Check out the new Quote for the Week in the right sidebar and the Weekend Reading and
late Friday postings (and comments) by scrolling down.
N0110. I DON'T GET IT. Perennial anti-government agitator, Peter Waqavonovono, president of the Fiji Young People's Concerned Network that appears to have no other members, has told ABC's Bruce Hill that many Fiji youth are using Twitter and Facebook to get information about the political unrest in Cairo. He says this is because the Fiji media is self-censoring news on Egypt. A quick survey by ABC, however, found that the Fiji Times and Fijilive have both carried comprehensive and balanced reports on the events in Egypt. So why, ABC, did you give this Peter Pan, who incredibly sees parallels between Fiji and Egypt, this free air time? When is no news news? My source: via www.pacmediawatch.aut.ac.nz
N0111.BETTER THINGS TO DO. The news that the PM may tour Russia later in the year to boost tourism and trade makes incredible reading. The PM is critical to what is happening in Fiji and the less time he spends out of the country the better. Each overseas trip offers opportunities for rumour and speculation. Someone should go to Russia and other new countries where Fiji's interests can be advanced, but not the PM. -- Based on 2011 No:0305/MOI.
N0112. KAI SOLOMONI ORGANIZE. One of Fiji's most disadvantaged groups, the 35,000 plus descendants of Solomon Islander indentured labourers who worked the European copra plantations in the late 19th century, have formed the Solomon Islands Descendants Association to protect their interests. The Kai Solomoni married Fijian women and today they are all but Fijian except in name. But the name is very important. Among some Fijian tribes, inheritance was only through the male line and this practice was adopted by the British for all Fijians. The result, for Kai Solomoni, is that they have no rights to Fijian-owned land. Had their fathers been Fijian, it would have been another story.
N0113. MINERALS TO PASS TOURISM. Lands and Mineral Resources Minister Netani Sukanaivalu predicts that the booming mineral resources industry will earn billions of dollars annually for the next 20 to 30 years, and will overtake tourism as Fiji's biggest income earner. Besides the Namosi gold-copper mine and the Vatukoula gold mine, the Tuvatu Gold Mine and the black sand in the Ba delta will soon be operating, and oil and gas exploration will commence in five months."We have three companies that are applying for an exploration licence to mine our deep sea and we have the oil exploration right now and they will start drilling in June or July at Naselai," the Minisster said. Bauxite in Bua and a re-opened Mt Kasi gold mine are only a little further down the road.
N0114.GOVERNMENT MADE TO LOOK SILLY. Former PM and FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry was charged for breaking the Public Emergency Regulations and detained for three days last October. He claimed at the time that the charges were baseless, as he was meeting with sugar cane farmers in his capacity as general secretary of the National Farmers Union. But he was charged nonetheless. After several delays in bringing the charge to court,
Government withdrew the charges last week. What a waste of everyone's time and money. Chaudhry is right. PER should be lifted. Other laws exist for those who seek to break the peace.
