Frank did the right thing in deferring new wages regulation
The new wages idea was an agenda that people like Father Kevin Barr used as their excuse to support the coup leader. The plan was to use the might of the gun dressed up in its “clean–up coup” punchline to marshal in their new wages regulation. Again, while their intention was noble, the same couldn’t be said with the method Barr adopted to push that great initiative. Father Barr is a hypocrite to think that he could use Frank and his coup to achieve his long time commitment to help the poor. You can never mix a right with a wrong and sooner or later, right will always win over wrong. Barr should know that, he is a religious father for crying out loud.
Anyway, going back to why Frank’s regime loved Kevin Barr. Barr was going to be used as the regime’s humanitarian father christmas who will win the hearts and minds of the poor over to the junta’s camp. His wages regulation idea, amongst others, was a fantastic concept to win the low wage earners approval. That was rolling well until Frank realised how damn hard it is to run a nation, especially a junta state. All forms of international assistance closed down on him and so did many small and medium sized local businesses who just couldn’t weather yet another coup storm followed by the finnacial tsunami and flooding that took over their small Fiji market.
Frank is broke, the international community ain’t giving him any donor funds and local businesses are laying off workers while many more are closing leaving Frank high and dry.He has probably come to a realisation that he and his relaxed military men and women with all their guns don’t have what it takes to generate economic activity in Fiji. Nor are his team of regime legal advisors and suckers-up cut-out to breath life back into the dying Fiji economy. Frank knows now that he can have the best electoral reform and best constitution in the world but without economic activity, you are history.
He realises that his military government doesn’t have the money to roll out an economic stimulus plan that can create immediate jobs today like launching major infrastuctural development projects funded by government to take people back to work. He has come to learn that the private sector is the nerve center for any economy. Shut them out and they will shut you down causing widespread social problems that can become Frank’s biggest enemy. A large scale social disorder is already unfolding in Fiji and accelerating by the day. And when you have masses of poor people with empty stomachs desperately looking for the basics of life which the government can no longer provide, a major catastrophe is staring at you right there in the eyes.
People must understand that the private sector is also made up of affectionate people who fully understand the contribution made by their staff and it is wrong to try and create a wedge between the employers and employees. They need each other and let them sort things out the best way they know how.
We must give it to the businessmen/women in the private sector who are shouldering all the business risks that comes with being in business because without them, Fiji is stuffed. They too must be rewarded handsomely for their blood, sweat and tears in setting up businesses that majority can never do in their lifetime. But it is the government’s job to create a conducive environment that will allow these entrepreneurs to go wild with their job creation plans.
We say that Frank is right in his decision to delay the implementation timeline for the new wages regulation. He didn’t throw it out completely but only deferred it to later which is alright. Time is the essence to everything and the timing is just not right to be adding extra burden to the business community. It is better to keep people employed with money in their pockets for their families sustenance than to have them idle on the streets leaving them to no good. But Frank must ensure that he doesn’t renege on his promise to the people that their wages will be increased in July 2009. They too need it and deserve it for their hard work.
