False Fiji Times Page Unlikely to help either FijiFirst or SODELPA

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The Fiji Times has warned readers to beware a false  Facebook page purporting to be the Fiji Times Facebook page. The false page falsely informs readers that the FICAC case against SODELPA's Sitiveni Rabuka was successful and Rabuka will not be able to contest the election. It claimed votes cast for Rabuka would therefore not count. 

Making Sense of the Latest Fiji Times-Tebbutt Poll -- and the Court Appeal against Rabuka

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Of Fiji's two political polls, the Razor/Fiji Sun and the Tebbutt/Fiji Times poll, the Tebbutt poll is probably more reliable because it uses orthodox methods, but Razor may make up for this by having more frequent polls. The latest Tebbutt poll was held a week ago, between October 22-24. The previous poll was in May.

Trying to made sense of the published results  is not easy. The most important thing we needed to know is how those polled intend to vote on 14 November. Not how well they thought the various leaders had performed in their respective positions. This is of some interest for PM Bainimarama and for SODELPA, because of the tussle between its  two leaders, Ro Teimumu and Sitiveni Rabuka, but for the other leaders it was less important. 

The Extent of Media Freedom in Fiji

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I've no doubt there are very real limits to freedom of expression and media freedom in Fiji, but it could be argued that some of it is needed for the public good, and a range of opinions are still expressed in the media and in letters to the editor.
The public can also listen to each of the political party leaders, and the debate between Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and Dr Biman Prasad,  on StraightTalk with Vijay Narayan, and those that missed out can listen to recordings of the videos here or on the Fiji Village website.

Words by Dallas Swinstead (on Swinstead), Wadan Narsey (on Itaukei), Brij Lal (on Ratu Iloilo) and Mason Smith (on Itaukei Agriculture)

NOTE THE NEW FEATURE at the top of the right sidebar.

N0117. A DELETED COMMENT, published to remind ourselves just who we are dealing with. Joe has left a new comment on your post "Telling the PM ..." (edited): Just butt out croz mother f*****r. Leave us Fijians alone d***head. We could do without you white trashes supporting the treasonous lot. Just F*** OFF.

N0118.ABOUT FACE (AMBIGUITY INTENDED). What on earth is outgoing Fiji Times publisher Dallas Swinstead trying to say? In an open letter on Cafe Pacific he makes six comments on why he left so soon after taking up the job.
1 and 2.  The owners Motibhai couldn't organize insurance or medical evacuation (Why not? Why didn't he organize his own?).
3. He was tremendously proud of what he achieved (This is not a reason for leaving and to be honest I didn't notice any difference).
4. He supported the People's Charter and said so but would not be "kissing arses." (You'd think this would be a reason to stay, not leave.)
5. "The government continues to subsidise the opposition newspaper ... In return it publishes verbatim, mostly, all government releases. It is a shameless, even dangerous, publication."(Okay. He did not like the opposition but how again is this a reason for his departure?).
6. "Depending on what happens in Fiji in the weeks ahead, I may, or may not, fill in the details..." (What details? We don't even have the reasons  All we have are problems with his insurances and a hint that things were not as he expected. For a newspaper publisher this is very wishy-washy.

N0119. FIJIANS AND OR ITAUKEI, INDIANS OR ... For all Prof Wadan Narsey's myopia that sees him analysing almost everything in Fiji in terms of race, his article  'I-Taukei’ or ‘Fijian”? Name change by decree can’t change ethnic mind-set is well worth reading. It makes some very valid (and only a few not very valid) points.

Among the former, two are critical: 1) "without widespread indigenous Fijian consultation and approval, this attempted name change will make little real difference to the social and political realities of Fiji, while it may make racial antagonisms worse." 2) it will be "a nightmare for statisticians and demographers" because a very important demographic characteristic will be removed, and make analyses on a host of social and economic issues that much less useful. He also has useful things to say on the racial marginalising of Indo-Fijians by previous regimes. 

N0120. RATU ILOILO. I find it strange that Radio NZ International had to ring Prof Brij Lal in Australia for his comments on the death of Ratu Iloilo.  A person's death is not the time to make derogatory political observations, and coming from an Indo-Fijian in exile makes it even more inappropriate. See the comments on this blog under "Ratu Iloilo Passes Away" which showed Ratu Iloilo in a very different light.

Condolence messages can be emailed to news@info.gov.fj. These messages will  be posted on a comprehensive website of Ratu Ilioilo's life accessed through www.fiji.gov.fj .

N0121. ASSISTANCE IS NOT SPOON FEEDING. The criteria for the Agriculture Department's Demand Driven Approach programmes that provide assistance to mainly itaukei farmers are being reviewed. The review will that farmers are held accountable for what they undertake to do and take greater ownership of projects.

Agriculture Permanent Secretary Col. Mason Smith says, "It is fundamental for our people to understand that the programmes are not meant for spoon feeding people. They are meant to give them a boost so that they can stand on their own two feet and survive at a semi-commercial level.” By November the Department expects to be able to identify the type of farmers it is going to help in the future, what their contributions will be, and what Government will be responsible for.

[To readers unfamiliar with Fiji, this may seem too obvious to report, but unaccountability and lack of a sense of ownership in the past has seen many million of dollars wasted on rural itaukei development of one kind or another.] -- Based on 2011, No:0312/MOI.

Telling the PM, Corruption Deep-Rooted, Pacific Backs Fiji ACP Re-entry - Except Samoa, Rumour

WEEKEND READING. ♦ Allen Lockington column ♦ Why the Roadmap? Part III by Crosbie Walsh

N0106. PM TO LISTEN TO VILLAGERS' CONCERNS. The PM's  visited Ba earlier in the week to open the new road from Magodro in Ba to Nanoko Village, Navosa, commission the new solar system at Nubutautau Village, in the interior of Navosa, and listen to villagers. Commissioner Western Col Joeli Cawaki said they were expecting people from all nearby villages and tikina in the two provinces to raise their concerns with the PM, advise him on the constraints holding back increased agricultural production and tell him what they think can be done by the government to assist.

N0107. CORRUPTION IS DEEP-ROOTED. Government's "Clean Up" campaign, given as one reason for the 2006 coup, clearly has some way to go. When corruption and misuse of public office are deeply rooted in a country, it is a far harder task to uproot than Bainimarama first thought.

The  resignation this week of two Government-appointed Fijian Holdings Ltd executives, the Chairman and the CEO. would appear to be related to misuse of office and possible "double dipping."

 Government is carrying out proper assessments on the performance of the people appointed to statutory boards to ensure that they remain focused and address issues relating to corruption, fraud and abuse of office.    

An investigation is  also underway into  dealings by former executives and board members of a major Fijian company. The West-based construction company is alleged to have been awarded tenders to construct a port and sawmill as well as upgrade a supermarket owned and managed by subsidiaries of the major Fijian company. The allegation is that the company also did work on the homes and private businesses of the executives and board members for which they did not pay or had received a discount from the construction company. Investigations are continuing.

N0108. FIJI GETS PACIFIC BACKING. Seven Pacific countries belonging to the African, Caribbean and Pacific group which is supported by the European Union,  have pushed for the restoration of Fiji's full participation in future ACP meetings.

One Pacific delegate said that it was good to see some of the smaller countries speak up with strong and unconditional support for Fiji. Samoa was the sole dissenting voice, citing Fiji’s suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum as the reason it cannot be allowed back to ACP meetings, organised by the Forum’s secretariat.
Fiji’s participation at the ACP trade officials and ministers meeting in Apia this week has been made possible at the invitation of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, of which Fiji remains a member.

N109. RUMOURS.  This interesting letter published by Fiji Today on rumour

Swinstead Resigns, Hopeless Provincial Management, Blog Misrepresentation, MicroHydro

N0043.SWINSTEAD RESIGNS.  The resignation of Fiji Times publisher Dallas Swinstead after only five months in the hot seat will inevitably result in many people asking why. My guess is that there is nothing sinister in the decision. His appointment was always a stop gap measure to reposition the paper following the disastrous leadership appointed by its previous owners News Ltd and give the new owners Motibhai Group and chairman Mahendra Patel time to scout for a new publisher.

Swinstead said he would return to Australia “with a great feeling of satisfaction and pride at the quality we have achieved, despite sometimes difficult circumstances”. The appointment of a new publisher will be announced shortly.

N0044. HOPELESS PROVINCIAL MANAGEMENT. The Public Accounts Committee Report on the Auditor General’s audits of the 14 Provincial Councils for 2007 show a number of anomalies. The report shows that a number of councils had exceeded the amount they collected through provincial funds and Government grants.

The greatest discrepancies were for Ba, Bua, Cakaudrove and Naitasiri. It would appear the councils had advanced loans to their staff and other people without proper safeguards for recovery. Some councils could not not even provide important documents like cheque books to substantiate authorised payments, while others did not have supporting documents with a PAID stamped on them. The Roko Tui responsible for the money seemed to have no knowledge of accounting principles and processes.

Lau province received money from investments and Fijian Affairs Board Savings and Lomaiviti from FAB Savings but there were no records of receipt. The Ba loan from the FNPF was not disclosed and there were large discrepancies between the Council records and investment with Unit Trust.

The Cakaudrove Provincial Council was  unable to explain why it granted salary and wage increase in 2001 when it was continuing to increase its deficit of income over expenditure, and the Naitasiri Council showed variances between the draft financial statements and trial balance in accumulated funds, fixed asset deferred income and asset revaluation reserve.

And some readers have asked why it was necessary to have  military officers seconded to provincial councils and the four District offices.

N0045. BLOGGER CUNNING AND DECEITFUL. A person commenting on Fiji Today, the usually reasonable anti-government blog, has used dirty tactics to discredit this blog publisher.

He has published a comment that I did not write and do not agree with over my name which, of course, would lead many to believe I had written it. Not content with this, he wrote another comment signed Croz Walsh intended for my blog.

I blocked it on my blog and wrote to Peter Firkin (does anyone know him?), the publisher of Fiji Today at peterfirkin@hotmail.com.  I asked that he delete the comment, inform his readers he disapproves of the tactic, and asked if he knew of any way we could prevent future misrepresentations.  He had not yet replied.

For a comment to be published on Peter's blog readers have to submit their name and email address.   Peter must therefore have both the name and email address of the offender. I will be interested to know what action he takes.
 
N0046. TURKS BUILD BUCA MICROHYDRO. The PM commissioned the Buca Hydro Scheme at Buca Village in Cakaudrove last week.The $1million 30kw Micro Hydro Scheme is a joint venture between the Fiji and Turkish Governments that took five months to complete. The project involved the construction of a micro hydro dam above the Koronikaivesi waterfall along with a powerhouse at the base of the waterfall.It was built by Turkish engineers with the help of villagers. Also constructed was a 4.5km powerline which links the village to the dam.

PM Bainimarama said the project was of special significance because Turkey is geographically so far removed from Fiji. He thanked the Turkish Government for its help and hoped the project would serve as a springboard for future interactions between the two countries, not only in energy but in other important areas or sectors of both our economies.

When is an Indian Not an Indian

By Crosbie Walsh 

(a Causasian, once English New Zealander with Maori, Pacific and Indian overlays) 

Note: editorial changes have been made to this article since it was first posted.

The Bainimarama government recently decreed that all Fiji citizens would be known as Fijian and ethnic Fijians as i'taukei.  The move, in line with Pillar 2 of the People's Charter*, which is intended to help nation-building, was understandably objected to by many "Fijians," not because they were not i'taukei — which they demonstrably are — but because they had got used to this name, bestowed on them by Tongans, as exclusively theirs. All other citizens, excepting Rotumans,  were vulagi (visitors) no matter how long their ancestors had lived in Fiji. 

Two Thoughtful Comments: On Collective Memory and Conventional Media Practices

Moment of assassination of US President John F Kennedy, Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963. Photo credit: Obrag.org 

COLLECTIVE MEMORY Ni bula, Croz, e na vakatawase has left a new comment on your post "The Tongan Elections":

A great piece, Croz, and yet more evidence that the youthful naivete so prevalent in the island media is no substitute for the age and experience of an old hand like you. When you've been in these parts for nearly half a century, you're fully entitled to express whatever opinion you like, however much it offends the critics. Anyone who remembers the Tofua and the Matua, let alone sailed on them, or negotiated the raised centre aisle of a Fiji Airways De Havilland Heron deserves to be heard with respect.

A recent editorial by Fred Wesley in the Fiji Times reminded me of how little collective memory is brought to bear on current events. In a piece on someone who'd managed to reach the ripe old age on 101, Wesley wrote in apparent awe that there were still people in Fiji who could remember the assassination of John F, Kennedy, the British colonial era and Fiji's independence. I've yet to reach three score years and can remember all three! You go back a lot longer and have accumulated much more knowledge. As the old saying goes, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

But in the case of Fiji, it's the appalling general ignorance of the past that produces the same mistakes again and again. You've now got to be 23 years old to have even been born at the time of Rabuka's 1987 coup. And you've got to be 40 to have been born at Independence. Is it any wonder that these events are now regarded as ancient history and irrelevant to peoples' lives?

Yet the same racial, political and social pressures remain largely unresolved and blight what could and should have been the brightest of futures. With the Fiji media, it's a case of the blind leading the blind.. You, on the other hand, are able to shine a torch on history and relate it to the present. May your battery continue to hold out for many years to help light the path ahead. Happy New Year!


THE ABC INTERVIEW AND COUP4.5'S ANONYMOUS MR X
 The ABC of getting it wrong has left a new comment on your post "PM's 2011 Message, Great Council of Chiefs Politic...":

Conventional practice in news and current affairs has it that interviewees should only have their identities concealed when there is a clear threat to their positions and the information being imparted is of such importance that there is a clear public interest in granting them anonymity.

The ABC would undoubtedly argue that one of the principals of Coup 4.5 deserves the cloak of anonymity because of the possibility of government retribution. But that's where any justification ends and even this depends on whether the person being interviewed was actually in Fiji and within striking distance of the alleged bully boys of the military.

Is he in danger on the streets of Auckland or Sydney? Not on the evidence thus far. Not only do regime critics thrive there but there's no indication whatsoever that Frank Bainimarama is a Saddam Hussein who orders death squads to pursue his opponents abroad. So how hazardous is this individual's position beyond being unmasked as a regime critic? Would he be captured, tortured and forced to reveal the secrets of 4.5? Maybe in Fiji in more fevered minds but nowhere else,

Where the ABC is really vulnerable to criticism and complaint is that this person's contribution to the debate was so pedestrian. Merely parroting the usual anti-regime line meant that nothing of what he said met the public interest test. There was no new information of such pressing urgency that the public benefited from hearing from the man with the mask.

Now, one might argue that I am anonymous in these columns. But this is comment, not news, an important distinction. And in any event, the whole world accepts that an entirely different set of conventions applies to the Bloggersphere. When it comes to news and information programs on a mainstream public broadcaster like the ABC, the audience clearly deserves better.

Yes, there are times when whistle-blowers deserve anonymity in the public interest, as well as their own, but this wasn't one of them. The whistle wasn't being blown on anything. Bruce Hill and his editors allowed a run-of-the-mill regime critic to sprout run-of-the-mill anti-regime criticism and in doing so, debased not just an importance convention but the credibility of the ABC.

Graham Reid's Second Article on his Fiji Visit

The second article by NZ Journalist Graham Reid on his visit to Fiji.  The first article was published last Saturday.

Dallas Swinstead Talks About the Fiji Times and Government

FRESH FACES AT THE FIJI TIMES TALK CENSORSHIP

New Fiji Times publisher Dallas Swinstead talks censorship, sackings and the sale of the country’s oldest newspaper when some thought it might close. He speaks to Rebecca Leaver of PANPA Bulletin.

Q. How are you going to manage the government censorship at the Fiji Times?

A.Free speech is very expensive here – ask News Ltd. The past retaliation from this paper to the [Fiji] government censorship brought down censorship harshly on all media. It has been an unpleasant journey.

Leweni's 'Ghost,' Commerce Commission Backpedals, Sugar, Tourism, Sophie Foster, India Gift, Fiji Democracy Now

REMINDER. Anonymous and repetitive comments are not published.

LEWENI BACK. Well, well, another anti-government blog rumour has proved to be untrue.  LtCol Neumi Leweni really did go on leave as the Military claimed. He was not dismissed as the blogs claimed. He will resume duties with the Fiji Military Forces next Monday. This is in line with statements previously made by the Prime Minister, that any Military Officer  seconded to serve in the Government would return once they have completed the duties they were assigned. Since 2006 LtCol Leweni has at various times served as Consular to the Fiji Embassy in China and more recently as the Permanent Secretary of Information and Permanent Secretary of Lands.  -- Based on 2010, No:1866/MOI.

COMMERCE COMMISSION BACKPEDALS. The Commission has readjusted the prices of basic food items resulting in an average reduction of 9% compared with the 13% when the reduction was announced last week. More expensive food items and those that have no substitutes have been removed from price control.The new prices will be advertised soon.

It would appear the revised prices are a result of pressure by retailers that saw some of them removing essential food items - including babies milk powder - from their shelves in defiance of the law. It is good
news that a government agency listens and takes note of business opinion but retailers were extensively consulted before the original price ruling.  They should not be rewarded for flouting the law at considerable inconvenience to the public. The announcement of spot fines and warning on hoarding stock comes a little late.

It is noted that a similar strategy was employed earlier in the year by employers who protested the minimum wage ruling. Many refused to cooperate by making their accounts unavailable to the Wages Council and then protesting they would be bankrupted if they were forced to pay the minimum wages. Soon afterwards Government delayed the new  ruling. We've heard vague rumours of replacing regulated wages with production-related wages but for the most part the minimum wages have still not been paid.  This is not helping the poor. This is not the Roadmap. Businesses cannot be allowed to continue "playing wolf" and blackmail Government.  They should cooperate with government to see they make fair profits, their employees are paid fair wages and their customers pay fair prices.  In the long run this will make Fiji a safer place for their businesses and investments.

RO TEIMUMU HAPPY WITH INCENTIVES. The Head of the Burebasaga Confederacy, Ro Teimumu Kepa, has welcomed incentives by the interim Government, saying this could help the indigenous population in many ways. Speaking from Lomanikoro Village, Ro Teimumu said that she was quite impressed with the interim Government’s concept by making Vanua Levu and the Maritime islands a tax free zone. She said this would not only bring investors to the country and provide jobs.“These incentives have some good plans for the indigenous people and I’m quite happy about that. Landowners along the tourism belt will also benefit a great deal from these incentives because there are some good deals in there." She did, however, express disappointment that there had not been an increase in the Education budget.

FIJI STOPS SUGAR EXPORTS. Fiji will no longer export sugar to the Pacific Region and NZ until at least 2015. It is all needed to meet its export quota to the United Kingdom under preferential prices of the Economic Partnership Agreement. Some 190,000 metric tons of raw sugar are required for the 2010/2011 season. In 2008 Fiji exported 207,575 tons, but in  the 2009 season UK exports dropped to 152, 906 tons.

TOURIST EARNINGS JUMP.Gross earnings from tourism for 2/2010 increased by 26.8% over 2009 ($229.7m, an increase of $48.5m)largely due to 18.4% increase in visitor numbers. Australia and New Zealand dominated contributions towards the earnings, injecting $116.7m and $35m respectively.The US contributed $19.9m; Pacific Island countries $13.7m, Continental Europe $10.6m, the UK $9.5m,the rest of Asia $9.3m, while Japan, Canada and China contributed $3.9m, $3.7m, and $3.3m respectively. Source:  Bureau of Statistics.

SOPHIE FOSTER, deputy editor the Fiji Times and an outspoken government critic,  has resigned and will move to Australia.

GIFT FROM INDIA. The Education Ministry has thanked the Government of India for a donation of $158,200 that will be used to purchase and install water tanks in 93 primary and 43 secondary schools, most of which have been adversely affected by either dry spells or water cuts. A notation  “Gifted by the Government of India” will be tagged or painted on the tanks in acknowledgement of the gift. -- Based on 2010,1863/MOE.

A LAUGH FOR THE WEEKEND.  'Know your enemy' is a saying derived from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Here are two insights intro the minds of two anti-government people who think they are also my enemy. 

"Croz Walsh Wrong (big time)Yet Again by Fiji Democracy Now

"Forgive us for boasting, but we backward  coconuts at FDN believe we are becoming remarkably sophisticated in our analysis of that genius, the colonial super-educated Kai Valagi, Crosbie Walsh, and what makes him tick. We surmise that years ago Croz suffered a nasty knock-back when he applied for tenure at a major Australian university. Why else would he hate Australia so much? Just look at his most recent effort. He claims the US Secretary of State will give Australia a good talking to over its policy towards China. What rubbish! And on exactly what premise does Croz base this ludicrous claim? Well, he uses a link to a propaganda rave from the widely discredited World Socialist Web Site! Typical! If Croz tuned into the ABC and listened to Hillary Clinton praising Ozzie foreign minister Kevin Rudd’s vast China expertise, he might (just might) have realised what an idiot he has made of himself, yet again."

Or try this, a comment on my blog: "Keep trying croz - keep trying. You could always beat your head against a concrete post - might be easier? Perhaps you could try selling the Burma or North Korea coup? They might be easier?"

These are not untypical comments from the anti-government blogosphere.   I try to answer most comments addressed to me but in cases like these that are personal, factually incorrect and devoid of argument a reasoned reply is not possible.

The Times They Are A Changin'

* The Heading: For Bob Dylan's lyric, click here.

SEE NEW QUOTE FOR THE WEEK by Machiavelli. Also new: POPULAR RECENT POSTINGS. Both in right sidebar.                SCROLL DOWN TO SEE WEEKEND READING.

In many ways the recent stories of the Fiji Times —and the stories around the Fiji Times— have epitomised the dilemma that is Fiji, with all its apparent contradictions and the need to rethink values and attitudes once taken for granted. If a just way forward is to be found, most dichotomous thinking in terms of black and white, and moral absolutes on right and wrong, can no longer remain unquestioned.

Whatever our attitude to the 2006 Coup and the Bainimarama government, the situation requires that we abandon our rigid right or wrong positions and look for the shades of grey that may produce the outcomes required for a Better Fiji, better than in 2006, better than now. To do this, we may need to compromise in order to stand firm; balance media responsibility against media freedom, and accept the ultimate contradiction: a military-led dictatorship to protect a future democracy. These themes, and more, are raised by where the Fiji Times has come from and where it is, or might be, heading. For these reason it has exclusive coverage today. -- Crosbie Walsh.

FULL TEXT OF SWINSTEAD INTERVIEW by FBC's Stanley Simpson's interview on 6 October 2010 as  published on the Pacific Media Centre blogsite.    Here are three extracts pertinent to our dilemma:

"Yes, we are changing direction. Having watched News Ltd perish in this country, there’s no sense in committing suicide, even with a locally-owned replacement. There is no doubt that The Fiji Times  cannot be antagonistic to the government, What on earth does it prove? But we will ask questions in a fair and balanced way because we will be helping to bring the people to the government.

"The meeting [with Sharon Smith Johns] went well. I presented my credentials, which if I may say so, are pretty good; I said my piece and the permanent secretary said hers. I certainly understood that she was delivering the government’s line and in my short time here I already chosen to support that line. Why? Because most respected people here have spoken to me about infrastructure finally taking shape; about one nation one people, about equality from coast to coast. If you like, you can be cynical about it, but from where I stand —and I first made up my mind about this in 1979 as I left after four years in the chair at the times — the two main communities have to learn to live together EQUALLY, with equal opportunity and equal hard work.

"We have to help people understand that there some highly-educated soldiers walking on this path set by their leader and, given that education, they will all yearn for democratic elections when the time comes. It is, I believe, inevitable and exciting."

HOW AN ANTI-GOVT BLOG SEES IT. "The new owner, the Motibhai Group and its chairman, Mahendra Patel, and publisher Dallas Swinstead are taking the paper in a new direction —straight into the arms of the military regime— in an effort to win back the favours of the dollar disposers, Frank Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum."

FIJI TIMES OLD AND NEW (as seen by an Old Timer).  The big test comes when those who were systematically excluded from the Letters Page or the 'Columns without By-Lines' of the former Fiji Times under News Corp are once again admitted if they objectively have something serious and useful to say.

Why  was there no investigative reporting on corruption or organised crime over the past five years or more? None that was of any use to those receiving long-standing, multiple threats? Or of murders linked to organised criminals when relatives of the murdered were still under threat? This was a sign that the inherent "Shoot the Messenger" racism of former executives had dominated their wits. There was a duty, more than a duty —an imperative— to investigate these criminal, intimidatory threats and to report on them.

Particularly, when the Fiji Police were failing in their duty to investigate fully and charge all involved. A mother and her daughter have been obliged to leave Fiji because of this. The Fiji Times staff then refused to report from the High Court on the case and others like it where the matter was 'vacated'. Why was thispermitted? Why did the Police quite happily and obligingly (for the criminals) allow these persons to go free? Until the Fiji Times and other media entities come to terms with this, we must  conclude that the entire landscape was flawed and inimical to justice.


At least, the registration of all phones, mobile and landline, allows for blocking. This is working. Three calls were blocked just yesterday to my knowledge on only one line. They can now be traced. This is the world of le Carre and Frederick Forsyth's novels. With the exception that it is now on the ground in Fiji and has been for more than five years. How could the PER have been removed with all this in play? We need to "get real".

FIJI WITHOUT THE FIJI TIMES IS UNTHINKABLE. Saturday's editorial "A Breath of Fresh Air"  by new editor Fred Wesley.  Republished from Café Pacific. "It is time to share with our readers where we are and where we plan to go ..."   Read on.


NEWS LTD STRIKES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. With not a cent left invested in the Fiji Times, Rupert Murdoch's The Australian will not give up. Using the same old sources it tells the same old stories about the never-ending disasters occurring in Fiji. If you wish, again, to read about the gagged media, Chaudhry's arrest, Rika's resignation, Fiji Times staff in tears, subscribe to The Australian.  More disasters are promised next week.

But I am unfair, amid the disasters, they reported one contrary view, from the new Fiji Times publisher Dallas Swinstead, who said business in Fiji is "bowling along", and he is impressed by the military leadership.

"It's a helluva undertaking, but very well organised, and however brutal it might seem to us in Australia, it's not all that harsh," he says. "There is no sense here of military control. It's the same old Fiji. I have very early reached the conclusion that what they are doing is right."

He says an editorial about freedom of speech was recently rejected by the censor, resulting in the paper being delayed, and thus losing sales."I did not blame the censor but felt that it was the writer's fault: he could have done a better job."

SWINSTEAD ON THE NEW GUARD  at the Fiji Times.

Fiji Times - Newspaper or Activist?

A media decree that forced Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd to sell The Fiji Times to a local company has bitterly divided media commentators.


Pacific Scoop: Report – By Siobhan Keogh

Mills & Military, Natapei & MSG, Journalists Half Right, and Right

FIJI DAY CELEBRATIONS IN SUVA TODAY WERE CANCELLED DUE TO THE WEATHER. Celebrations  continued as planned elsewhere.

ANONYMOUS PRO-GOVERNMENT COMMENTS. I currently have 14 of these comments, all well argued and reasonably expressed, that will not be published. What a waste! Readers wishing to comment need to write their comment, press the Name/URL button and write their pseudonym, and then click on Publish. 

MILLS WORKING SMOOTHLY NOW MILITARY THERE. Two weeks ago the army placed soldiers on a 24 hour watch at the Lautoka and Rarawai (Ba, photo) sugar mills. There have been no stoppages since.  The placement was in response to concerns about almost daily breakdowns and stoppages.

The officer-in-charge of the military's E Company in Lautoka, Major Petero Tale, said, "While the issue of supposed sabotage has been brought to my attention, I believe that negligence by mill workers more than sabotage is the biggest threat to the industry."  He gave the example of a tank full of cane juice that overflowed into the sea because someone was sleeping on the job and forgot to halt the crushing process."

"We are not there to intimidate anyone. Our presence is simply to ensure the mills run smoothly without unnecessary interference or laxity because the economy of the country and the livelihood of over two hundred thousand people are at stake," he said.

NATAPEI ON MSG. Vanuatu PM Edward Natapei who as chairman cancelled the Melanesian Spearhead Group meeting in July,says negotiations are underway with member countries for Solomon Islands to host the next meeting, probably before the end of the year. His earlier last minute cancellation, almost certainly prompted by Australia,  deprived Fiji of the  chairmanship and forced Fiji to hold a substitute "Engaging with the Pacific" meeting at Natadola.  Under the MSG constitution, the host country automatically holds the chairmanship until the next summit. Natapei's action severely damaged the effectiveness of the MSG and diminished its potential role as a mediator in the Fiji standoff. It will be interesting to see whether Fiji thinks its attendance worthwhile.

FORMER PS LABOUR JAILED. Former Labour Permanent Secretary Brian Singh has been sentenced to a three-year custodial sentence by High Court Judge Justice Sitambaram Pillay Thurairaja after being convicted on three counts of false pretence.

PACIFIC FREEDOM JOURNALISTS GET IT HALF RIGHT. The Pacific Freedom Forum was established "with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media." Its Chairman is Susuve Laumaea based in PNG and the co-Chair is Monica Miller in American Samoa. PFF is registered in the Cook Islands.

The Forum is to be commended for much of its watchdog work and its concern about the present lack of media freedom, as it is defined by PFF, in Fiji is understandable but -- with their predisposition to fault the Fiji Government on every move, see Government boggies in every cupboard, and their apparent need to rely on secondhand information--  they sometimes get things wrong.

The recent report on their website, faithfully  copied by RadioNZInternational, cites Deputy Editor Sophie Fosters's "sudden leave" as evidence of "confusion at the top of the Fiji Times [which in turn] is a reflection of the further deterioration of media freedom under the interim regime." Laumaea takes it further saying "there’s no longer an independent news outlet in Fiji."

But how come  Losalini Rasoqosoqo, a reporter for Fiji Sun (a paper the PFF claim is gagged and pro-Government)  reported from Suva about this same "turmoil at the top" before going on to write that "Fellow journalists, speaking on condition they were not named, said they believe Rika was forced to go following a meeting between Motibhai executives and Swinstead." And on Sophie's absence, "There was speculation in the Fiji Times newsroom that Foster was not happy at being bypassed and Wesley appointed." 

The PFF were right about turmoil at the top, but not in this instance about the lack of media freedom or the probable, or at least equally plausible, reason for Foster's absence from the newsroom.

DAVID ROBIE GETS IT ALL RIGHT. "The doomsday brigade is quickly at it again with its tenacious state gagging scenario at the Fiji Times. Media voices trot out the same tired old media freedom clichés about the fate of the ex-News Ltd newspaper that did so much to dig its own grave.

Café Pacific prefers to keep an open mind and see what Motibhai’s new publisher, Dallas Swinstead, can produce. Give him time. A breath of fresh air and a strategic rethink of how to go about being an effective newspaper faced with the reality of a military-backed authoritarian regime. A real challenge." Full article on Cafe Pacific.

PLEASE USE & CONTRIBUTE, SUPPORT & SHARE. (1) USE by Commenting (below), and visiting Na Sala Cava (right side bar); (2) SUPPORT, anonymously or openly, with "Subscribe" or by joining  "Followers" (left side bar); and (3) SHARE this posting with others. Just hover your mouse on the share buttons, click Email, Blog this!, Twitter, Facebook or Google Buzz.  Vinaka.

WEEKEND READING. Allen Lockington's column, Questions from a student on the Fiji Times, Gerald McGhie on Resolving the Fiji Impasse, Crosbie Walsh on Layers of Conmen.

Obama's Best Wishes, Qarase Government's Loan, Netani's Fate, RadioNZInternational

OBAMA CONGRATULATES FIJI on 40 years of Independence.  Click here.

MASSIVE LOAN MUST BE REPAID; EVEN BIGGER LOAN SOUGHT. International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative Yongzheng Yang confirmed yesterday  that Government has by September next year to repay the US$150m (F$300m) plus 7% interest (F$21m) on the loan  taken out in September 2006 by the Qarase-led government. Government is reported to be seeking a standby arrangement with the IMF for F$1billion to support Fiji’s reforms and debt obligations. “The repayment of the bond loan increases Fiji’s financing needs next year and this is one consideration behind Government’s request for a standby arrangement (SBA) with the IMF,” Mr Yang said. “The IMF would factor in this financing need should an SBA eventuate.”

WHAT SEALED NETANI'S FATE.  "Elementary, my dear Rika" left this comment on your post "Chaudhry Breaks PER: So What? Rika a Goner...

"One statement above all explains Netani Rika's untenable position, not just in recent months but for the last couple of years. It came at the time of the expulsion of his then boss, Evan Hannah, and provides a clear insight into the Napoleonic scale of his ego. He told ABC Australia that the Fiji Times had effectively "become the opposition" in Fiji and despite Hannah's expulsion, was "determined to continue its struggle" against the regime. Not to report the struggle - its legitimate role - but lead it on behalf of the people.

"This is when this guy crossed the line and sealed not just his own fate but the fate of his proprietor, the biggest media mogul the world has ever seen. In the eyes of the dictator, the Fiji Times was no longer just a routine nuisance but had declared itself an active political player. How Rika thought he could ever prevail under the circumstances is astonishing. The only possible explanation is that his heroic ego is matched by something that must have come from his religious upbringing - a persecution complex and tendency to regard martyrdom as a friend. A sad but ultimately inevitable demise. And a lesson for both News Limited and Mac Patel of the dangers of placing any newspaper in the hands of an ideologue pursuing a destructive personal crusade."

RadioNZInternational: NEVER MISSES A THING. The  big new from Fiji for Tuesday was that a Fiji Bureau of Statistics survey had found the estimated value of construction work was just over US$30 million, a decrease of 3% over the previous quarter. This was quite a scoop for our publicly owned radio station. The story pushed aside other news: the possible lifting of PER, the country being declared free of typhoid, the upcoming Fiji Day celebrations, and even the story of the Toowoomba woman who arrived in Nadi with 20 of the $20 stolen bank notes. A scoop indeed! RNZI is to be applauded for its tenacious pursuit of such valuable information and for contuing balanced reporting on Fiji.   Excuse the sarcasm but sometimes one has to comment on such things.

Chaudhry Breaks PER: So What? Rika a Goner, Talkback=Dialogue? Rural Electrification

CHAUDHRY BREAKS PER LAW: SO WHAT? "He was detained with the others, including his driver [sic!], and a local National Farmers' Union executive Sanjeet Maharaj and accused of holding a meeting with a police permit, the Fiji Times reported on its website.They were remanded until Wednesday."

Sometimes authorities should close their eyes to minor breaches of the law, and this was one such time.  Chaudhry's arrest draws attention to PER when it needs to fade away. His arrest provides him with a stage to poke fun at government that will be lapped up by Government detractors, in Fiji and overseas. Chaudhry revels in controversy and confrontation. Even the rabid anti-government blogs, usually critical of Chaudhry because he is FLP and Indo-Fijian, are hailing him as a hero. His arrest and impending court case will confirm in the minds of the politically important "middle Fiji" just how far the country is from dialogue, and again raise questions about government's "true" agenda. Support for government among Indo-Fijians, FLP supporters and unionists will lessen.

And to what purpose?  Chaudhry ignored is harmless. It would have been far better to let the sleeping dog lie. No military person could have been involved in this action: the choice of battle field was so obviously not to their advantage.

RIKA A GONER. To no one's surprise, Netani Rika is no longer the editor-in-chief at the Fiji Times. The announcement of his resignation which he described as "something of a sacrifice" for the good of the company, was made by new publisher Dallas Swinstead yesterday. Sunday Times, Nai Lalakai and Shanti Dut editor Fred Wesley has been appointed acting editor-in-chief of all the Motibhai papers.

There's no question that Rika had to go. As Editor, his newpaper's open, unfettered  and sometimes personal, confrontation with Government and one-sided reporting from 2000 until April 2009 must have been a factor in Government's general media crackdown. The Fiji Times led the media assault against Government and was accordingly more heavily censored than other media.  More balanced reporting might have produced a better outcome for all concerned.

People will be divided on his resignation/dismissal.  Some see him as a courageous torchbearer of democratic and media principles; others are less kind. I think had he played his cards more wisely (or responsibly, depending on your position), much that has happened to the Fiji media since April last year -- PER, censorship, the 10% limit on foreign media ownership, even the Media Decree --  may have been less restrictive. From any perspective, he has left his mark. I wish him well in his likely new home Australia.
Rupert Murdoch owes him one. Or does he?

DOES TALKBACK RADIO EQUAL DIALOGUE? Given the level of censorship that overseas media say exists in Fiji, I'm surprised the Fiji Broadcasting Commission had a live talkback show where listeners expressed divided opinions on government’s proposal to share lease money equally among the people and not give a bigger share to chiefs which is the present practice. Some callers thought that chiefs should not be viewed the same as the people as they inherit and are given more responsibilities, and sharing lease money equally would downgrade chiefly titles. Others welcomed the Government proposal and said it was a long time coming, as many chiefs were not performing or serving their people well. PM  Office Permanent Secretary Pio Tikoduadua told callers government welcomed their views on the issue.

RURAL ELECTRIFICATION: PART OF THE ROADMAP. Four villages on the inland border of Navosa and Ba provinces (Nawaqadamu, Uto, Vunamoli and Vagadra) now have electricity.  Village Project co-ordinator Osea Naiqamu said, “We approached the previous government in the late 90’s and our prayers just got answered almost 10 years later.’ The project  cost $1.3m and the villagers paid for the wiring of their individual homes. Rural electrification is part of the Government's infrastructure activities aimed at encouraging commercial activity, improving rural school performances, living standards
and comforts, and encouraging  many of those who have left to return to their villages  to bring the abundant land available into commercial production. -- Based on2010 No:1588/MOI.

Swinstead's Fiji Times, Grassroots Women's Federation, Closer Pacific Ties with Fiji

ANONYMOUS COMMENTS are still not being published.
SEE NEW QUOTE FOR THE WEEK. Right sidebar.

JOKE OF THE WEEK. A few days ago the anti-government blogs reported that Col. Pita Driti had arrested Bainimarama and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. One called it an early Christmas present.  Before heading overseas late last week the unarrested Bainimarama appointed Col. Driti acting commander of the military. The A-G is still out of the country.

NEW FIJI TIMES PUBLISHER EXPLAINS HIS POSITION. ABC interviewer Geraldine Coutts   asked the Times's new publisher Dallas Swinstead (photo)  how he was going to handle free speech. Swinstead:

"Freedom of speech - my original answer was my parents gave me a pretty fair idea of what you can say and get away with, and when you stepped out of line and they ran the show they knocked you over. So, I mean, I don't like that happening. I am tenacious, but I am a good mediator and a facilitator, and I will be trying to talk to people in government to lead them to understand how valuable a free and open press is. But look, it is a developing country with lots of problems and I am sympathetic to them and I am not angry about censorship or anything else. That's life. 

Local Motibhai Group bought the paper from Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd last week. Motibhai Chairman Mahendra Patel said: "The Fiji Times will operate as an independent separate unit. Dallas Swinstead and his staff are the people that will fashion the editorial content of the paper. We will not interfere with that. The staff are empowered to operate and run independently – of course we will be there to guide, but we will not interfere.”   Read also the Cafe Pacific story.

THE FIJI WOMEN'S FEDERATION. Approved by Cabinet last year, the FWF is an important unit in the Department of Women, which advises the Minister for Women on national issues concerning development and works in partnership with women's NGOs to achieve a coordinated approach to programme implementation. Unlike many umbrella women's organizations in the past, the FWF is open to all races.

Most FWF activities are based on centres and involve a great deal of self-help supplemented by government assistance.  Eight centres should be built by the end of this year and 14, one for each province, by 2014.  The women's husbands and male relatives build the centres; government provides the money for materials. The elected president of each centre sits on an advisory committee at the Ministry.

The centres also work closely with divisional planning offices to identify the needs of women specific to their communities, and training is provided in capacity building, alternative livelihoods, and other activities to help generate income for the women

The Advisory Committee is charged with the implementation of government's Women’s Plan of Action (WPA) 2010 to 2019 that spells out five priority areas for the development and advancement of women:

1. Formal sector employment and livelihoods
2. Equal Participation in decision-making 3. Elimination of violence against women
4. Access to services (Health and HIV/AIDS, education and other basic services)
5. Women and the Law.

FWF informs women about the international Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); its centres are places of informal education and shared experiences, and training grounds, perhaps, for women's greater involvement in politics.

When I met the Minister of Women, Dr Jiko Luveni, in June, she told me of government actions to empower women, and said: "For years we've been waiting for this."  This spoke words for a woman who initially was opposed to the Bainimarama government and whose husband was a member of former PM Qarase's SDL party.

For readers and organizations in Fiji that would like to know more about the FWF, email the Secretariat at   rtavakaturaga@yahoo.com -- Based, in part, on 2010 No:1415/MOI.

AFTER NATADOLA,  PACIFIC CO-OPERATION. Following on from the Natadola meeting (see report on  communique) that was held in place of the abandoned Melanesian Spearhead Group in June, several Pacific Island countries have expressed interest in closer relations with Fiji. Tuvalu, the first to sign a MOU, is now joined by Kiribati, and expressions of interest have also been received from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

The memorandum of understanding was signed when the Kiribati President the Fiji PM were in New York for the 65th session of the UN General Assembly. Broad areas of co-operation include education, medicine, and fisheries. The PM will deliver Fiji's national statement during the general debate session of the Assembly.



Scroll down to see Weekend Reading.

PER Again, Fiji Times News, International Peace Day, Takiveikata & Chaudhry Cases, Tele Stats

HERE WE GO AGAIN.HEAR NO EVIL,SEE NO EVIL. SPEAK NO EVIL. The Public Emergency Regulation, in place since April last year, has again been extended for another 30 days with effect from today. Many observers were hoping that with the Fiji Times sale, and progress on other fronts, some wise person in Government would have said 'Enough is enough.'

  If there are good reasons to continue these never-ending renewals (and the Media and Public Order Decrees are insufficient to contain them), and well there may be, Government needs to spell them out, and tell  us why they are needed now when they were not needed before April last year?

How on earth can intelligent people be expected to trust and support a government when they are kept in the dark about the reasons for its actions?

NEW PUBLISHER FIJI TIMES. Australian Dallas Swinstead, the publisher of the Fiji Times from 1976 to 1980, has been appointed the new publisher as the Motibhai Group officially took over ownership of the newspaper today.

Motibhai chairman and new Fiji Times Board chairperson Mahendra Patel  said: that the “Fiji Times will operate as an independent separate unit. Dallas Swinstead and his staff are the people that will fashion the editorial content of the paper. We will not interfere with that. The staff are empowered to operate and run independently – of course we will be there to guide, but we will not interfere. “

Swinstead has an extensive and distinguished record in the publishing field and has been a journalist, editor and managing director of many major Australian newspapers including the Herald Weekly, The Age, the Sunday Press and Qantas In-flight magazine.

On whether the Fiji Times would now recognize the the new government and refer to Bainimarama as the Prime Minister, Patel said: “You will find out in due course. Let any changes that happen, happen slowly. We will embrace and change in the fullness of time.”

PEACE INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY. The Citizens Constitutional Forum celebrated International Peace Day in style yesterday with music, songs, a fashion show and the screening of a short film titled “Enduring Hope.” CEO Reverend Akuila Yabaki says peace issues never go out of fashion because even when there is no war the world is not at peace. However he says Fiji has a way forward.

Reverend Yabaki says despite coups, conflicts and instability, the way forward is through dialogue and the rebuilding of relationships in the search for resolution through peaceful means. This year’s theme is “One Nation Diverse People.”

TAKIVEIKATA'S CASE ADJOURNED until October 5.The Naitasiri High Chief is being retried on a charge of inciting the 2000 mutiny which aimed to kill the military commander, Cde Bainimarama. Both  defence and prosecution lawyers asked for the adjournment. Takiveikata had been given a life sentence for the mutiny but in early 2007 the appeal court quashed the ruling and he was released from prison after serving 31 months. Last March, Takiveikata was jailed again when he was given a seven year prison for plotting to kill Bainimarama in late 2007.

NZ QC PETER WILLIAMS seems a popular defence lawyer with the anti-government establishment. Ballu Khan George Speight was an early client.*   He wants a non-resident judge to try the Chaudhry case because of his client’s high political profile. He could have a point, though the insinuation is a slap in the face to the Fiji judiciary. But his argument is intriguing: Due to the publicity surrounding a case such as Chaudhry’s, he says, there would be a lot of discussion among the media and communities which could therefore influence the judge’s decisions in the trial. Really! I thought the media were restricted in what they can report until cases are concluded. And if we believe what we hear about PERS and media censorship, they probably won't be able to publish anything anyway. I wonder if the QC has an overseas judge in mind, someone who's been able to close his eyes and ears to the publicity Fiji and the Chaudhry saga has received in the overseas media?  [* A reader writes that Williams did not defend Speight.  I think it was Ballu Khan he defended, but I'll stand correction if wrong again.]

TELECOMMUNICATIONS STATISTICS 2009. Telephones, 14% of the population; mobile phone connections 81%, internet use 10.9%. Internet bandwidth capacity 620Mbps. Internet Providers=3, Mobile Network Operators=2, Mobile Virtual Network Operator=1, Fixed Line Operators=1, International Operators=1, IP Licenced Providers=5.

Grassroots & Democracy, Fiji Times & PER, Village Bylaws Dialogue

KEEPING THE PEOPLE IN THE DARK. CCF's* Mosmi Bhim is at ANU (Aust. National University) in Canberra for a month on a human rights and governance scholarship awarded by either ANU or the Australian Government, I am not sure which. She is spending most of the month examining the Fiji Government Decrees. 

Mosmi's general position has always been opposition to the 2006 coup while recognizing shortcomings in the former government. She is, in my opinion,  part of Fiji's "middle ground" that Government needs to win if its plans for the future are to be sustainable.  

In a recent Radio Australia interview she said that both the current military regime and past Fijian leaders had successfully prevented the grassroots population from protesting the lack of democracy in the country. She thought this could be because of the problems of infrastructure and development that we have, which prevents people ...receiving enough critical information to make up their own minds whether what the leaders are saying is right or wrong." * CCF Citizens' Constitutional Forum, a prominent NGO.
 
FIJI TIMES'S FUTURE. Seona Smiles, communications consultant for the Fiji National University but also a popular contributing columnist for the Fiji Times,  is concerned for the future of the paper.“The government is wrong to think that by some magic it can change the Fiji Times into a non-critical publication by forcing its sale,” she said. “I am very concerned at the future of a very small newspaper that has a 141-year history in Fiji."

Fair enough, Seona, there are sound grounds for concern about the future of responsible but independent journalism but I fail to see how the Fiji Times's  transparent political agenda over the past few years (starting sporadically from the lead up to the Chaudhry-led government in 1998-99) gives it any claim to honest criticism, independence or responsible journalism. It is better it starts with good intentions and a clean slate.

Seona said something similar in another interview: “Now that the sale has been forced by the government perhaps these extremes will be lifted. Perhaps we’ll have a second chance to establish ourselves as a newspaper of record.” She said there was general relief that the paper had found a local buyer to keep its valuable archives and 140 years of institutional memory going.

AUT Journalism head and veteran Pacific commentator, David Robie, fresh back from Fiji, wondered why the paper had published so little about it own takeover: "Apart from a banner headline in The Fiji Times, “Motibhai buys Times,” on a story bylined by a local reporter but based on a News Ltd handout, the forced sale of the country’s oldest newspaper has been remarkably under reported.Fiji Times's future. No serious analysis, no editorials and certainly no backgrounder. Another sign of the times post-censorship. "

It is natural to be concerned and to suspect the worst  about the future in troubled times, but I'll wait until  Motibhai announced the new publisher and, presumably, the fate of editor Netani Rika. We will then have a better sense of where things might be heading. 


PER AND THE FIJI TIMES. Changing Times has left a new comment on your post "Rumours, PER, Commonwealth Games, Chinese & Thai ...":

Re any lifting of the PER: The regime has always said it's conditional on a change of behavior at the Fiji Times so let's see precisely what Mac Patel is planning to do with the paper. We'll have a better idea on Wednesday, when he names the new publisher. If it's someone with close ties to News Limited, you can expect the same problems to continue. Because central to a better relationship with government is the removal of the FT's current senior editorial team and especially Netani Rika. If Patel can demonstrate to the regime that the bomb throwers at the FT are gone, it's far more likely that the PER will be lifted, or at least the media restrictions component of the decree.

I can understand many people taking Rika's side in this long-festering stand-off and it's a shame he has to go. But you just can't begrudge the country's leader the title of prime minister in your editorial pages and expect anything else but trouble. When that's coupled with an explicit threat by Rika to eventually publish 2000 stories that the censors have banned, then it's clear his position has been untenable for a long time.

Let's face it. From a reader's point of view, the Fiji Times has been way off the mark all through the turbulent years of Rika's stewardship. The wonder of it all is that successive Fiji Times publishers sent from Sydney allowed things to deteriorate so badly. Not only did they fail to properly manage the relationship with government, they allowed editorial standards to slip. Yes, media freedom is important but the first rule is that newspapers exist primarily for their readers. For Netani Rika, it seems to have been all about him and what he wanted for the country, not about us. Please give us a good read first and foremost, Mr Patel, and make the FT worthy of its rich history and a paper Fiji can be proud of again.

CONTINUING DIALOGUE ON VILLAGE BYLAWS. The Itaukei Affairs Board has  prepared an amended draft on the proposed village bylaws which include submissions from the 14 provinces. A workshop will be held  next month involving all government departments and NGOs that work closely with Itaukei Affairs. The outcome of the workshop will then be sent back to the 14 provinces for further deliberations and consultation with district representatives. A further draft will then be prepared. The Board has ruled out a recommendation that village leaders be allowed to cane children.

New Police Head, Old and New Times, Takiveikata, Tuvalu, Sugar Disasters, Some Methodist Changes Dropped

NEW POLICE COMMISSIONER. Prisons Commissioner Brigadier General Iowane Naivalurua (photo)  has been appointed as the new Commissioner of Police upon the recommendation of the PM. Current acting Police Commissioner Joeli Baleilevuka will revert to his former position of Deputy Commissioner.

The opinions I've received so far see Naivalua as an excellent choice. He is generally liked and well respected, and he did a great job as Prisons Commissioner.  The expectation is that he and Deputy Police Commissioner Joeli Baleilevuka will make a great team. Naivalurua said, " Expect changes to the police force but not everything will be changed as I'll  tend to just continue from the good foundation set by my predecessor Commodore Teleni and hope to build a strong force that will work strongly in partnership with the community.” 

THE TIMES IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE TIMES*. An anonymous commentator, 'Imprimatur', had this comment for 'Unbiased News' and other readers on a recent posting. The comment is slightly edited.

"It is of course correct that no Media outlet these days can be deemed to be 'unbiased'. For one reason or another -- mostly to do with interests of owners and shareholders -- the political and ideological views of the aforementioned hold sway through editorial policy.

"What is incomprehensible about the ... Fiji Times ... is that it allowed itself to be 'dumbed down' and professionally compromised in terms of standards of journalism. It bore no resemblance at all to the Fiji Times under Sir Leonard Usher, for example.  Poor basic English and spelling, poor standards of editing, garbled headlines and almost nil by-lines (for a long time). No one appeared to have the courage of their convictions: or at least insufficient courage to show who wrote what. This is not a newspaper of worth: this is propaganda sheet and poor propaganda at that.

There should be no weeping nor wailing [about the change of ownership]  which once was "the First Newspaper published daily in the world". Even that no longer appears and with good reason: it has become a rag and little more than that. The fact that it may be profitable as a rag, is neither here nor there.

The Fiji Times Editor, board and staff failed to concern themselves with corruption in high places and they turned a blind eye to endemic racism. On these two counts alone they deserve their fate. They might have
their maintained their standing had they taken more interest in the welfare of Fiji's women and children earlier. They did not until challenged head on. Indeed, they sat by while the fate of  women and children through ever increasing and more deadly domestic violence... No headlines about this unless they were sensational enough to sell copies.

No substantial investigative reporting was undertaken nor Court and Judicial Process reporting as a matter of daily necessity. For years there seemed to be no trained court reporters of any calibre to ensure the public best interest was served. Indeed, the editor himself was found guilty of contempt of court and fined by Justice Thomas Hickey's ruling. The most egregious contempt of the Fiji Courts in Fiji's history since 1874. One must suppose that is fame of a kind? A sort of contemptible celebrity?"

Something good must rise out of the ashes. If Fiji has aspirations to rebirth, then the Phoenix must rise and with it a whole plethora of higher and more elevated journalism which becomes an end in itself. The paper needs to adopt the police motto, Salus Populi  or The Welfare of the People. Not unlike the Fiji Police, the the new Fiji Times must put the service and best interest of the people  ahead of personal and narrow self-interest. What is needs is writers of the calibre of the late Robert Keith Reid. I wonder what is he making of all this from his perch on high?

Ed. Note: The Comment was made just prior to the Fiji Times sales announcement.  * The original, for those not in the know, is "The King is Dead. Long Live the King" which announces the death of an English monarch. 

TAKIVEIKATA PLEADS NOT GUILTY. Naitasiri High Chief Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of inciting the 2000 mutiny which aimed to kill the military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama. At the original trial in early 2007, Takiveikata was given a life sentence for the mutiny but the Appeal Court quashed the ruling and he was released from prison after serving 31 months. Last March, Takiveikata was jailed again when he was given a seven year prison sentence for the alleged plot. At this retrial, Takiveikata is being accused of approaching two army officers, Shane Stevens and Manoa Benafasio, in August and September of 2000 to get them to try to take over the Queen Elizabeth Barracks. According to the Fiji Village website, the prosecution says 23 state witnesses are expected to be called during the trial, ranging from police officers to army officers and technicians.

UPDATE. The High Court today declared a mistrial in the  case  against Ratu Inoke Takiveikata. His lawyer submitted that one of the three assessors was a former soldier.  As a result, the judge declared a mistrial and ordered a fresh trial to start on Monday.

TUVALU ELECTIONS. Tuvalu's incumbent Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia being returned to power along with 10 the 15 incumbent MPs. Tuvalu has no political parties and the 6,000 registered voters cast their ballots along personal and family ties, as well as reputation. No political parties. Lucky Tuvalu!

CAWAKI CRITICIZES INDIAN CONTRACTORS. Commissioner Western Commander Joeli Cawaki  said he would undertake an investigation to determine whether a bond was signed when the FSC awarded the $86million contract to the Sugar Technology Mission of India in 2006.

"This is the reason [for the] the sugar industry problems ... the mill upgrades were not done properly.These people (contractors) just came here, they didn't do a good job and went away and left us with broken mills and spare parts rusting in mill yards."

Since the beginning of the crushing season, all mills have been plagued by boiler and steam generation problems, throwing the sugar industry into a downward spiral. Combined with an unusually dry spell, the farmers were left with cane drying in the fields and the knowledge that 2010 may well be the worst in the history of the sugar industry in the country.

FSC'S $24.5M RECORD LOSS.  Total revenue for the year has declined to $194.7m compared to $245.8m in the previous year. FSC CEO Deo Saran  puts the loss down to decreased sugar production (down by 19%), lower sugar prices (down (8%), lower sugar content in the cane milled, and continued problems in mill  performance.  This is the biggest loss FSC has incurred since its inception.

SOME METHODIST P.E.R.  CHARGES DROPPED. Twenty-three Methodist Church ministers who were charged under the Public Emergency Regulations (PER) with trying to organise the banned Methodist Church Conference in Rewa last year have had the charges against them withdrawn, but the charges against four top church executives, the Reverends Ame Tugaue,Tuikilakila Waqairatu, Tomasi Kanailagi and Manasa Lasaro, remain. Tugaue and Waqairatu faced charges of organizing a meeting in contravention of the PER, while the extreme ethno-nationalists Kanailagi and Lasaro, who actively supported the Speight Coup in 2000, face charges of taking part in the meeting.