N0093. FORTY YEARS OF NEGLECT.Asia Development Bank project manager and engineer Roley Hayes says upgrading work on the Tamavua water treatment plant, Suva's main reticulated water source, will cost around $100m mainly because no upgrading work had been carried out for the past 40-50 years.The work is being funded by a Government loan from the ADB.
N0094. ROUNDTABLE DONOR MEETING. Government officials met with executives from 32 donor countries and representatives of the diplomatic community, civil society organisations and financial institutions last week. The purpose of the meeting was to improve co-ordination of Official Development Aid (ODa). The PM used the opportunity to ask its development partners to respect the country's right to settle its problems in its own ways, and indeed self-determination "and this includes the area of management of official development assistance” much of which now bypasses government and is managed by NGOs. This has been a general trend in all Pacific countries in recent years because of donor concerns about corruption and mismanagement. The policy has been applied more rigorously in Fiji because donors did not want to be seen to support the coup and the Bainimarama Government.-- Based on 2011, No:0221/MOI.
N0095. AN APOLOGY. The reader who made a comment last week about boots on throat has apologized. He wrote:Croz, when I wrote the "boot on throats" comment last week, little did I realise how much of a stir it would cause. This little turn of phrase has been like pushing a stick into a hornets' nest. Some indigenous Fijians seem to think it was directed at the i'taukei as a whole. Can we all please just step back, stop the "roti boy" insults and hear me out? It wasn't meant to be literal. It was a figure of speech, imaginary to convey the notion of the need to keep something under control. In this case, it was the organisers of Coup 4.5, who were allowing racist comments like "mongoose" on their website. Nothing more, nothing less.. I now realise that it may have been a little too provocative in the Fiji context and for that, I'm sorry. IT WAS NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN AS INDO-FIJIANS NEEDING TO KEEP THEIR BOOTS ON THE THROATS OF THE I'TAUKEI. I am not an Indo-Fijian and don't like them being vilified for crimson prose I wrote in the heat of the moment that I now regret. Yalo vinaka. Ni vosoti au. Vinaka vakalevu.
N0096. GOVERNMENT MUSICAL CHAIRS. LtCol Ifereimi Vasu is the new Commissioner for Prisons and Correctional Services, replacing Brig Ioane Naivalurua who is now the Police Commissionery, and LtCol Neumi Leweni, previously PermSec of Lands and Minerals, is now the new Commissioner Eastern, replacing LtCol Vasu.-- Based on 2011, No:0232/PSC.
10 comments:
Unfortunately, the neglect of the Tamavua Water Treatment Plant is just one of many instances of infrastructure not being modernised or replaced. All over Fiji, whether it's roads, hospitals or schools, there's an aura of decay that's very depressing to those of us who remember the great state Fiji was in when the British left 40 years ago. My blood boils when I hear all this rubbish about the ills of colonialism or neo-colonialism, as if the imperial power robbed us blind and left us with nothing. It's utter rubbish. We were left with some great infrastructure and the proof of that is that the Tamavua installation has lasted as long as it has. This anti-British streak used to be the preserve of the Indo-Fijian elite, who resented British rule because of what had happened in India. But it's steadily gained ground among other races as waves of otherwise intelligent people come under the spell of leftist academics with an ideological axe to grind at places like USP. Let's get this straight: Fiji was a fantastic place in the latter stages of colonial rule, when the racial prejudice of some white people gradually gave way to a general commitment to multiracialism and nation building. It's an absolute tragedy that those ideals have been lost as extremist elements encourage suspicion and hatred to enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow countrymen. The fact that clean, safe drinking water can no longer be guaranteed to Fiji citizens as a birthright is a national disgrace. Now, it seems, the ability of Suva residents to drink from the tap may well be under threat unless urgent action is taken. Has it taken a dictatorship to finally address some of these issues? We need to accept our own failings when it comes to governance, not blame our colonial legacy. We've had so many chances to prosper, to be the Singapore of the South Seas, and blew them.
Croz, it seems that Neumi Leweni continues to be moved away from the centre of power, like some communist functionary sent to govern Siberia in Soviet times. First, he was Frank's right-hand man and shadow, then the mumbling permanent secretary for information, then PS for lands and minerals and now Commissioner Eastern. The existing Commissioner Eastern, Lt Col Vasu, does a straight swap, coming into lands and minerals. What does it mean? That Leweni was once again judged to be out of his depth? The lands job is one of the most important in Fiji, just as the information job before it. Did Frank eventually decide he wasn't up to either? Leweni is now in charge of a string of islands like Ovalau, Rotuma and the Lau group, where he originally hails from. Hardly the most important places in the country and undoubtedly the quietest. The eastern division has the smallest land area but the biggest footprint because of the many small islands dotted across vast expanses of ocean. Leweni will need his sea legs but can look forward to many ceremonies of welcome in the coming months and a veritable ocean of his favoured tipple - yaqona. Intriguing.
Croz,
At the same meeting the PM in his opening speech on everyone to direct their money and aid to support the roadmap.
Fair enough but he really needs to take the first step by publishing it (The Roadmap). I can see no reason to keep it a secret. What is he worried about - the naysayers will say what is he hiding ? But seriously if anyone could convince the man on one thing this would be a great first step.
The PM's hard as rock, take no advice, do as I say and trust me approach will only take him so far.
Hi Croz, I know you're usually in pursuit of Coup 4.5 but thought you'd be interested to see the woeful spelling error in the banner headline of that other miserable extremist blog, Solivakasama.
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Solivakasama Worldwide Movement for Democracy in Fiji
The Writting is on the Wall,Dictator is about to Fall.
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It's one thing to be wrong on both counts but do they really have to mangle the language as well?
@ MBN ... Please do me the favour of reading my first two articles on the Roadmap, and then the one to be published on Saturday, and then tell me how far off the mark you think I am from the draft Roadmap that I know exists. I agree the Roadmap should be published (Government obviously thinks other matters more urgent) but I think any intelligent person who has been following the events in Fiji as they unfold (or anyone reading this blog) would already know its main provisions. If in doubt, write "Roadmap" in the "Search this Blog" facility. It's all there.It has just not been published.
@ Mike Miller of the IRB.....
Mr Miller there are many questions which need to be asked of the RFU and of its 'roadmap' of preparation to the NZ 2011 Rugby World Cup. Kindly keep and objective and open mind and listen to all sides of this tale. In the end, the players and the rugby fans of Fiji deserve only the very best outcome. Please keep this carefully in mind!
@ Croz, well mate... i know there is corruption , nepotism and criminal acts that result from this illegal regime... but like you, 'i know it exists' and i see the evidence every week. Still no comment of the amazing resignation of Aziz moments prior to the FHL board being sacked/resigning and accused of mismanagement with a senior army officer on the board??? Still no word on the dictators daughter being appointed to Fiji Sports...is it all too inconvenent for you to bother to comment??
@ MBN & Croz
Croz, with respect, if the Regime intends to stick to this alleged "roadmap" why do they rely on you and the rest of us to interpret what that roadmap "might" contain?
This is a constant query I see on this blog and others.
It is more than a little absurd to suggest that you and I should be left to try to piece a roadmap together from the regime's various promises and vague stated aims.
Surely if the roadmap existed, publishing it on a government-controlled website and perhaps a newspaper or two, with Frank's signature at the bottom, might be a little more believable - that is unless you intend to act as the regimes spokeperson?!?
In addition, making the roadmap a public document would effectively silence this criticism.
We would then be allowed to see whether or not the roadmap: (a) exists; (b) is sensible; and (c) is being followed in any meaningful way.
Publishing a roadmap could only help the regime - that is if they actually intended to follow the roadmap.
Not doing so has bred the idea that the regime: (a) has no idea; (b) is not taking progress towards 2014 seriously; (c) is lurching from disaster to disaster; and (d) doesnt wish to publish it because doing so would expose them to having being held to account for their failures.
Surely this basic level of transparency is not too much to ask from a "government".
@Croz...speaking of musical chairs...any news on those 'not out of the ordiany' rather lengthy leaves for some very senior military officers, that 'didn't have any sinister undertones' or any hints of dispute with the commander?? Any news of them??
l-arginine - This is one of my favorite blog because whenever I visit this blog found something interested and different, you are doing very well job,keep it up.
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