WEEKEND READING. • Engaging with Fiji by Thakur Ranjit Singh • The 2013 Budget and Social Expenditure by Fr Kevin Barr • Maybe Time to Bring Fiji in from the Cold by Michael O'Keefe • What the Judiciary Can and Cannot Do by G. Larson • How Laws are Made in Bainimarama's Fiji by G Larson.
CCF VIDEO LAUNCH. The Citizens' Constitutional Forum will launch its "Our Voice, Our Future, Our Constitution," its documentary video, on Monday.
REPORT ON PUBLIC MEETING ON CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY. Click here and here.
CORRUPTION: FICAC urges people who
have been victims of corruption or white collar crime to speak up and
report the issue to the authorities. Fiji is only one of three countries
in the South Pacific to have ratified the UN’s Convention against
Corruption.
PACIFIC ISLANDERS QUESTION NZ's WITHDRAWN FROM KYOTO COMMITMENT.
Representatives of the Alliance of Small Island States’ (AOSIS) met with the New Zealand delegation at the Doha round of climate talks to discuss ways to secure agreement on a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol.
This was confirmed from Doha yesterday by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola. He said that the Pacific Islands neighbour, New Zealand, had last month declared its intention not to be part of the Kyoto Protocol’s second commitment period.
“For Fiji and member countries of AOSIS, establishing a second commitment period to the Protocol is considered crucial in the fight against runaway climate change,” Ratu Inoke said.
The AOSIS delegation was led by Nauru, as chair of the negotiating bloc, to hear reasons behind New Zealand’s decision not to enter into another commitment period.
PLANTING CORAL. A unique opportunity has started in the North where three villages in Druadrua Island are going to plant coral that will be marketed overseas by Walt Smith International (Fiji) Ltd. Company director Walt Smith says they will invest in these villages by providing all necessary equipment and training. Mr Smith and wife Deborah were the first to undertake commercial coral farming back in 1998 in the Yasawas. Since then more than 16 countries worldwide have followed suit.
MECHANISED CANE CUTTING COULD BE THE WAY TO GO. South Pacific Fertilisers chairman John May’s vision to mechanise the sugar industry and end the hand-cutting cane era, now lies in the hands of the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) board.
Mr May, who recently was in North Queensland, to look for surplus mechanical cane harvestershas submitted his findings to the FSC board. [The purchase of Aussie secondhand machinery has been criticised in the anti-goverrment blogs but they have made no suggestions on how to overcome the labour shortage problem and increase productivity.]
6 comments:
MECHANISED CANE CUTTING COULD BE THE WAY TO GO??? Here comes unemployment !!! If you mechanised everything that could be in fiji, there would be an unemployment rate of 40% ! Given all the talk of 'reskilling' that i am sure will come out of the mouths of the industry any time soon, what will these people be doing?? One harvester replaces hundreds of people.
@ Rusi ... You could be right but for the moment there is a shortage of labour to cut cane, and in the longer term the ageing demographic profile, small unit sizes, insecure leases, and under-capitalisation suggest the whole industry needs to be re-thought and "restructured". And that's before we start to talk about transport and the mills.
Croz
That is a nice way of saying the sugar industry is rooted? However the idiots backed the dictator in 2006 so they deserve all that is coming to them. Who gives a rats?
The rot started in May 1987 and accelerated in May 2000, when cane farmers were kicked out of their farms by the landlords.
Sugar was a great foreign exchange earner for Fiji and kept Fiji's Chiefs, politicians etc in their sulus and pyjamas.
Can farmers need to apply at least 50,000 tonnes of agricultural lime in 2013 and another 50,000 tonnes in 2014....
Mr.May would do well to focus on his job at South Pacific Fertilizers. Potential local lime suppliers need to have a gurantee of a market so that they can make the necessary investment without high risk so that the all farmers in Fiji can get the benefit of competitive low prices.
Havesters need to be fed cane, thats SPF's job.
Farmers will now be paid for sugar content so it is imperative that they have a cheap source of ag lime to apply to their crop that has been proven in trials to increase sugar production by up to 30 %.
All agriculture in Fiji is at ground zero, if there is any serious intention to revive agriculture then it would be logical to start with the most basic foundation of life.
Think dairy, dalo, ginger, they are also in dire need of this basic mineral.
This issue is not political, its basic agronomy, and requires urgent action if all our other investments are going to have any meaning. nice roads without produce to move is pointless, nay stupid.
So if anyboy reads this and is close to Minister of Sugar and AG, please kerekere them to decree the use of ag lime in sugar industry, post $5 million dollars for lime purchase and apply some epsom salts to FSC, there is some serious blockage there.
Croz
Engaging with Fiji by Thakur Ranjit Singh.
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Your blog is my compulsory weekend reading !!
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