbooks. Books for technical and vocational subject are now written and the Ministry is waiting to receive printing tenders, but books for academic subjects will take longer.
-- 2011, No:0117 /MOI.
N0061. JAPANESE DEVELOPMENT AID. The recently opened new water supply system at Lawaki village in Tailevu is one of 13 projects funded by the Japanese Government in its 2010-2011 commitments. The project, which includes a dam, two 5000 litres water tanks and water pipes that carry the water 7km to the village, replaces a 1962 installation that could no longer meet the demands of an increasing village population.
Ambassador Yoshizawa said his Government was committed to the Official Development Assistance policy promoting development to grassroots people and with the modern facilities in place, Lawaki people can now enjoy drinking water from a hygienic safe system. --Based on 011, No:0132/MOI.
WEEKEND READING ♦ Allen Lockington column ♦ The Kaunitoni Story by Peter France ♦ Why the Roadmap by Croz Walsh
2 comments:
No Passports....?
So "what's new"? In 1990 - two years after the 1987 coup d'etat (Fiji's First) there were no passports available for some who required them in London. So, it was necessary to travel on other passports or mere Certificate of Identity. This was essentially a matter of convenience for the then regime: sort out the sheep from the goats and the test was an ethnic one based on racist ideology. Subsequently, passports have always 'run short'. The only difference this time is that dual citizenship is permitted for some and that is a blessing for them. But the arbitrary situation of who may apply and acquire a valid passport and who may not is distinctly questionable. How does that assist someone dying or suffering from a chronic disease like cancer of the colon or pancreas now become acute? And is this a denial of a most basic freedom of choice based on a fundamental human right? We need to go back to first principles and a constitution of liberty for all -
not some. But the region also requires an adherence to these principles: Pacific Forum take note. Freedom of movement within the Asia Pacific region is now under the radar. The Guest worker Program proposed by the US Government is just a beginning. A Constitution of Liberty would allow for a freedom of movement akin to the EU and it would empower small island nations to visa-free travel especially for work.
My reading of the Fiji Today blog is that they were critisizing that after 12 months it was still not organised. Also that the poorer parents were only given one weeks notice they had to pay up for bus fees they had not budgeted for. These parents have no spare cash for unexpected emergencies. I think this is a fair critisizm.
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