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

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Tuilaepa's Women; Bizarre Asylum Appeal; Xinhua in Fiji; Waste and Solar Energy Projects

N249.GOOD OL' TUILAEPA.  Samoa's PM  thinks he's got the right gender balance in his newly appointed cabinet. “We have two female members and 34 male members [in Parliament, and one woman in the 13-member cabinet]...That’s more than enough,” he said.

Meanwhile in the Fiji he so often criticises, the Minister of Women has confirmed that government departments will now be required to supply gender information in all personnel statistical data in order to better monitor progress towards gender equality.

N250. BIZARRE ASYLUM APPEAL. A Fiji Muslim applied for political asylum in the US in 1989 following the 1987 Rabuka coup. The case was deferred for 14 years when a court ordered his deportation on the grounds that conditions in Fiji had improved. That takes us to 2004.

He appealed, and last Friday, some eight years later, a federal judge said immigration officials hadn't considered evidence of the treatment of minorities since the 2006 coup. They had looked only at general conditions in Fiji, not the situation of someone who had been persecuted under a previous military regime. If they had conducted an up-to-date analysis, said the judge, there is a "reasonable likelihood" they would conclude that Ali would face persecution in Fiji. His case has been referred back to the immigration courts for further review.

Jannif Ali, the applicant, said the military forces that overthrew Fiji's government in 1987 had dealt harshly with Fijians of Indian descent.  He testified that a soldier had beaten him with a gun, military forces had vandalized and dynamited his home, and that ethnic Fijians had regularly thrown rocks at his family and car and threatened to rape his wife.

The court was told persecution of Indo-Fijians resumed after the 2000 coup but then receded but "the human rights situation deteriorated greatly" after the 2006 coup.

This should tell us something about how little American courts know about Fiji and how some emigrants use the appeal system to indefinitely extend their stay on false grounds. It is unlikely to be any different with most of those who have applied for political asylum in Australia.

N251. XINHUA, CHINA'S
official press agency, now has  a press agency in Suva. The bureau will cover Fiji and nearby South Pacific island countries.  [The North is getting closer!]

N252.WASTE AND SOLAR ENERGY EFFICIENCIES. Two new energy developments will soon bring economic, environmental and social benefits.

The first, the waste-to-energy power plant under construction in Sigatoka will employ about 600 people in the construction phase and about 200 permanent positions in the factory and 4,000 indirectly when it is complete in three years time. "We are talking about rubbish pickers all around Fiji, in the outer islands and resorts. The whole of Fiji will feel the impact as we try and rid Fiji of this problem – rubbish,"  said i-Viti Disenergy Renewable Power Plant Company president Ratu Enesi Yavala.

The other is at Tavua where in three months time solar street lights will replace existing lighting. Fiji's first town, Levuka on the island of Ovalau, is likely to be next on the list. -- Based on No:0673/MOI.

6 comments:

dubious said...

There is no way that rubbish plant will be built. There is no way 200 permanent positions and 600 construction positions will be created.

The FijiTimes archive is a graveyard of promised deals which never come to fruition.

At what point do we start realising that nothing actually happens? Look great on the blog, Croz, but it's all just empty promises by people who don't know how to get stuff done.

Islands in the Stream said...

You would expect such a response, wouldn't you, from this man, Tuilaepa - Prime Minister of Samoa? What a disgraceful example of leadership! What distinguishes such a man from the Muammar Ghaddafi's of this world: votes? We need to think again about the Tyranny of Imperfect Democracy. Where is Dr Jon Fraenkel on this? How may an academic of standing not speak out about this? And Dr Brij Lal - where are you, on this? The tyranny of women in the South Pacific by male leaders who permit violence and subjugation must end. What differentiates such people from Col Ghaddafi and the terror he perpetrates? Benign imposition of "We know best - that's quite enough". It sounds ugly, does it not? It is ugly! Wake up, Dr Lal and Dr Fraenkel! You will be held to account for your silence. Paid by Australian taxpayers, you permit this kind of tyranny to endure by your silence. In the name of Pacific culture and custom?

Ethanol roadmap said...

Croz
Do you think the proposed rubbish plant will be as successful as the cassava ethanol plant? With everything booming in Fiji there will soon be no squatters and everyone will be rich. Not just those supporting the regime.

Long Time Friends in Terror said...

The Tyranny of Imperfect Democracy might also be said to extend to the Scottish National Assembly. For they allowed the convicted bomber of Pan Am Flight 103 to go free on the grounds of Terminal Ill Health. What is democratic or commendable about that? When literally millions in Libya were subjugated and held hostage to Col Gaddafi's regime of Hideous Ignominy? Having traversed the Locherbie By Pass just one day prior to the downing of Flight Pan Am 103 and felt how lucky we were to have escaped by one day this Act of Terror par excellence, we must needs ask: Who are Gaddafi's Long-time Friends in Fiji? We know they are here. Are they going to own up?

Red Dragon said...

Gadaffi's Friends in Fiji?

Are well known and if they fail to own up? they shall be revealed for all the world to see and to know! There is no statute of limitations on terror. Are we quite assured of this? Crimes against Humanity never go away.

Anonymous said...

Dearest Esteems,

We are Offering best Global Financial Service rendered to the general public with maximum satisfaction,maximum risk free. Do not miss this opportunity. Join the most trusted financial institution and secure a legitimate financial empowerment to add meaning to your life/business.

Contact Dr. James Eric Firm via
Email: fastloanoffer34@gmail.com
Best Regards,
Dr. James Eric.
Executive Investment
Consultant./Mediator/Facilitator