Colonial War Memorial Hospital grant While one wholeheartedly appreciates and welcomes the $14.7million grant from the Government of Australia to improve the standard of our CWM Hospital, one hopes that with due respect, critical questions are also included in the planning process. For example, how can access to the hospital be improved especially with traffic jams in the early hours of the morning and afternoon? What if life saving treatment for patients is only available at the hospital but traffic jams prevent quick access? The intersection between Princes Rd and Waimanu Rd and Brown St, with Waimanu Rd is well known for long queues during peak traffic hours.
Should we have a back up plan like additional or emergency routes? This could be useful when there is more than one patient requiring immediate and urgent life saving treatment at the CWMH. As the hospital sits on high ground and not too far away from the edge of a cliff overlooking the Suva Harbour, one hopes that foundations of this hospital are on stable footing. Lastly, one hopes there is a communications plan around this to ensure key stakeholders including the public are informed and updated of progress.
All in all, the CWMH is an important part of our heritage both historically and from a national health perspective. Floyd Robinson Micronesia Constitutional change I am extremely grateful to read Jon Fraenkel’s article on our constitution (FT 13/8). It is very good to see him again involved in Fiji’s constitutional journey.
Jon has a clear understanding and gives us excellent advice. His last paragraph shows us a clear and sensible way to go: to “ask the higher courts to strike down those 75 per cent amendment provisions so as to open the path for constitutional change”. Meanwhile, as Jon suggests, the Government should embark on a review of the 2013 Constitution, embracing contributions from as many as possible and taking the views of minorities into account, so that no one is left behind.
Tessa Mackenzie Suva Sale of alcohol It is meth, cocaine or marijuana on the front pages of Fiji’s two dailies. And schools around Fiji are inundated by reports of drugs and alcohol being consumed by our youths. And then we have our ministers calling for the establishment of drug taskforce committees, chiefs calling for collaboration with stakeholders and the list goes on.
One of the most blatant issues I have discovered in Fiji in the past one year is the sale of alcohol at service stations in Fiji. Bottle shops are now opening left, right and centre around the country. Is there not a law in Fiji that prohibits the sale of alcohol at service station premises? Is it not a safety issue to have fuel machines a metre away from bottle shops? The National Fire Authority harps on about kids playing with matches, yet we have fuel ready to explode next to bottle shops! The other aspect is basically encouraging customers to buy liquor while fueling up.
I can imagine a slogan being advertised “fuel up at your nearest service station and get a free beer”. Imagine fueling up, hop in next door, buy a few cans and it will be cheers all the way. Legislators, ministers and the honourable chiefs, please look closer to “home”.
Fiji, the way the world should be! Mohammed Jan Nakasi People’s man Rouhit Karan Singh was a people’s man. He grew in the municipal council system from the bottom of the ladder. He came into prominence in the trade union movement when he led his union to strike against the sacking of the former Town Clerk of Lautoka the late Pusp Raj.
For Lautoka, it is not just the loss of the council but every citizen of Lautoka. He was connected to the people. No matter what the grievance was of the ratepayer, he would find a way to resolve the issue one way or the other.
And if some things couldn’t be done according to the rules of the council, he would be able to convince the rate payer to follow the compliance guideline with his charm and matured abilities. In Lautoka he was associated with the health department but he was in control of all other departments. He was a die hard advocate of workers’ right but he would not mince his word if he found out if an employee was behaving unethically at the workplace.
A very sharp, principled, and straight forward man. He knew every rate payer in Lautoka. Lautoka is poorer today with his loss.
Will be very difficult to replace him. Sailesh Naidu Naceva St, Lautoka Future generation Parents and guardians who are committed to their faith may automatically think that their children or wards will follow in their footsteps. It’s no longer like that, times have changed and so have people.
Many western ways have come into our lives and affected us positively and negatively. I live in a densely populated area and I have noticed children left on their own or sitting at the shops or just walking aimlessly on the road. Each time I see a juvenile smoking, I say to myself, “I hope he will grow out of it”.
But it is rather unfortunate that parents have to spy on their children to know what they are doing, shouldn’t they just know their children? Teenage is when our children start to experiment and will become vulnerable if values, morals and ethics that should be taught at home are absent. I was a teenager and know what I experimented with. Teach our children well and we will live in peace and harmony.
NAVNEET RAM (TD) Lautoka Different faces Prominent letter writer Dewan Chand is pleased that Fiji has received a grant of some $14million from Australia to upgrade the CWM Hospital. I am sure he was very pleased when Australia gave the Fiji government $86m in direct budget support. Receiving free money is always enjoyable and heart-warming.
Seeing that Mr Chand is so appreciative of charity given to Fiji, and I suspect he is a very senior citizen, I suggest he should be given the privilege to accept this charity in future. Why should only the PM and the ministers get to enjoy such thunder. I am sick of seeing the same faces dressed up in their regalia clamouring over each other accepting charity, cake cutting and the salusalu and kalavata.
We need to see different people accepting this charity who have served the country such as Sukha Singh, Ronnie Chang and many others who are deserving. Jan Nissar Rarotonga, Cook Islands Doing the opposite I came across the term “height of hypocrisy” the other day and I thought it befits our members of Parliament because they took the oath of office when holding the holy book but had little intention and commitment to doing what is right and for the right reason. Sad eh! Wise Muavono Balawa, Lautoka Seafront garbage The decrepit garbage bin featured in your letters column yesterday has been removed, but the litter scattered around it was left behind! Are council garbage collectors unable to stoop to pick up rubbish off the grass and pathway and put it in the (lidless) bin before they take it away? And now with no bin there at all, there is nowhere for visitors to the waterfront opposite the PTC to put their rubbish.
Of course they should take it away with them, but not all do and so we collectively fail to keep our beautiful seafront environment clean. Peter Adams Laucala Bay, Suva Space dreams Your correspondent, Anthony Sahai (FT 13/08) is on the mark with his comments on the CWM master plan $14.7million.
That’s only a splash or two more than the $12.6million cost of a finished Lautoka pool. Terry Hulme Russell St, Eastwood, NSW, Australia Minister’s decision I thought otherwise that the Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro’s earlier decision and directive for a school rugby team to progress was only a dream and wishful thinking.
Perhaps, the MP’s conviction was merely irrelevant to the FSSRU ruling. AREKI DAWAI Maharaj Place, Suva More gadgets According to statistics gathered from TFL, more than a million mobile devices were in country last year. It seems like there is a growth on the internet.
There are also users and non users who keep fancy phones to show in parties. I believe these are the reasons why Vodafone stopped sending free monthly credits to their loyal customers. NAVNEET RAM (TD) Lautoka FNPF issue I fully agree with Hassan Khan that a full inquiry into the management of FNPF is needed.
All the questions put by him are valid and well founded. Rakesh Chand Sharma Nadi Another WC outing for footballers! The Baby Bula Boys took the Junior All Whites to the wire, only to concede two goals in a thriller. The Sunil Kumar-coached side upset hosts Tahiti 2-1 in the semis, and they continued with the momentum when they faced NZ in the final.
The boys lifted their performance compared with the 7-1 thrashing they received in pool play. It’s a pity that our star player Veleni Rasorewa was shown the marching orders. I loved the spirit with which the boys played.
They attacked and defended as a solid unit and showed great fighting character to equalize through the golden boot of Farhaan Khan. However, the experience of the opposition was too much, and Fiji went down fighting 3-1. The effort put in by the parent body through the Kids Football program is paying dividends.
FFA must invest in football at primary level, as this is where basic skills are taught — thus, more funding for the primary schools zonal and IDC competition. More development officers are needed in the districts. The long-term picture — one FFA academy in every district.
I’m glad that after a downward movement, football is gaining momentum. Another World Cup outing for a tiny island nation is an achievement. Hats off to Maika Dau and the warriors, and not forgetting head coach Sunil Kumar, Jitendra Reddy, Mohammed Kasim, Sanaila Waqanicakau and the coaching panel! Rajnesh Ishwar Lingam Nadawa, Nasinu China trip Our PM will be embarking on a 10-day visit to China from 12/8 to 21/8.
I stand to be corrected but never have I heard of any Prime Minister officially visiting another country for 10 days or more. Not even the US President. This ought to be some ‘serious trip’, taking into consideration the duration of such and obviously the entourage would number into double digits.
Who knows, could be negotiations for an aircraft carrier or fighter jets for us (yawn). It seems that this government is trying to break the record of overseas jaunts set by the previous government. Could all the travelling allowances, to be paid by the taxpayers of this country, diverted to building a mortuary for the Levuka Hospital? Anthony Sahai Levuka, Ovalau Climate negotiations We have been informed that the Fijian Government has approved a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the International Peace Institute to strengthen Fiji’s capacity in international climate change negotiations.
Can the authorities provide more details of this IPS and clarify what its exact role will be. They are hardly a name one recognises from the UNFCCC process so it would be good to know what added value they bring. Why can’t the GOF use its own experts, and there are so many with decades of experience, for the training and capacity building.
Negotiations are a sensitive issue and requires utmost care in defining and articulating national positions. This is even more pronounced in the complex climate change space. During the Fijian COP presidency, the FijiFirst government awarded this task to McKinsey Australia and other Australian experts, of course using Australian money.
During the negotiations, it became apparent that Fiji was floundering in trying to understand and align the positions demanded by our membership of the all important SIDS, AOSIS and G77 and China groups. And often it felt like Fiji was peddling the agenda of the developed country parties, much to the consternations of the developing countries. It seems like deja vu.
Altauf Chand Minto, NSW, Australia.
