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| The 11th centre, at Lomary, Pacific Harbour, a year ago. |
PM WAXES LOUD AND CLEAR AT LAMI TELECENTRE LAUNCH. The PM opened the country's 24th telecentre, at Lami High School, on Tuesday, and didn't lose the opportunity to make an appeal for votes:
"As I travel around the country speaking with ordinary people", he said, "one of the things that I hear most often is the complaint that in the past politicians would make all sorts of promises but would fail to keep them.
"Breaking this shameful practice has been one of my proudest accomplishments as your Prime Minister. Since day one, my Government has always been more interested in delivering results than making promises. This Telecentre is proof of that commitment."
"The bottom line is that Fijians know when they are being empowered, when they are finally getting the services they deserve - real benefits like free education, better housing, better roads, better access to electricity and water. And as in today, the opportunity to be connected to the wider world."
Calling the UFDF a "coalition of hypocrites", he said their petty squabbling and division in the past had brought Fiji to its knees, "yet now they are trying to convince you that they can work together... The only thing these parties have in common is opposition to my Government's reforms. They are united only by their determination to wind back the clock, to reject the advances of the past seven years and restore their own privileged positions at the expense of ordinary Fijians."
Most telecentres are located in maritime and rural areas, and presently give some 77,000 people in schools and the wider community access to computers and the internet. The Lami centre will give 225 students and 5,000 others computer access.
FIJIFIRST DECLARES ASSETS. As required by law, declarations of assets and liabilities by the party's executive and the party were submitted to the Elections Office on Monday, and are expected to be made public within seven days.
ITAUKEI COMMONER DISAGREES WITH RO TEIMUMU. "When these 'chameleons'”, he wrote in the Fiji Sun, "were in government, some native land got converted to freehold. We iTaukei had no rights to minerals extracted under our land. The bulk of lease money was taken by the few elites while the whole mataqali struggled with school fees and bus fares.
"In their “good old days” they all sat quietly in their ministerial and parliamentary seats fattening their wallets and saw nothing wrong.
"Today, Native Land can never be converted to Freehold again. We iTaukei now have the rights to claim benefits from minerals extracted under our land. The lease money is now equally distributed to benefit the whole mataqali and their children do not have to pay schools fees or bus fares again.
"Now, SODELPA and Labour are each willing to sleep with the devil just to get their hands back on those fat wallets. Don’t we see how “fishy” and “weird” it is for Chaudhry to hold hands with Ro Teimumu when they have absolutely opposing political platforms? Any politician, who sells his or her political platform, can also sell their voters and supporters as a package, even at a discounted price."
THE FIJI TIMES AND THE PM. The Times defends itself against the PM's accusation of bias, and then, more positively, the PM talks about FijiFirst policy. Click here for detail.
NZ TRAVEL ADVISORY. New Zealander Director of Public Prosecutions, Chris Pryde, says it is difficult to restore good relations with New Zealand when its Foreign Affairs travel advisories question the independence of the judiciary by claiming the Fijian government “has a degree of influence over the judiciary”. This, he said, "simply untrue."
His full statement, that includes his account of the Chaudhry and Driti cases, to the the Fiji-NZ Business Council will be published on Saturday.
FNPF PAYOUT. $179 million have been credited to 300,000 accounts of . Fiji National Provident Fund members this week. National Provident Fund. FNPF chief executive Aisake Taito said this represents 5.75%er cent interest rate for the institution’s financial year ending June 30, 2014. The results was a sign of the positive outcomes of the Pension Reforms implemented two years ago.
CHAUDHRY PAYS FINE. FLP Leader Mahendra Chaudhry, who was convicted of three counts of breaching the Exchange Control Act, paid his $2 million fine on Friday.
SHADES OF BALLU KHAN: FORMER NLTB MANAGER GUILTY. Former general manager of the iTaukei Land Trust Board admitted, was found guilty and convicted on five counts of abuse of office by the High Court. Kalivati Bakani admitted to using extinct mataqali funds without the board's approval to finance Pacific Connex, an IT company belonging to Ballu Khan through Vanua Development Corporation Limited.
He admitted to transferring government grants for VDCL to banking institutions to help Pacific Connex with loans. He will be sentenced after the trial of co-accused Keni Dakuidreketis concludes.
MILITARY AND THE CONSTITUTION. Further clarification should not be needed but with some people writing different meanings into what Brig.Gen. Mosese Tikoitoga has said, he has said it again. "The RFMF is here to protect and defend the 2013 Constitution ... one political party says they will throw away the constitution and bring in a new constitution, or re-write the constitution as some party are saying,
I hope that it can be understood that the RFMF will not allow the total rewriting of the constitution without the processes of the constitution being followed ... Changes to the constitution must follow the process stipulated in the Constitution. As long as people don’t break the law – as stipulated in the Constitution, there will be no issues with changing the Constitution. Click here for detail.
MILITARY AND THE ELECTIONS. Brig.Gen. Tikoitonga also said the military will not be involved in any way in the election process, but it it will assist the police to maintain a secure environment if requested. They will also continue with normal intelligence gathering which may involve officers attending political gatherings. This is because "we need also to be informed of political parties manifestos ...The military has repeatedly affirmed its stand – it will respect the elections result and support the elected government."
BEGGARS FIND JOBS. Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni says 40 Suva street beggars, most of whom receive welfare assistance, will soon find employment thanks to the Inter-agency Taskforce. The beggars will undergo job training and, if needed, be provided with start-up capital. The Ministry has already been successful in assisting welfare recipients to run their own small businesses in such areas as canteens, bread baking, handicrafts, tailoring, vegetable stalls, poultry, bee keeping and catering.
RUSSIA TO JOIN ELECTION OBSERVERS. Russia's decision to join the International Observer Monitoring Group led by Australia and Indonesia was confirmed during a meeting between Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and his Russian counterpart in Moscow last week.
MORE (AND NO MORE) ON THE USP LECTURERS. I am not concerned Pat Craddock recorded the private meeting he had with the Deputy VC. USP also recorded the meeting. But I am concerned his recording was given, or leaked, to the blog FijiLeaks which then published a small part of the tape for their own political purposes. Even Pat's predecessor Dr Marc Edge condemned the tape recording.
NFP leader, former USP professor Dr Biman Prasad, however, is supporting the rights of the two overseas lecturers to speak out on Fijian political issues. I doubt their work permits give them such rights but if they do, their comments must not exaggerate or distort the known facts, which Dr Thompson most certainly did. Whatever rights they claim must be balanced with responsibilities.
Unfortunately, Pat Craddock's later letter, accusing the University of intimidation, can only inflame the situation, play into the hands of Government opponents (who include Dr Prasad), and make it even more difficult for the University not to take stronger action.
My view is that the matter should now be allowed to rest.
27 comments:
It is good that we will have Russian election observers. This will balance things a bit, as with the Aussis and EU types Western style voting will be requested. The Russions on the other hand have a much better understanding of how a managed democracy works.
This quote from the ghoose dictator says it all, “He’s an Indian, without me he wouldn’t even be sticking around.”
What happened to the new race free Fiji Mr Walsh?
If this dictator wins the sham elections under the sham thug constitution indo-Fijians will be the biggest losers and beholden to the i-Taukei thug military for decades (and that includes the hand picked treasonous thieves filling their pockets under the illegal regime).
I know Dr Biman Prasad attributes this comment to Bainimarama, and I know Biman is angry about it, but I can't see why. Tens of thousands of Indo-Fijians left the country under previous governments; thousands of Indo-Fijian farmers were forced to leave their farms when their leases were not renewed, and hundreds took refuge in refugee maps in the West after they were threatened and attacked in Rewa. Even Ro Teimumu in her Lami speech recognized the suffering of Indo-Fijians following the 1987 and 2000 coups. It is this chronicle of abuse to which Bainimarama referred, not Biman personally. I take it, Anonymous, that you are more tolerant than those who treated their fellow citizens in this way?
Answer the question idiot.
Biman is playing politics. He should kiss Bainimarama's feet for saving the farmers from Dreketi, Biman's hometown. Coup rebels had taken over Indian farms and homes, forcing occupants to cook meals for them, among other indignities. Biman was safely ensconced in Suva. It was the military that taught the bullies a lesson.
So much for the multiracial paradise. Why should I debate him? He's an Indian.
You just love putting words in other people's mouths, don't you, Croz? I didn't "condemn" the recording. Here's what I said: "The release unusually included excerpts from a recording of Craddock’s meeting with university administration. . . . This effectively seals Craddock’s fate, as he can now expect to be dismissed for insubordination." Learn to read, and please keep your pejoratives to yourself.
Butt out Edge, you third rate moron. Can't find anyone in Fresno to victimise?
Marc Edge, you have no sense of self awareness at all. Don't you realise how stupid you look? You have been gone from Fiji for many months. You never had any idea of how the place operates and your grip on reality is now even more tenuous. Crosbie Walsh spent many years in Fiji and understands the scene intimately. You spent several chaotic months there and left none the wiser. And you dare to insult him like this?
At least I know how to read.
Fresno is boring. I did manage to tear a strip off a columnist from Bakersfield, however. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/opinion/community-voices/x1372326614/In-climate-debate-fairness-trumps-objectivity
I think Marc Edge has a point when he chastised Croz Walsh for claiming that he (Marc Edge) had condemned Pat Craddock's taping of the meeting with the USP official. He had not condemn Craddock's action, he appears to have been lamenting the fate of his colleague. Oh poor journalists. Croz should not put words into people's mouth, its dishonest. I have long thought that this is a trait of journalists. They all put a slant on everything they report and claim that they are trustworthy. My foot! You lot are all the same. Liars, egotistical, ugly, and bald!
Anonymous, do you not understand the reply that Croz has given you? And you call him an idiot?
Wow! You have made a fool of yourself. Just as well that most of us conceal our identity. I personally know of enough people in Fiji just like you. You call someone an idiot when the problem is that your comprehension of written English is not quite there....yet.
I should hope so considering you are a so called academic.
I was just beginning to follow your argument (and was just on the verge of agreeing with you), and then I reached your last sentence.
Biman is in denial. That Frank is considered a 'saviour' by many Indo-Fijians and that without Frank many would have emigrated, is a fact. Go ask the ordinary Indo-Fijian taxi driver in Suva or the cane farmer in Ba. Biman is engaging in political grandstanding pretending to be outraged at what many in his own community accept as true.
I'm with Croz on this one. Our Fijian leader put the indian in his place - it is just that some are slow learners. Now go wash the PM's feet like a good girl.
Only Marc Edge is allowed to use pejoratives.
Absolutely, Corz and the PM are right. What would Biman be without Bainimarama? Yes right an Indian!
I should hope so, considering you are a so-called academic.
Whats Biman's record of public service? Can anyone explain please.
He did very well in his academic sinecure at USP. What is his record of community service?
Sweet bugger all!
He is another wannabe politician who has never walked the talk!
spot on anonymous. biman is an indian - that says it all eh croz. go get em Baini - I-taukei rules!
Bookish, Donnish scholar you are (whilst bowing to you)
Marc, "Condemn" was too strong a word. Criticized or poorly advised would have been better. This is what you wrote in your FijiToday article: "As a guest in Fiji, I would never have considered criticising matters such as military torture or police brutality, however odious. There are others, such as Amnesty International, whose job that is."
Croz, criticizing torture and recording a meeting are two different things. Pay attention! I said that I would not have done the former and merely mentioned the latter. I condemned neither. I condemn your efforts to put words in my mouth in your attempt to whitewash a brutal dictatorship.
This blog does not exist for Indo-Fijian (or any other) bashing, and the PM most certainly did not put 'the Indian' in his place.. The last few comments are racist . I also find the comments on Biman uninformed and distasteful. Would ALL readers please address issues and what people say on issues
And the 'high chief' who was the centre of all the those dastardly deeds in Dreketi and Labasa also led the taking over of the military barracks in Labasa. All he got for that treasonous act was a slap across the writs with a wet towel. He has now announced his candidature with the 'So Help Me God' Party.
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