The PM said government knows the Tikina o Veinuqa has transport and service difficulties. What is needed is a a bridge at Namado and Wainiyavu so people can easily transport their vegetables or root crops to the urban centres. Funds have been allocated for the bridge which will cost $1.2m. The PM gave 20 horses to the villagers which cost $6000. In 2010, Government had provided over $400,000 for developments in Namosi province, which included farm and non-PWD roading, forestry, a building grant and eleven self-help projects. The applications of some 939 social welfare recipients had also been approved.
N0024. FIJI TODAY/FIJI SUN BOTH TOTALLY BOTCH DOCTORS FIGURES. You can't altogether blame the moderate anti-government blog Fiji Today for getting its facts wrong when it reported "Recent statistics released by the Ministry of Health shows that out of the 850 trained doctors in the country 400 have left for greener pastures last year." They were merely quoting the Fiji Sun. But they said this equated to more than one doctor per day and really rubbed it in by adding "Good one, Frank. You are building a better Fiji." Click on both hyperlinks above to check that I've got this right, and then read on...
The figures they cite are completely wrong, and the journalists responsible have no good excuse because they should immediately have queried obviously suspicious figures and because there were quick ways to do so. I looked at the figures and thought 850 trained doctors? Fiji only has 8,000 teachers and they can't possibly outnumber doctors by only 10:1.
So I checked the Bureau of Statistics website that showed there were only 416 doctors in 2009, and as a further check I consulted the Ministry of Health's website. Their Strategic Plan for 2011 states that it aims to maintain the number of doctors at 54 per 100,000 population. This would give 480 (not 850) doctors in an estimated 2010 population of 888,000. So the Fiji Sun and Fiji Today are way off the mark.
And then, incredibly, they made a second error by saying the loss of 400 doctors occurred in one year, when the figure is for the past 10 to 15 years, that gives a loss of between 40 to 27 doctors a year. Still a large number but locally graduating doctors and overseas recruitment should make up much of the loss.
I hope the Fiji Sun and Fiji Today editors blush with shame, with the latter offering Frank an apology.
N0025. POLICE & PRISONS JOIN FORCES. A MOU signed last year between these two services is expected to result in greater efficiency, less recidivism and lower costs. Information and intelligence will be shared through regular liaison and there will be joint training programmes, operational activities, and media releases whenever necessary. Further, they will share human and technical resources for investigatory and training purposes, and the supervision and monitoring of rehabilitation of former prison inmates.-- Based on 2011, No:0055 /MOI.
N0026. WHY PRINT GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA? "Anare" asks why I publish government releases with no comment, saying it makes the blog look like "a mirror of government propaganda." I rely on numerous news sources, including government, and the source is always acknowledged. The original release is usually abbreviated and sometimes commented upon. News releases from government sources are more conspicuous because I cannot provide a hyperlink. I added the source (usually -- Based on ...) at the end, where it stands out.
But I do publish a lot of government news. This is because much is not used by the local, and almost none by the overseas, media that seem more interested in the personal and sensational than in "boring" news on developments that cumulatively show progress towards Charter goals.
N0027. RELIGIO WARNED. Police in Nadi have warned a religious leader against preaching against other churches and to stop making racist remarks. Failure to heed the warning will result in the cancellation of the church's permit to hold gatherings.
9 comments:
Dear Croz,
In a previous post you pointed out it was unfair to blame our PM for all worries in the sugar industry. You are of course correct but he must take SOME responsibility for the decline in the last four years.
The PM actually promised the industry would be fixed by 2009. It was part of his only published roadmap (now abandoned and removed from government web sites). He appointed the board and management that are all now stepping down. His government failed to negotiate any aid money EU and his government/military was responsible for the coup. He has had more power then any other government in Fiji. He can make laws up overnight and has the full force of the military behind him. I beleive the reality is
1. He had not realised perhaps until now how hard business (and particulary the sugar business) was
2. He has not given it the time and energy it has needed
3. He wrongly trusted has-been former Fiji citizens, now expats to fix everything
Most people would would recognise issues in the suagr industry are not new or solely caused by our PM but it is also fair to say he has not had any success in his four years of power. He would do well to remember that when he blames everyone else in the past for Fiji's problems.
Those of us who have held positions of responsibility know it is much harder to TO DO and much easier to BLAME OTHERS.
I would like to see our self appointed PM do a lot more DOING.
Great to see the PM getting the hang of the whole 'politician' gig. Travelling to remote areas and handing out promises and gifts of horses. It's pretty normal political stuff.
But hang on a minute - isn't he the one that hates 'politics' and hasn't he been critical of "hand outs" in rural areas before ? And what is with all this Chief supporting stuff - didn't he accuse them all of going and drinking home brew...or does he consider them valid now they support him ?
Plenty of prodaganda coming from pro-democracy/anti-coup blogs. Thats obvious but lets look at some of the spin and propaganda this government continues with...
1. "Mandate from the president" the only madate Frank has is the one he has given himself.
2. "I was forced to take over government". No you where not. It was your choice and perhaps the militaries choice. No one forced you - you did not have to do it.
3. "Road map to democracy" - Sorry but a roadmap is not a map unless someone can read it.
4. "Increased investment" - Check the figures. GDP has decline every year since the coup
A bit of good news - a sensible appointment to the PS Finance.
The only downside is he has a boss can't even read a basic balance sheet or P&L.
Filimone Waqabaca is the new Permanent Secretary for Finance.
Waqabaca who is the Chief Manager at the Reserve Bank of Fiji has been appointed for three years effective from 7th of next month.
PSC Chairman Josefa Serulagilagi said the Commission undertook an extensive search for a suitable candidate after the position became vacant in 2009.
He said the post was advertised both locally and overseas and the Commission with the concurrence of the Prime Minister decided to give preference to appoint a local person given the suitability of the applicant.
Waqabaca has been the advisor to the Executive Director in the South East Asia office of the International Monetary Fund from May 2007 to April 2009.
"Politicing" (sic), you"re suggesting that the PM is engaged in good old fashioned pork barreling, like his SDL predecessors. A couple of points about this:
1/ Bainimarama has consistently maintained that many rural communities have been left behind when it comes to national development. Getting horses to people who have no roads or other basic services doesn't strike me as being unreasonable under the circumstances. He's matching his rhetoric with action.
2/ The PM is not politicking in the traditional sense, in other words vote buying like his SDL predecessors. He's a dictator and doesn't need anyone's vote. But instead of raiding the national honey jar and squirrelling it all away in a Swiss bank account, he's assisting ordinary people who most need it. Not exactly your run-of-the-mill third world despot, is he?
Yes, yes, I know, democracy, democracy blah, blah, blah. But maybe if the so-called democrats had distributed a few horses to people who needed them and didn't try to disadvantage other citizens by using their power to enrich just one section of the population, it'd be Laisenia Qarase sitting on that horse. It isn't and as far as I'm concerned, thank God for that.
Croz, your naivete about the Fiji media is almost touching. You seem genuinely pained when they get something wrong. Get a grip, man ( mild dig, not censure ). They get things wrong every effing day! They can bring an army of Dallas Swinsteads or Peter Lomases. Your average journo in Fiji, with a handful of honourable exceptions, is ill informed, ill-read and spent too much time talking to crash-through-or-crash "heroes' like Netani Rika. Of course they get things wrong!
@ Horses for courses......
Cannot imagine for one moment that LQ (the former Prime Minister) would know one end of a horse from the other? It was always noteworthy that he was thoroughly flat-footed especially when reviewing the troops. Horses have a long and noble history in Fiji since well befoe Cession. There used to be a Pony Express taking mail from the Western Division all the way through to Suva. Who looked after all these ponies in the middle of the 19th century? It is encouraging to have a Prime Minister who knows how to ride a horse with confidence. Does his horse have a name? Some of us have had more than a passing acquaintance with horses: the Votualevu Races, which used to be held twice yearly, are a testament to that fact. What a pity they are no more.
@ Red Dragon ... To add to your history of horses in Fiji: The itaukei residents in Valenimanunu in Reservoir Road Suva claim they were entitled to squat in the area because an earlier resident had been given permission by the Governor because he looked after the Governor's horses that presumably grazed the area down to the Chinese cemetery. I've always been a little sceptical of this story (though the SCC seemed to accept it) because I thought Sikhs looked after the Governor's horses, but which Governor and when, I do not know.
Post a Comment