Ratu Iloilo Laid to Rest

 N0132.

In the face of death we are all equal. We are human and mortal. And things that divide us are put aside as we remember the life of the deceased and the sorrow of those close to him. And so it was in Fiji. 

The i-reguregu (tradional presentations) were made by all 14 provinces, by the high chiefs of the three confederacies,  by numerous vanua, by religious and public institutions, by business, by members of the diplomatic community, by government, and by people of all races. 

For a short time Fiji stood still and remembered what its people have in common and what makes Fiji so special.

The former President and late Tui Vuda Ratu Josefa Iloilo has been laid to rest in an historic state funeral at Viseisei.

Thousands of people from all walks of life attended the church service and entombment ceremony in Vuda, with masi and black cloth covering the chiefly village grounds. The Tui Vuda was accorded the highest military honour, the 21 gun salute, during the ceremony.

His casket was carried by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces from the Jone Wesele Memorial church to the entrance of the Naburenivalu, the chiefly burial ground, where it was handed over to the Tokatoka o Nakelo, then finally to sixty men of the Yavusa o Natububere who are traditionally obligated to bury the Turaga na Tui Vuda.

The area surrounding the Naburenivalu was filled to capacity as the people of Fiji witnessed Ratu Iloilo’s final journey. Naburenivalu is decorated with brown masi tied in huge bows, as if to welcome the Turaga na Tui Vuda home.

May he rest in peace. May the example of his life's work be not in vain.

N0133. WHO ON EARTH WROTE THIS? Associated Press (Suva).  "A traditional high chief and former teacher, Iloilo became a key ally of armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama who overthrew the elected government in a December 2006 coup amid rising tensions between indigenous Fijians and the country's large ethnic Indian minority." Rising ethnic tensions in 2006? 
 

Minerva Reef: Media and Expert's Unbelievable Nonsense

N0131. MINERVA REEF.  If you've read Olaf Ruhen's book by the same name you'll know that 40 years ago a Tongan boat, the Tuaikapau on the way to Gisborne, NZ, was wrecked on the reef.

The crew spent over a year living (and some died)  in a wrecked Japanese fishing boat, the only area above sea level at high tide. They waited for rescue that never came and their families in Tonga, believing them dead, held funeral services for each of them.

Giving up hope of rescue the crew built a small outrigger canoe from timbers in the wreck, named it Malo e Lelei, and three of them — the captain, his son, and a crew member —  sailed it to Kadavu, south of Viti Levu,  where they had to abandon it and swim for shore. Inside the reef the son told his father he could go no further. They held each other, prayed, and the son drowned.

Theirs is the  incredible story of courage, survival and faith that is echoed many times over in stories of how Pacific Islanders have survived in what to others would seem impossible circumstances.

I was living in Tonga when a RNZAF flying boat brought the survivors home. Almost everyone on Tongatapu turned out to welcome them. Some had to be carried ashore and most were skin and bones. They were taken to Vaiola Hospital to recover and, I suspect, to delay the feasts that their stomachs could not handle after a year eating only what they could gather on the reef.  These days, when up to 400 yachts visit or pass close to the reef every year,  they would have rescued more quickly.

Minerva Reef is in the news again because both Fiji and Tonga claim ownership and, predictably, the media and blogs have used the claims to build imaginary tensions between the two countries.  Dr Rod Alley from Wellington's  Centre for Strategic Studies  claimed Fiji was using this dispute to “flex their muscles” and “to show their neighbours… that Fiji can stand in its own corner and declare its interests.” 

This really is unbelievable nonsense denied by both countries. Samiu Vaipulu, Tonga's Deputy PM, has advised yachties to avoid the reef until the ownership situation is resolved. Solo Mara, Fiji's Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary, says "there is no ‘conflict’ between Tonga and Fiji as alluded to in media reports overseas.”

“What we have are overlapping claims in our maritime boundaries in the South, which is now a subject of negotiation after both countries have submitted claims for an extended continental shelf beyond the 200 mile Exclusive Economy Zone (as provided for under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS].” 

Mr Mara went on to say that this is not an extra-ordinary event as we also have overlapping claims with New Zealand in the same area in our Southern waters.


 He said situation was nothing as reported in the media and Fiji and Tongan officials will meet later this year to negotiate the delimitation of our maritime boundaries as mandated by UNCLOS.

 “We will be doing the same with Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu,” Mr Mara said. -- Based partly on No:0366/MFA.

Ratu Iloilo: Man for All the People; Australia Repeats Itself

The casket of the late president, Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda leaves the Government House. PHOTO: Jonacani Lalakobau, Fiji Times.

N0129. RATU ILOILO PRACTISED WHAT HE PREACHED. Man of all people has left a new comment on your post "Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda 1920 - 2011":

Croz, It's interesting to see the outpouring of genuine sadness and fulsome tributes from the Indo-Fijian community at the death of the Tui Vuda. I don't think anyone realised the extent to which Ratu Iloilo not only engaged that community but stood alongside it.

I was struck by the tribute made by the Rev William Lucas, the head of the Indian division of the Methodist Church. He disclosed that when Ratu Iloilo was a teacher in Labasa, he chose to worship at the local Indo-Fijian church and was a lay preacher there. This is almost unheard of in the local context and speaks volumes for Ratu Iloilo's belief in a multiracial Fiji.

I agree with "What Matters Most?" that the Tui Vuda's more vocal critics need to have a good look at themselves. At the very least, anyone who practises what they preach when it comes to racial tolerance in Fiji is worthy of our collective respect. God knows there are precious few of them and until that changes, nothing else will. (See other comments by clicking 'Comments" at the end of the posting.)

N0130. WHAT AUSTRALIA WILL AND WILL NOT ACCEPT. Last year PM Bainimarama withdrew his invitation for the Pacific Islands Forum  Ministerial Contact Group to visit Fiji and see for themselves after NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, on leaving the Auckland meeting, told a TV audience exactly what he thought about all the bad things happening in Fiji. Bainimarama countered by saying if his mind was made up, there was no point in coming to see for himself.

Now Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Richard Marles seems intent on doing the same thing. Speaking from Vila where the MCG is meeting, he has reaffirmed Australia's demand for elections before 2014, asked what concrete steps the Fiji government is taking "towards a return to democracy", and demanded Fiji re-establish "human rights and freedom of the press." He has even pre-empted Fiji's question on easing foreign sanctions by saying "Australia would not consider that at the moment."

Marles also seeks an invitation to MCG members to visit Fiji and has laid down the conditions for their visit. They must "have complete access to the political parties in Fiji, to the civil society in Fiji and to the church leaders in Fiji, so that we can have a really good understanding of where the country's at and where all opinions are at in Fiji about its future."

That sounds reasonable except, by singling out the political parties and church leaders (read Methodist Church leaders) he seems to want to talk most to people known to oppose the Bainimarama Government and, most importantly, to oppose the People's Charter that forms the basis of all Government reforms.

I doubt Bainimarama will agree. He has repeated said political parties based on race will not be allowed to stand in the 2014 election, and his stance on de-politicising the Methodist Church is well known. The most Marles can hope for is an agreed list; not one that would breathe new life into Qarase's SDL party whose racist policies while in government were a major cause of the 2006 Bainimarama Coup.

The purpose of the MCG meetings is to maintain dialogue with Fiji. It seems a strange way to start.  But perhaps some progress can be made on Fiji’s participation in regional trade and economic deliberations, including PACER Plus negotiations. The Group will report to their respective leaders in preparation for the next Forum Leaders’ meeting in Auckland from 6-9 September.

Australia and New Zealand would win back some of the respect they have lost if, at this time when Fiji grieves the passing of its former president, they had the common courtesy to publicly express their condolences.  So far I have seen no mention of his passing in the NZ media.

Fiji has invited the MCG to visit Fiji. 

Blog Reports on Typhoid and the Denarau Decree

NEW QUOTE FOR THE WEEK in the right sidebar.
N0128.
Photo: Denarau Marina.

Line up of three Blogs. Thank goodness for FijiToday.It is now the only reasonable anti-government blog.  Coupfourpointfive once shared this honour before it became a factory for churning out venom and false rumours.

The typical FijiToday article contains its political message in the title; the article itself is usually published unedited and the source acknowledged. My typical article relies less on the heading for its political message which is embedded in a precis of the original article, with source acknowledged. Both approaches are honest in that they are clearly opinions and not news.  This was my gripe with a recent Michael Field article on the FRU crisis (see N0116). Opinion masqueraded as news, and was therefore dishonest.

Typhoid Outbreak — Remember Michael Field

A recent article by FijiToday complained about the delayed information on a typhoid outbreak in Upper Naitasiri. I find nothing unusual about this. There are typhoid cases and minor localised outbreaks every year in Fiji and I do not recall much prominence being given to them when I lived in Fiji in the 1970s and 1990s. But if things have changed FijiToday has a point.  FijiToday's political point was the delay in confirming the rumour.  But the blog hastened to add: "FijiToday wishes to point out that the reported outbreak is well outside the normal tourist area and unless it spreads is no threat to tourists." Compare this with Michael Field and Barbara Dreavers' coverage of last year's outbreak in inland Navosa where they had tourists believing the outbreak was in the main tourist area and it was unsafe to visit Fiji.   Who says blogs are less reliable than the mainstream media!

The Denarau Decree

However,  FijiToday is not quite as honest in an article on the The Denarau (Nadi River) Development Decree 2011.  But it erred with a sin of omission, not commission.  It was not what they said, but what they left out.

Denarau is without doubt the most developed of the tourist attractions in the West. Built on a large area of reclaimed and channelised mangrove swamp, it is close to Nadi International Airport, has a mix of luxurious to not quite so luxurious accommodation (Hilton, Westin, Sheraton,Sofitel, and more), swimming pools galore, a world class golf course, massage facilities and spas, and an extensive shopping complex.  But the area that is the concern of the Decree involve the marina, that provides services to visiting yachtsmen and transfers to tourist island in the Mamanuca and Yawasa Islands to the north of Nadi. 

FijiToday reported that one company, Ports Denarau Marina Limited, had been given a 20 year exclusive licence in 2000 of about 26 hectares for an annual rental of $400 "in return for extensive dredging and development of what was then a swamp. The licence was cancelled without warning or compensation. No legal challenge was allowed. Announced today but came into force yesterday. The Decree vests absolutely in the Director of Lands any existing interest in the channel. Any person who obstructs or prevents any person from accessing or using the channel, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine and/or imprisonment.

What FijiToday did not report, that was also in  the Government release was that the purpose of the decree was "to liberalise access to and use of the Nadi River channel for the public of Fiji for the purposes of tourism, recreation or personal as well as commercial use," and that the Company had been demanding that all persons, including all owners and operators of vessels, payment for access and use of the channel. Complaints from other users and the importance of the channel for the tourism industry were the reasons for the Decree. I presume the fees collected by the company since 2000 was considered sufficient compensation.

Foreshore for All

Readers will remember Bainimarama's opposition to the Qoliqoli Bill that would have given individual vanua exclusive rights over the foreshore was a major reason for the Coup. Free access to the Denarau Channel is entirely consistent with opposition to the Qoliqoli Bill and the liberalisation of all surfing areas by the Regulation of Surfing Areas Decree last year.  FijiToday focused on the loss to the Company and gave no reason for Government's action.
-- Crosbie Walsh

Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda 1920 - 2011

Of the many messages of condolence received,  I have selected a few extracts to show something of the qualities of the man whom Government opponents claimed was feeble, ailing and rubber stamping Government actions.

TONGA

“Ratu Josefa will always be renowned and remembered with great respect in our region’s history for the many accomplishments he achieved in his country and for the Pacific. He was one of the great statesmen of Fiji.

“In all his endeavours, whether as Head of State, as a politician, or as a paramount traditional chief and leader of Vuda, he was characterised by the traits of his loyal, firm, polite and humble demeanour – a true gentlemen of the Pacific.

“May God Bless Ratu Josefa’s family, the Government and people of Fiji during this difficult and trying time.” –  Lord Tu’ivakano, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga.

UNITED NATIONS

“Fiji, and indeed, the world, has lost an extraordinary leader whose commitment to the progress of his country and the betterment of all its citizens was total. We will miss Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda’s diplomatic skills, vision and his humanity. May his soul rest in peace.” – United Nations Resident Coordinator Knut Ostby.

ASIA DEVELOPMENT BANK

“The ADB joins the international community in grieving the loss of a man who has been the voice of reconciliation and an advocate for a harmonious society in Fiji during difficult times. He stood for stability and traditional values while championing the cause for development for all Fijians.”

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

“In his message, President Hu calls Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda a senior statesman of Fiji and an old friend of the Chinese people, who made significant contributions to the development of China-Fiji relations by promoting friendly exchanges and cooperation in all fields between the two countries.


Ratu Iloilo's first career was as a teacher.  Here is what two eduationalists who knew him well had to say:

"As we mourn the passing away of a great man, we remember him as a great and progressive leader of very wide experience, a school teacher, a Roko Tui of a number of provinces, a parliamentarian, president of the Senate and the president of the country. His primary preoccupation was to encourage and bring peace and harmony among the different communities and groups in Fiji. Thus, one of his first actions when he became the president of the country was to proclaim the adoption of the Peoples Charter." – Filipe Bole, Minister of Education.

The former president was a "man endowed with great wisdom and leadership attributes. He was a humble and approachable leader who was looked upon by people of all ethnicities and backgrounds ... he had a great healing touch for the people. I had the privilege of sharing many conversations with the former president in which he shared a deep commitment to the education of his vanua, and for all the people of Fiji." – Prof Rajesh Chandra, Vice-Chancellor, University of the South Pacific, and former Vice-Chancellor, University of Fiji. 

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.

Alimony Problems

I was up at the magistrate’s court last week and noticed the many women who were milling around there. I spotted a lady I knew and asked her what they were all waiting for. She said that they had come to collect their child maintenance cheques. But she said that many of them were disappointed because theirs had not arrived.

Just Wages? 'Just' Flies Away

by Crosbie Walsh

Government sets up the Wages Councils, accepts its method of determining a just minimum wage based on the Poverty Line, accepts its recommendations for wage increases for some industries, announces when the increases will be paid, and then backtracks on everything because there's a global crisis, some employers say they can't afford to pay — and they need to remain competitive with Bangladesh!

Employers did not direct these concerns at the Wages Council and earlier some employers had refused to co-operate with the Council to determine what they could afford. They bypassed the Council and went directly to Government, and Government did not refer them back to the Wages Council. Instead, it heeded the employers' concerns and ignored the Wages Council.

Give Bainimarama a Chance; Educating the Media, PI Forum Group Meet on Fiji, Audit Reveals Irregularities

WEEKEND READING.  ♦ Allen Lockington column  ♦ Croz Walsh on Just Wages ♦ Wadan Narsey on the Wages Councils.

N0124. LETTER TO THE FIJITODAY BLOG. To its credit, FijiToday, the only moderate and reasoned anti-government blog, published this letter from a reader.

"I support what is happening in Fiji. Let’s see how open your Blog is. I don’t see anything positive on your site so here goes.

A Minibus Owner's Story; Tonga Warns AustNZ Over Fiji

N0122. CANCELLED LICENCES PROOF OF 'JUNTA CORRUPTION'. I was alerted to the public transport situation by a letter in FijiToday by a minivan driver who warned all of the blog's readers not to "do any business in Fiji at present" because "justice in business depends on who you know in the right place."

The writer said he had been issued a permit to run a minibus service between Lautoka and Ba but after two weeks the licence was revoked along with the licences of ten others. A Ministry of Transport official told him he and other minivan owners "were causing bus companies to go broke." He thought complaints by the bus companies were the cause of the revoked licences, adding "Surely this is part of the corruption that this government was going to wipe out."

I commented on Peter Firkin's FijiToday blog sympathising with his position and advised him to complain through the Chamber of Commerce and contact me if he thought I could help.

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.

Re-Ploughing the Muck in the Same Field

N0116.

By Crosbie Walsh

What veteran journalist Michael Field (photo) can't teach you about reporting on Fiji isn't worth knowing. Take his latest Sunday Star-Times article on the Fiji Rugby Union crisis, Fiji Leader Doesn't Care for NZ. It's 282 words long and has 82 words of new information. Most of the rest was published last week by the the same journalist in the same weekly paper.

First, we need to look at the heading because it gets the message across even to those who don't read the article. It says Bainimarama doesn't like us and we reply: Up yours! We don't like you either. It's a good way to get readers tuned in to what you want them to believe, even if it was not quite what Bainimarama said. 
 
Then, it's important to typecast the main actors so that readers are left in no doubt about who the baddies are. Bainimarama, of course, is the “Fiji coup leader.” He's the guy we usually see on TV in his unchanged military uniform. And another key actor is “his brother-in-law Francis Kean, a convicted killer.” No explanation, just a convicted killer which would leave readers unfamiliar with the case wondering whether it was a brutal and gruesome murder or an unintentional manslaughter. It was the latter. Kean was convicted by the court and served part of his prison sentence. I agree with others that he should have served all his sentence, but a “convicted killer” of the type wishfully projected by Field he was not.
 
Now, having got the readers well primed, we can start on the supposed scheming by these villains. Bainimarama and Kean are “taking over the union to secure VIP access [to the Rugby World Cup in NZ], guaranteed under the hosting agreement.” 
 
Actually, Kean's name has been put forward unopposed for chairman of the union and it is possible that Bainimarama, a former president, may again become president, but this has nothing to do with supposed freebees to the World Cup. Both are military men on the NZ travel bans and, as Minister McCully repeated, they will not be allowed to come to NZ. Bainimarama and Kean would not be seeking freebees they knew they could not collect. 
 
McCully had been sought out by the media to comment on the story the media had created: that Bainimarama wanted to come to NZ. And Bainimarama's response was a reaction to this story. So the media got two for the price of one. A sort of double negative where no news plus no news equals news. A mountain had been made out of two non-existent molehills. 
 
Finally, all we need to do now is to stretch a fact or two. So, the two International Rugby Board representatives were in Suva last week to tell Fiji its membership “would be further at risk if the union bowed to the regime and dumped its board for state-supported appointees.”

This is what Field said, not the IRB men. Government had said it would not release $3 million of government funding for Fiji's participation in the World Cup if the FRU Board did not resign. Government wanted their resignation because of alleged misuse of funds and a botched lottery. For Field's “state-supported appointees,” read people who were unlikely to flog further funds. For the IRB statement, read: We must be convinced the new Board is not subject to government political influence and is freely elected by the FRU's constituent members.

Stretch number two: “Bainimarama is refusing to rule out taking key union positions and his bid to get Suva Rugby Union boss Kean into the top post continues.” What this means is that Bainimarama refused to comment to a media enquiry: I don't want to say anything more at this stage. It was Field who was doing the not “ruling out.”

And stretch number three, totally unrelated the the FRU situation: “The coup leader's control over his country's sporting groups (why on earth would he want control over sporting bodies?) strengthened last month when he made his daughter the head of the state-funded Sports Council.” He did not make his daughter the head of the Sports Council. The position was advertised and the Council, not Bainimarama, decided she was the best applicant. It is, of course, possible the Council could have been influenced by the fact that she is Bainimarama's daughter, but he had no direct part in her appointment, and her qualifications for the position, which I have seen, look very credible. See my posting on this (N0097). As far as one can reasonably tell, her appointment was completely above board. 
 
The only new news in Field's re-ploughed article is that IRB-Government discussions were fruitful, that a way out of the dilemma may be to appoint a temporary administrator for Fiji, and that Fiji and Namibia's World Cup participation may also be in doubt. 
 
It seem ironic the two countries should be put together. The IRB has taken over the administration of the Namibia union amid allegations of corruption and members not being paid. In Namibia it's the union that stands accused of corruption and the IRB that's seeking a way out. In Fiji, it's also the union, or more precisely senior executives on the FRU Board, that stands accused, but it is the Bainimarama government (whose actions the IRB is questioning because of complains from those accused) that is trying to stop the corruption. Had he chosen, Field could have explored this irony. 
 
When a journalist writes a news article that so clearly intends to persuade a reader to form opinions that are propped up by leading headlines, typecasting, and unsupported and misleading “facts”, this is not news; it is opinion that editors should not allow to masquerade as news. What is admissible in an opinion piece is not admissible in a news item. My heading gives you my opinion of Michael Field's coverage of news from Fiji. He is a journalist who is now so partisan that he seems unable to report news to the standard normally considered acceptable in the industry. It is time the industry woke up.
Earlier comment on the FRU situation was made in N0069 and N0078.

Rumours, the Shopkeeper and Mary Bainimarama's One Million Dollars

N0115.
The latest story from CoupFourPointFive (citing a "source that has been reliable from the outset and is from within the military ranks") is that Renee Lal, a female lawyer accused of fraud, was "beaten about her head with a full bottle of water and that her beating was apparently organised by an army officer by the name of Ben Naliva.

"The officer is believed to be part of the illegal leader Frank Bainimarama's personal security detail. And it's claimed, as we said, that he was given $10,000 to ensure Lal got beaten.".

Saras'sista, a  commentator only too well known to readers of my blog, had this to say on CoupFourPointFive (I leave it unedited) :

"of course Croz would see nothing contradictory in the police commish demanding that police know the 2009 domestic violence decree by April, but the governments own thugs beating upa woman. No sir. For all the bleatings about how we should be nice, polite, positive and constructive, Croz is never keen to decry the appalling treatment handed out by the military before some has even been charged. Credibility anyone ??"

I'm not sure how or why  I should decry something before it is known to have happened but it should go without saying that such behaviour, if it did happen, is to be condemned, but until we have some reliable report on the incident I'll go along with the following letter about Renee Lal and rumours that was published by Fiji Today, another —but more reasonable and reliable—  anti-Government blog.

Letter to Fiji Today

"Sir, When the mainstream media cease to report or investigate anything controversial the rumour mill winds up and goes into overdrive. It is a quirk of our Fijian nature that rumours are treated as fact and passed on and added to with relish. Recently we have been hearing new rumours of beatings and unreported detentions under PER.

"One story had a shop owner at Nine Mile detained and beaten for being vocal in his opposition to the “Bainimarama Junta”.  I admit he was never slow at letting his opinion be known and his customers were under no illusions as to his opinions.  In fact I was leaning towards believing this story as he was suddenly not serving in his store and his wife was evasive on his whereabouts. 

"This story was in my mind as a fact when I ran into the gentleman concerned in Lami yesterday in the Hot Bread Shop.  He looked unmarked and greeted me effusively. I raised the story of the beating with him and he sheepishly told me he had been caught out with a neighbour’s wife and had been kicked out of home. As his wife’s relatives had financed the store he had lost that also.  His wife was obviously embarrassed and this showed as being evasive and helping the rumour along. Small facts apparently confirming the rumours become proof. No investigative reporting by the media is making “facts” out of any and all claims that manage to get into the public arena.

"We have a recent Coup 4.5 story claiming that Renee Lai was beaten by the military. While we all accept beatings have happened in the past I have problems with the idea of paying a soldier $10,000 to beat someone up. This to me sounds far fetched.

"But the part of the story that is believable to me is the use of a bottle of water as a club to beat her. This is a tactic first used in the Sinai to extract confessions without leaving visible marks on the prisoner.  Our boys from the Sinai would know of this. Small facts apparently confirming the rumours.

"We urgently need the news media to step up and investigate such rumours even if they have to report that the military refuses to answer the queries. Find the person concerned. Ask them what happened. I believe most of the rumours would go down the path of the Nine Mile shop owner and have a more mundane and  logical answer."

 Last Year's Prize Rumours

Small "facts", of course, only apparently "confirm" rumours.  Readers may  remember the rumours last year that the PM was dead (Rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated) or seriously ill, and that Public Service Permanent Secretary Parmesh Chand had resigned and Solitor-General Christopher Pryde had been sacked. I didn't comment on these rumours either, until I'd checked them out. The Permanent Secretary was still in his office and the S-G told me he was going on a short overseas trip. Yet all these rumours had been "reliably" reported by CoupFourPointFive.

But last year's top prize must surely go to another anti-government blog, Solivakasama, that reported on September 20th that PM Bainimarama and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum had been arrested by "some senior military officers."  They told their readers to "Watch this space."  We're still watching.

Rumours Serve Political Purpose, Need Oxygen to Live and Multiply

I agree rumours abound partly because of PER (that I also would like to see lifted) and I agree the media should verify the more serious and credible rumours, but rumours of this particular type also abound because they serve an important political purpose.

Those inventing and spreading these rumours believe the old saying: Thrown enough mud at the wall and some of it is sure to stick. They seek to distract and destabilise government, and keep alive the dwindling hopes of the government's opponents, most especially the SDL supporters of Laisenia Qarase, Ratu Naiqama and others like them.

Giving such rumours unnecessary publicity is to give them the oxygen they need to live and multiply.  So I'm no more likely to rush in to publish them than I am to publish the "reliable" rumour that Mary Bainimarama recently won a UK $1,000,000 lottery.   -- Crosbie Walsh

Twittering on Egypt, Kai Solomoni Organize, Minerals to Pass Tourism, Govt Looks Silly

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.

Ratu Iloilo Passes On

The former president of Fiji, Ratu Josefa Iloilo Uluivuda, has died. He was 91.
Ratu Iloilo was vice president in May 2000 when the Government of Mahendra Chaudhry was overthrown by a coup led by George Speight.
He became president after the military took power in July, was deposed in the 2006 coup led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama but restored to the presidency the following year.
When the Court of Appeal in 2009 ruled the interim government led by Commodore Bainimarama was illegal, Ratu Iloilo abrogated the constitution, sacked the judges and reinstated the Commodore as prime minister. He retired last August.  -- RNZI.

Lockington's Everyday Fiji ... Life Goes On

WEEKEND READING.  ♦ Why the Roadmap? Part III by Crosbie Walsh ♦ The two postings on Friday.


Allen Lockington is a self-employed customs agent and business consultant who has regular articles published in Fiji. I thank Allen for permission to reprint some of them in this political blog. They remind us that life goes on, whatever the political situation. And it's good to know that.

From Cybernet to Internet Nanny

Well, what else is new!  Some parents are using internet cafes to baby sit their children while they go out and party. Is this really true? What kind of people would do this?  I remember the times when parents would get the TV to babysit children, now it’s the internet. Furthermore, some parents leave their children with neighbours and some parents just leave their children, alone at home.

We hear of these instances when a house burns down and we find out the parents had gone to drink grog, party or gone to a church meeting. Some people leave their children at home and when they go past the neighbour’s home they call out to say the children are at home and if they can pop in from time to time. And when they come home the first thing they see are the blue blinking lights of the police and the fire engine and they cross their fingers that they aren’t parked at their home. Then they see a body bag come out and they rush to see the charred remains of their children being carried out. These people should never have had children. Oh, how my heart aches for these children. Just writing this brings tears.

Parents whose children die or get hurt because of neglect should be taken in and reprimanded and given a two week study on how to be a responsible parent.  Fining them is not the way to go  because the children are affected by money lost in fines. 

The police can’t be everywhere.   May I suggest that during every festive season the police force deputise prominent citizens who are willing to work for free and with the police officers so that we can keep Fiji safe. The deputies can be called Peace Officers. They will only be allowed to check and report on the safety of children and fellow citizens. In this way, the  police will have extra eyes on the road and in towns.

I am certainly willing to work for free, and I am sure others will be too, if we  can ensure our vigilance will make the city safer for our  family and friends, especially for our children.

Why the Roadmap? The Politics under the Bridges Part III

                                               By Crosbie Walsh

Government opponents have made much of the fact that the Roadmap has not yet been published and released for pubic scrutiny, and some have doubted its existence. I have no doubt the Roadmap exists in draft form, sufficient for government planning but clearly not sufficient for release.

I suspect Government reasoning, as in all else they have done, is that the Roadmap and the Strategic Framework for Change (that also has not been published) are operational documents based on the well known principles of the People's Charter. Publication for the general public is therefore not a priority at this time. 

If this is the case, it demonstrates government's step-by-step approach to change. First, the infrastructural changes discussed in Part I, followed by the constitutional and electoral changes that require public participation and the publication, if by then if it has any residual relevance, of the Roadmap. We should know the answer by the end of this year.

The purpose of this three-part article is to set the everyday actions and statements of Government within the broad framework of the People's Charter in order to reveal the main elements of the Roadmap and their likely outcomes. Thus, in Part I we discussed the hoped for political outcomes (the “winning of hearts and minds”) of the infrastructural reforms (the politics under the bridges) and  in Part II the sorts of changes that are likely, because of perceived shortcomings in the 1997 Constitution, to be part of the constitutional reforms. 

In this, the concluding section, I itemise and comment on the likely electoral changes and their intended purposes.

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

Thank You, No Thank you, Ratu Naiqama; Revisiting the Lease Payment System

N0104. THANK YOU, NO THANK YOU, RATU NAIQAMA.
Coup 4.5 has released a statement from the Gone Turaga na Tui Cakau dated 3 January offering to help Government.

These extracts capture its essence:

“The Tui Cakau wants to open a dialogue with the PM to show him “the reality of what is happening in Fiji, [assist him] with an alternative set of advice from that which he is receiving at present [and impress upon him the] “the folly of disregarding the role of the Great Council of Chiefs and its role in national affairs in times of distress:- eg. 1874, 1987, 2000 and the present.” [my emphasis]

Comment

The Tui Cakau, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, seems to think all the Cakaudrove vanua are behind him (which is certainly not so) and that the only way forward is to reconvene the Great Council of Chief, several of whose members were party to the 1987 and 2000 Coups.

The GCC was so politicised during the time of the Qarase government that it did nothing to warn against or stop the divisive and racist legislation that was a major factor in causing the Bainimarama coup. Indeed, Ratu Naiqama held several portfolios in the Qarase government including Fijian Affairs and he personally was instrumental in advancing the proposed legislation.

Ratu Naiqama was also a leader of the ultra-nationalist Conservative Alliance (Matanitu Vanua) party that included prominent Speight coup supporters and chiefs.

Its policies called for Fiji to be a declared a Christian state and for the offices of President and PM to be held solely by ethnic Fijians. Many members also thought the British government should repatriate Indo-Fijians to India!

To avoid splitting the ethnic Fijian vote (and because it was deeply in debt with legal costs arising from defence of the 2000 coup plotters), his party dissolved after the 2001 elections in which won six seats. Its more prominent members joined the Qarase's SDL party.

In 2003, while a Cabinet Minister in the SDL government, Ratu Naiqama is reported to have called for an overhaul of the country's constitutional institutions, saying that political authority should be returned to the chiefs. As a first step, he called for the abolition of Senate and its replacement by the Great Council of Chiefs.

So last month's statement is not the first time he's made the same incredible suggestion.

Ratu Naiqama is head of the Tovata Confederacy (Qarase is one of his subjects) and one of Fjii's three paramount chiefs. In early 2006 some chiefs wanted him to become President or Vice-President but the Great Council of Chiefs, wisely on this occasion,  re-elected Ratu Iloilo and Ratu Madraiwiwi.

His latest public statement should fool no one of his true intentions.

N0105. LANDOWNER PAYMENTS SYSTEM SHOULD BE RE-VISITED. Two readers have raised concerns about the NLTB new system of distributing rent money.

Rusi Baleisale says "It would not take much for each family of a tokatoka or mataqali to have a bank account for family members and this is how most landowners read Frank's [earlier] announcement. Giving a lump sum to each trustee account is only  continuing the past problems but shifting it from chiefs to trustees. Tinkering with the problem does not solve it. I already know of two trustees who are going to forward the normal percentage to their Ratu. The rest of the trust members are too timid to protest and claim their share."

Cicero raises the question of the NLTB 15% administration charge: "Can you think of anywhere at all in the world where 15% would be considered a 'reasonable' rate to deduct for admin costs? Those responsible would be sacked then and there! Outsourcing should be imperative and it should be done NOW! 3% MAXIMUM for administration. Who is creaming off this fat? It would merit a riot anywhere else.

I take back my hasty comments on this issue, apologize to Fiji Today, and urge government to address these very legitimate concerns. Why can't money be paid into family accounts, and how inefficient — or grasping — is a government rental agency that it charges this exorbitant 15% admin charge?

Infant Bank Accounts? NLTB $40m Distribution, School Fees and Funding

N0101. INFANTS SHOULD HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS.  The announcement by Native Lands Trust Board Manger Alipate Qetaki that all itaukei whose names are recorded in the iVola ni Kawa Bula (land registry), including infants, are entitled to a share of lease money, and that once tokatoka and mataqali (land-holding units) have appointed their trustees,the money will be deposited in their bank accounts, was greeted by this, to me incredible, heading and argument from the Fiji Today blog:

"Now lease money will be paid into a single account for each Tokatoka/Mataqali. This is different to the promised payment to each member and open to abuse." 

Government had said all money was to be distributed equally (and not, unequally by rank, as previously) but no mention was made of how. Of course, one common tokatoka or mataqali account is open to abuse, as is all trust money, but surely Fiji Today doesn't expect every single person whose name is registered in the Vola Ni Kawa Bula to open a separate bank account -- even where there are no banks. My estimate is that this would require over 250,000 new bank accounts.

Fiji Today would be making a more positive contribution to Fiji's future if it criticised government when criticism is due, did its arithmetic, and suggested a better way to distribute the money and prevent abuse. Or they could at least say this is a fairer and more open system than was previously in place where provincial administrations and chiefs at several levels took their cut with the balance being paid to the  grassroots landowners -- Based on 2011, No:0243/MOI

N0102. NLTB DISTRIBUTE $40.1 MILLION. This is the amount distributed in 2010, after NLTB had deducted its 15% adminisitation costs. Rent arrears, $25m at the start of the year, were reduced to $17m by year end.$25 million and by the end of the year it had reduced to $17 million. The NLTB is considering out-sourcing its lease money collection.

N0103. PRIMARY SCHOOL FEES AND FUNDING. State grant-aided primary schools, all of which receive a government fees grant of $30 a child, are not to charge fees over $10 a child unless that have prior approval from the Education Ministry, and anything charged in excess must be refunded. The government announcement follows concerns about much higher fees beeing charged by some schools.  Teachers Association General Secretary-Maika Namudu  says the all-up $40 fee is insufficient to run a school.

Litiana Loabuka nee Bainimarama, Revenue Collection, Freedom of Information, HIV/AIDS Decree

QUESTION: FIJI LIVE. Are any other readers having difficulty accessing FjiiLive? Google repeatedly tells me the site is suspicious and visiting it could harm my computer.

N0097. ALLEGATIONS OF FIJI SPORTS COUNCIL NEPOTISM. Several readers have stated, some more politely than others, that the appointment of Litiana Loabuka, the PM's daughter, as the CEO of the Fiji Sports Council, was a "further example of jobs for the boys" — and the anti-government blogs took up the chorus. This sort of accusation has followed almost every new government-related appointment.

I asked Peter Mazzey, President of the Fiji Chamber of Commerce, hotelier and Chairman of the FSC, for his comment.  He replied that the position was  advertised twice in local papers, 13 people applied and three were shortlisted for interviews by the full ten-member Board that, besides Mazzey, includes sports and youth directors and selectors, a lawyer, an accountant, the Commissioner Eastrn, and the Ministry of Sports Assistant Director. The FSC is a government statutory body and the appointment of the CEO requires the Minister's approval.  Board members are appointed by the Minister of Education, Youth & Sports, Filipe Bole, for a period of two years.

Referees of the shortlisted candidates were all contacted for formal comments. Each candidate was asked to respond to the same 22 questions relating to requirements of the position (as advertisement) and the Key Performance Indicators established for the position. These were prepared by Human Resource Manager and the Board. Assessment of each candidate's responses was based on points awarded by each Board member and then averaged.  Each Board Member was also had the opportunity to question candidates. Candidates were then asked  how they would move the Sports Council forward.

Litiana Loabuka was unanimously recommended by the Board to the Minister of Sports who approved the appointment.

Litiana was more qualified than the other candidates. She has a BA in Economics and Management and Public Administration from USP. To take up the position she resigned as Commercial Manager of Telecom Fiji and as Secretary of Fiji Netball. Her salary and allowances are the same as the previous CEO and she dropped salary to take up the position. [There goes another wrong accusation!]

So, as we used to say to detractors in my younger days, "Put that in your pipe and smoke it." Being the PM's daughter was not the reason for Litiana's appointment, and the PM is not privy to the Board's deliberations or its recommendations to the Minister of Sports.

It is surely time the anti-government blogs and commentators made some effort to check the "facts" they want to believe in before rushing into print. Constant error undermines their credibility. Soon only their core faithful will believe their lies.

N0098. REVENUE COLLECTION HIGHEST EVER. Government collected $1.3 billion in different forms of taxation last year,$91 million more than in 2009, and surpassing the revised projected revenue by $22.3 million. The increase was largely a result of improved collection but tax arrears (some $52.3 million) remain a problem. The revenue forecast for 2011 is $1.496 billion.

N0099. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION. Government is working on the implementation of a Freedom of Information Decree, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum  told lawyers at the recent A-G's Conference. He did not say why this is needed with the Media Decree in place or whether it would result in more public information. It is regrettable that the implementation of the Media Decree has not yet resulted in the lifting of PER, as intimated prior to its passing, or a better flow of information.

N0100. HIV/AIDS DECREE 2011. Victims of HIV/AIDS in Fiji and the rest of the Pacific have new hope this month, with the interim Fiji Government adopting the HIV /AIDS Decree 2011. The decree has been widely praised locally and internationally for leading the way in the Pacific for dealing with HIV/AIDS.Its proponents argue more people will have the confidence to be tested without fear of discrimination and will have better treatment options. Listen to the ABD interview with Laitia Tamata, Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation Legal Trainer and Policy analyst