Archive for August 2009
Increased policing by Fiji’s censors
The editor of one of Fiji’s main daily newspapers says government control of the media has seen significant news stories supressed on the orders of military and police censors.
Fiji Times editor Netani Rika made the claim in a speech to journalism students at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
He says initially censorship was enforced by military officers, with plain clothes police officers accompanying them for protection, being placed in Fiji newsrooms.
But now Mr Rika says the police have joined in the process, which has seen stories showing police in a negative light not being published on police orders.
“These enforcers of the law are no longer in plain clothes, and sometimes take on the duties of the censors, deciding what we are permitted to print,” he said.
“Now we have a situation where it is the police who are the censors.
“This means that no story involving the police will see the light of day if it involves corruption, or officers breaking the law.”
- Radio Australia
Tough times : Fiji’s censored media
Under emergency regulations imposed by Fiji’s interim government there is official censorship, under which military and police personnel are stationed in newsrooms to approve all items before they’re published.
In August 2009, Fiji Times editor Netani Rika described to the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, what it’s been like to work in Fiji’s media since the interim government came to power after the December 2006 coup.
This is a transcript of his speech.
Last Updated: 17 hours 21 minutes ago
I’m amazed that I continue to chill people with what I say, although I’m sure my late mother would agree that I not only depress you but I depressed her many times in my life also.
What depressed me this morning was watching television in the hotel: there’s a huge marketing campaign attempting to draw visitors to Fiji. Over the course of about two hours a series of advertisements found their way into Australian homes, portraying Fiji as an excellent destination where people are friendly, there is plenty of sea, the sand and the sun. Well that much, at least, is true. We are still a nation of friendly people, there’s still a lot of sea, sand and sun.
Yesterday, a colleague showed me a piece on Fiji written by a blogger, an Australian national and former television presenter, who visited my country not long ago. She described the current ruler of Fiji, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, as being not so bad after all. Indeed, she suggested that as far as dictators go, Bainimarama is probably the best around. Dictatorships are, perhaps, exercises in relativity. Fiji’s dictatorship is better, relative to Idi Amin’s in Uganda in 1970, in between the ’70s and the ’80s rather, or the rule of Augusto Pinochet in Chile in the same period. But a dictatorship is, purely and simple, illegal, much as a thief is a thief and there can be no such thing as a good thief, a good murderer or a good dictator. I will be the first to agree that electoral systems in my country are far from perfect and that official corruption exists in all levels of society today. Our newspaper, which turns 140 years old next Friday, has been at the forefront of the chance to institute reforms which are so necessary in the development of any small nation. Many of our campaigns have revolved around exposing and removing incompetent or corrupt officials or politicians. At the same time we have attempted to encourage debate on issues which ultimately would help encourage a culture in which people speak freely and without fear about corrupt politicians and incompetent civil servants. We want our people to break free of the institutionalised racism and religious intolerance. Our people often do not talk about these issues, constrained at various levels by what we like to call ‘a culture of silence.’
Earlier this year the Appeals Court in Fiji ruled that the removal of Laisenia Qarase’s government by the army and its shadowy group of supporters was illegal. The three judges declared not only that the takeover was illegal but that the President must appoint a caretaker prime minister to lead Fiji to democratic elections within a suitable time frame. Hours after the judgment was handed down, the interim Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, agreed on national television to abide by the ruling and uphold the law. The next day he was reappointed by the President, this time to head an interim government of the same people who had lead Fiji prior to the declarations of the court. Immediately, a Public Emergency Regulation was put in place to ensure that there would be no opposition to Bainimarama’s regime. In a nutshell the regulation prohibits public gatherings for the purpose of political meetings and, under Section 16, stops the media from broadcasting or printing material which may incite the people. This rule gives the Permanent Secretary wide-ranging and arbitrary powers to decide what may cause incitement. There is no requirement for this public servant to declare why the decision has been made to prevent a particular news item from being made public.
On the afternoon of Bainimarama’s return to power, the Permanent Secretary for Information told news editors that as part of the regulation, each media organisation would be allocated a censor and that each censor would be accompanied by a police officer in plain clothes. The police officer, we were told, was to protect the censor. From whom, we were not told.
Increasingly it is often the case that rules can change from day to day without warning or explanation. As the days and weeks passed, the number of censors increased, as did the number of police officers. These enforcers of the law are no longer in plain clothes and sometimes take on the duty of the censors, deciding what we are permitted to print. Now we have a situation where it is the police who are the censors. That is the latest development.
This means that no story involving the police will see the light of day if it involves corruption or officers breaking the law or even.
Two months ago the police took on a serial offender, a violent robber, as a special constable as part of its Christian crusade to minister to criminal elements: what they call the ‘Jesus element’ of policing. This man has a number of outstanding cases, I believe there are eight before the court. He was to have appeared in court to answer charges relating to one of these cases but was not in court on the day – a clear case of contempt. The magistrate asked the prosecutor why the accused person was in court. The prosecutor blamed the Crime Officer at a police station on the outskirts of the capital, Suva. Infuriated, the magistrate ordered that the accused policeman and the Crime Officer appear in court on Monday morning. Sensational, great read. But nobody’s read this story because although we wrote it, the censors would not allow publication. On Monday the court sat and the magistrate called the case. The Crime Officer was there but the accused special constable was nowhere to be seen. Even more sensational, an even greater read. This story remains unknown to the people of Fiji as does the whereabouts of the accused cop to the court.
This incident illustrates the impunity of the courts to prosecute people protected by the regime. And this is not happening in some African nation. It’s happening four hours from here, three hours 45 minutes if there are good tailwinds. It’s here in your own backyard. It’s happening in a nation which you and your friends or relatives visit for its friendly people and sandy beaches. It’s happening in what is actually, for us, paradise. Not too long ago, members of the Commonwealth Broadcasters Association met in Fiji to discuss a number of matters – presumably in a free and forthright manner.
The CBA espouses the values of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the media. Ironically, delegates at the CBA Conference were served by hotel staff who do not have these rights once they leave the hotel complex. And what was most disturbing was the fact that parts of this conference were presided over by the Permanent Secretary for Information, a lieutenant-colonel in the Fiji military forces, who is in effect Fiji’s chief censor.
May I be presumptuous at this stage and say that Australians appear to have no idea just how lucky they are to have a voice through the media organisations which operate freely in this country. As journalism students or teachers, you must know that your colleagues but a plane ride from this city are under enormous pressure to succumb to the demands of an illegal regime. Unfortunately, many of your colleagues have buckled under this pressure because their editors or publishers have chosen to take the easy way out and sell their ethics in return for increased government advertising. This administration wants a particular message to go out to the people. They want the public to think that all is good. Let me tell you, that message is far from the truth. The danger however, is that without a free media, people will begin to believe in the lies.
So what are we permitted to print? Basically any story on government must put the interim regime in a positive light or it will not be permitted by the censors. No views contrary to those of the interim government are permitted, even if balance is provided in the form of a comment from a minister of state or a senior public servant. Let me give you another example of what we are not allowed to print. Just three weeks ago students in Year 8 in Fiji sat a qualifying examination to allow them to progress or not to high school. On an island in the far north of the country called Thikombia, a young boy waited in vain for his exam papers to arrive. The island boat, so generously provided by our benevolent interim prime minister at the beginning of the year, was out of service, but nobody had told the education ministry. The boy waited. The boat was stuck in the administrative capital of the northern region of our country, and it sat there with the boy’s exam papers. We wrote the story of an island boy’s dreams, a real tear-jerker with comment from everyone including the education ministry. The censor that evening picked up the phone, rang the education minister, the education minister said ‘No story.’ You know this, you know of what happened to this boy on Thikombia, but the people of Fiji have no idea what happened.
Earlier in the year, censors did not allow the publication of the reactions of the Commonwealth and the United Nations to the reappointment of Bainimarama as interim Prime Minister by our President who, now that his usefulness to the regime is at an end, has been put out to pasture. Our former president has the dubious honour of, at the time of his removal, being the second oldest leader in the world, the oldest being of course Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
We were not allowed to publish news of street protests in Thailand or the assassination attempt on President Barack Obama of the US. Censors entered our newsroom on the evening of the day that the President ordered Bainimarama’s reinstatement. Of course we had dozens of stories from all across the political spectrum showing reactions to this event. We were not allowed to publish any of these. The next day our Sunday paper, which is now a collectors’ item, was published with white space in place of the stories and pictures which the censors, both trained journalists and one of whom had worked in the mainstream media, had culled. We carried bold notices in those spaces declaring that the newspaper had been prevented from publishing the stories under the Public Emergency Regulations. It was a sensation and drove home to the people of Fiji the point that we were powerless to tell the truth, we were powerless to tell the country what it needed to know, and we were powerless to carry out our duty to the nation and provide free speech. And it brought home to them the fact that media freedom is intrinsically linked to their right to know and their freedom of expression. Unfortunately the interim government was not amused and the Fiji Times management was summoned by the Permanent Secretary for Information to be told that white space was not allowed under the Public Emergency Regulations.
What do you do, in such an event? We have decided to go about our daily assignments in the normal manner. Our journalists and photographers cover every possible assignment attempting to get as many sides of the story as possible. Yes, we continue to cover stories which do not portray the interim government in a favourable light. These stories are assigned to pages and go to the censors each day. More often than not they are declared unfit for consumption and are knocked back by the censors. The next day we cover every assignment again, including the stories which the interim government does not want, and inundate the censors with copy. Sometimes the stories get through, at other times they are spiked. It is an extremely frustrating exercise.
Two months ago a domestic airline was forced to close because of financial difficulties which are not linked to the current regime. Our business writer prepared comprehensive coverage, covering all angles of the story, providing fact files, historical background, a masterpiece from a young journalist. The censor on duty did not allow our reports to run unless we carried a quote from a specific minister. We refused because we already had the relevant quotes from someone else and so we pulled the story. The following day we placed the same stories in front of a different censor – no worries, the issue was covered, albeit a day late.
It is safe to say that the greatest challenge we face with censorship is inconsistency. What we may or may not cover is at the discretion or more often the whim of the censor on duty. Just a few days ago the Public Emergency Regulation was extended for a further 30 days and this time it went unreported. The Permanent Secretary for Information declared that the media was now reporting responsibly.
In my view, Fiji’s media has always tried to report responsibly. Unfortunately, all of our country’s rulers since independence in 1970 believe that responsibility means no anti-government stories.
The people know of our inability to provide a truly independent view of what is happening in our home. Those who can continue to use shortwave radio to find a link to the outside world and news that is broadcast on Radio Australia or Radio New Zealand. A plethora of blog sites has sprung up spewing Fiji stories, rumour, gossip and speculation into cyber-space. Most of this news is accessible only to the small portion of the community which has access to the Internet, that’s between probably between seven and 15 per cent. Unable to halt the onward march of the bloggers, Fiji’s rulers have resorted to ordering the closure of Internet cafes from 6pm each evening in an attempt to stem the tide. But how does it stop the coconut wireless which for generations has provided steady, if not entirely factual, news in countries around the region?
To say that Fiji’s media has been under fire since December 2006 is no exaggeration. We have been threatened, bullied and intimidated. Our cars have been smashed, our homes firebombed. Despite this, our staff have remained committed to the ideals of a free media, telling the stories that must be told, exposing the weaknesses in State policies and covering human interest assignments.
It is because of their commitment and refusal to detract from the cause that the interim government has been forced to gag the media. It is important in these trying circumstances for senior journalists and managers to maintain a brave face, it’s not that easy, and communicate constantly with their staff, offering support and protection. It is also imperative that we offer guidance and direction and stress the importance of the role of a vibrant, free press in a democracy. Training, upskilling and mentoring are also important.
At the Fiji Times we have found that our people, and many of them are young, understand the complexities of the situation we face. How do we build their courage? Simply, by not backing down. We continue to cover the issues which are important to people – water, roads, food prices, housing, superannuation, health services, governance, accountability, transparency. Every story is covered in detail as if we were working in a truly democratic country without the current restrictions. Each day we challenge the censors by putting every possible news item before them. Sometimes we are lucky and the occasional story slips through the net. On those days we celebrate quietly.
The danger under the current circumstances is that journalists may start to censor their own stories. We must not allow that to happen. It is vital, indeed it is our duty, to ensure that journalists continue to make every attempt to cover the issues that matter to the people, even if the stories we write do not portray our rulers in a good light. Our leaders must learn to deal with criticism from the electorate.
For journalists it is frustrating to spend the day covering issues and then writing reports which cannot be printed. To their credit, however, our team continues to cover the issues, continues to test the censors, continues to push the boundaries of the regime’s regulations. That takes immense courage, so much easier to practice self-censorship, to get out of journalism, or just roll over and die because it’s just too hard.
Our journalists have risen to the challenge, continued to report without fear, maybe that is not entirely true they’ve continued to report and they’ve reported without fear or favour and attempted to remain objective. They’ve bravely stood up to intimidation, they’ve rejected censorship and recognised that when a nation is controlled by usurpers it is imperative that the public’s right to know is protected at all costs. And they are determined to break the culture of silence which so often surrounds our leaders – elected or otherwise.
I am proud of the journalists with whom I work and their colleagues in Fiji’s media industry. They are a tribute to the profession we all love so much. I pray that you will never face the situation my staff and some of our Fijian colleagues face today. Every time you open a newspaper or turn on the radio or the television, be thankful for the right to know what is happening in your country. You may not like what’s happening but at least you have the information to enable change. Be thankful for the journalists who bring you that information.
- Radio Australia
Fiji faces imminent Commonwealth suspension
Fiji’s military backed government is likely to be suspended from the Commonwealth group of nations on Tuesday.
The island nation is facing a September 1 deadline to commit to elections next year.
While Fiji’s interim Government has agreed to allow a visit from the Commonwealth’s representative, the Commonwealth has refuted statements made in the country’s local media that this means the planned suspension will not go ahead.
In a statement, the Commonwealth Secretariat says Fiji’s continuing refusal to commit to elections next year means it has not met the requirements set when the suspension was first proposed in March.
The interim Government has told Fiji’s media it has set an election date for 2014, and it will not be changing its position.
Campbell Cooney – Radio Australia
Fiji’s SDL party says time for interim govt to pay for its actions
The leader of Fiji’s ousted SDL party says inviting a Commonwealth team to visit Fiji just before a suspension deadline is a hallmark of the interim regime.
In July, the Commonwealth ministerial action group issued a deadline of September the first for Fiji to reactivate the President’s Political Dialogue Forum or be fully suspended from the grouping.
A Commonwealth team is likely to visit Fiji in the next week, however the secretariat says the visit will not affect the suspension ultimatum.
The SDL’s general secretary, Peceli Kinivuwai, says the Commonwealth has so far been lenient with Fiji, but its time for it to make the country pay for its actions.
“Whenever there is something drastic that is out there on the horizon, they [the interim regime] make their actions portray that they are genuine in trying to do something that will force something good for Fiji. But so far nothing has eventuated. We have not had any signs of going back to elections.”
Peceli Kinivuwai.
News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand
Significant loss of experience and talent from Fiji civil service, says academic
A researcher in the area of public sector reform in Fiji says there has been a significant loss of experience and talent from the public service since the lowering of the retirement age.
The comment follows an announcement by the Public Service Commission that it’s conducting performance audits in all government ministries, following a decree in April to drop the country’s official retirement age from 60 to 55.
Dr Desmond Uelese Amosa of the University of the South Pacific says there has been no dramatic change in the quality of the civil service, which has shed more than 2-thousand employees in the past four months.
But he says in the long-term it could cost the country millions of dollars.
“There is certainly a significant loss of experience and talent following the implementation of the policy, and for a small country like Fiji it can have very adverse effects on efficiency and effectiveness of public service delivery.”
Dr Desmond Amosa of the University of the South Pacific.
News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand
Statement on Fiji : Commonwealth Secretariat Spokeman
By the Commonwealth Secretariat Spokesman
The Commonwealth Secretariat has noted the reported comment of the Interim Foreign Minister of Fiji, that the request of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) for certain commitments by 1 September 2009 “is no longer relevant”, as the Interim Prime Minister of Fiji Islands has responded to the Secretary-General regarding the proposed visit of a Commonwealth delegation to Fiji.
The Secretary-General received a letter from the Interim Prime Minister on 21 August regarding the CMAG decision and the visit of the proposed Commonwealth delegation to Fiji.
CMAG’s statement requires the interim regime to commit itself in writing to reactivating the President’s Political Dialogue Forum in a manner which is independent, inclusive, time-bound and has no pre-determined outcome, and with a view to having national elections by October 2010.
The Secretary-General therefore responded in writing to the Interim Prime Minister on 24 August, that CMAG’s requirements had not been met.
The Secretary-General has also responded positively to the Interim Prime Minister’s invitation to Special Representative Sir Paul Reeves to visit Fiji on 9-11 September, and the Secretariat is now in discussions with Fiji officials with a view to finalising details for that visit.
Eduardo del Buey
Spokesperson
Tel: +44-774045-0901
Email: e.delbuey@commonwealth.int
Waz up Frank?
I just don’t get it !
If Frank isn’t concerned about being suspended from the Commonwealth, why is he trying so hard to arrange a meeting with them ?
mark manning
Rebuttal on Walsh’s crap by Thunderer
One shallow coup aplogist Croz Walsh has this to say…
Just as parents in the West used to warn their children, “The bogeyman will get you” to enforce compliance, extreme ethnic Fijian nationalists use “The Indians will get your land” bogeyman to justify the 1987 and 2000 coups, condemn democracy as a “foreign flower,” demand the President and Prime Minister must always be Fijians, and oppose all of Bainimarama’s intended reforms*. Their real purpose, of course, is not the protection of Fijian land and custom, but the protection of power and privilege for the sections of the Fijian elite of which they approve.
The fears, of course, are quite unfounded, as the nationalists know full well. Eight Acts of Parliament protected Fijian, Rotuman and Banaban customary rights, and the 1997 Constitution ensured there was no way of amending these acts unless the overwhelming majority of Fijian leaders wanted change.
The Acts in question are the Fijian Affairs Act, Fijian Development Fund Act, Native Lands Act, Native Land Trust Act, Rotuma Act, Rotuman Lands Act, Banaban Lands Act, and the Banaban Settlement Act. The Constitution’s Chapter 13 on Group Rights states any change to any one of these acts requires a (a) parliamentary bill, to be read three times and passed by the majority of members on the second and third reading, and (b) approval by at least 9 of the 14 Senate members nominated by the Bose Levu Vakaturaga, the Great Council of Chiefs who were then appointed by the President. So even if the other 18 members of Senate (9 nominated by the PM, 8 by the Leader of the Opposition, 1 by the Council of Rotuma) voted for change, which was extremely unlikely, the GCC-nominees could prevent it.
With a Lower and Upper House overwhelmingly Fijian (as they are likely to remain whatever the outcome of the present political situation), even the most minor change not wanted by Fijians was just as probable as seeing a real bogeyman. Is it any wonder the Constitution was not translated into Fijian!
* The Interim Government has no intention of removing these laws, although changes may be made to the operation of the Native Land Trust Act to permit a fairer distribution of land rent moneys, and the powers of the GCC are likely to be removed.
Response from THUNDERER
Croz Walsh puts forward a really rather disgraceful vulgar blanket dismissal of the concerns of one section of the community (those who are brought up with <bogeymen>), which is just as ugly as were the condemnation of Indian concerns in the wake of the 1987 or 2000 coups. Only Fijians have bogeymen, apparently! If anyone sought simply to dismiss the concerns of the elected nationalist or loyalist politicians in Northern Ireland or the Sunnis, Shiites or Kurds in Iraq in this way, they would not be taken seriously. And how feeble to emphasise the sanctity of constitutional protections after,…. derr … its abrogation in April. Even the most cursory reading of Fiji history would show that concerns about the threat of land privatization have been real (e.g think of the land grabs in the 1870s prior to Gordon’s arrival, or Everard im Thurn’s attempts to sell off native lands in the 1900s), & there are many examples of use of ways of getting around the laws, even if these are upheld (which seems a bit of a stretch in Fiji). Control over government obviously does matter. Similar concerns about land exist across Melanesia. If you ever wanted a demonstration of how damaging a very weak academic perspective can be (in this case an instrumentalist theory of ethnicity as a tool of elites), this is it. Croz Walsh professes on his website to be <neutral>, but here he makes quite explicit his view that only our false fear of <bogeymen> make us <oppose all of regime Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s intended reforms>. I don’t hear this kind of enthusiasm for Bainimarama’s reform agenda from within Fiji any more, even from the ministers (most of whom privately dissociate themselves from the coup so that they can say in ten years that they never backed it. Watch that space!). Thunderer.
Sugarcane farmers ripped off by FSC
The Chairman of the FSC Board in it’s recent meeting praised himself when he told the members present that he had spoken to the European Union to waive the penalty for the non fulfilment of its terms relating to the last sugar shipment and the EU has agreed to waive the penalty. The stupid board members praised the Chairman not knowing that this sort of waivers is not allowed.
The abolishment of SCGC is another step toward depriving the cane growers of Fiji. There is strong indication that the cane farmers will not get paid their fair share as there will be no watchdog.
All indications are that the Government and the FSC will keep at least $40.00 or possibly more per tonnes of grower’s proceeds. My calculations indicates that farmers share of proceed to be not less then $115 per tonne of cane supplied to the Mill. My conscious is saying farmers will only be paid around $70 and $75 dollars a tonnes…..The TCTS are above 18 now which will further erode final payment.
69ab
A blogger’s observation
The odds have shortened for an Indo Fijian to be President after a retired Fiji Court of Appeal judge and one of the two remaining knights in Fiji was seen accompanied by well built uninformed military man at a Suva eatery, Stay tuned!
Fiji Corruption Free
A junta appointed CEO is up to no good
Conman and George Shui Raj’s travel agent, Sanjeev Pal is getting very cosy with a junta appointed Local Authority CEO in drafting a very smarty and conie deal. Stay tuned for more. Militaty Council, Please keep and eye on him.
Fiji Free of Corruption
Top Kiwis losing in Fiji resort dispute
High-profile New Zealanders with villas at the Hilton resort in Fiji are owed more than $1 million.
Former All Blacks, media and communications people, doctors, a real estate chief and businessmen with villas at the beachfront Denarau Island resort expected to get income from their apartments.
But a dispute between the resort’s developer, Neville Mahon, and villa owners has resulted in their payments being frozen for months.
Television rugby commentator and former All Black Ian Jones, ex-All Black and celebrity agent Andy Haden – who manages Rachel Hunter – Fisher & Paykel chief executive John Bongard, Premium Real Estate managing director Brian Guy and Viaduct businessman Rob Campbell are among Aucklanders who own villas at the resort.
The 160-villa property, managed by Hilton, continues to operate but its partly completed expansion looks likely to stall because Mr Mahon’s development company has gone into receivership.
Andy Haden says he is delighted with his villa, which he bought for just over $400,000 in 2006.He gets 70 “free” nights a year and has made $70,000 from it – $30,000 in the first year of ownership and $40,000 in the next year.
But income from the last year remains locked away because of a battle between villa owners and Mr Mahon.
Ian Jones bought his villa around the time the resort opened and was this week about to take his family on a spring trip.
He, too, was delighted with the villa despite the income block, imminent receivership and expansion problems.
Mr Campbell is chairman of the Villa Owners’ Representative Group, a rival to the resort’s Villa Owners’ Association.
“It would serve little purpose to add division between competing villa owners groups to the acrimony and litigation which has recently marred relationships,” he said.
“Our focus is on gaining payment of money owed to villa owners under their existing agreements, working with the developer to achieve the earliest most complete and high-quality finish to the resort facilities which we can, and keeping the resort operating to its current high levels of occupancy and service.”
- New Zealand Herald
Investors dreams shattered in coup riddled Fiji
By Anne Gibson
Fiji may be tropical but it has turned out to be no paradise for New Zealand investors, developers and financiers.
Three big New Zealand-funded developments have hit trouble.
The Strategic Finance-backed Fiji Beach Resort & Spa managed by Hilton, the Bridgecorp-funded mammoth Momi Bay and the Strategic-funded 650ha development parcel known as Denarau Land South.
All three are on Denarau Island, fast becoming a ghetto for the cash-strapped of New Zealand as tens of millions of dollars vanish.
The island, seen by many as the key to unlocking Fiji’s wealth, has a string of international resorts and hotels as well as the redeveloped Port Denarau with its shops and restaurants.
The port is the gateway to Fiji’s beautiful Mamanuca and Yasawa island groups and Denarau is a congregation point where tourists from Nadi Airport reach the islands’ clear warm waters.
But political coups, the disastrous January floods, fierce cyclones, the global downturn and its tourism backlash have taken a toll.
Bridgecorp and Strategic are calling in loans on Denarau Island properties they funded to the tune of about $200 million. Developers are struggling and investors are hurting, with Hilton villa owners owed more than $1 million and split into bitter factions.
On Tuesday, Bayleys tried to sell Momi via auction but it was passed in. Bidding only got to $41 million, well short of Bridgecorp’s $100 million-plus loan on the unfinished development and Fiji National Provident Fund’s $80 million mortgage. “Bayleys is still negotiating with the highest bidder. We are confident of a positive outcome, but there is no timeframe on that,” said spokesman Scott Cordes on Thursday.
Also this week, Auckland developer Neville Mahon said receivership was imminent for Denarau Investments, the development and construction company expanding the Hilton resort. “I’m jammed like meat in a sandwich between Bank of Scotland and Strategic,” Mahon said.
Strategic loaned $75 million and Bank of Scotland provided a $45 million facility on the lavish beachfront property which opened in 2006 and continues to operate, although its expansion via development of an extra 90 villas cannot be finished and $1 million of investor payouts are frozen.
Many Kiwi and Australian owner/investors forked out in the vicinity of $400,000- $1 million each for the sumptuous Hilton villa apartments.
Ex-All Blacks Andy Haden and Ian Jones, Premium boss Brian Guy and Viaduct Harbour Holdings’ Rob Campbell are some. Hilton has 160 apartments but most have more than one bedroom so become 273 hotel rooms.
The series of two-level blocks stands side-by-side along the pristine 1.5km beachfront. Some of the owners were particularly angry this week and have split into factions.
CBA to divest in coupland Fiji while it eyes expanding into Indonesia
THE country’s largest financial institution, Commonwealth Bank, is eyeing a big expansion in Asia via fresh investments in Indonesia and China.
CBA announced a $900 million hybrid capital issue which it could use to fund acquisitions in the region or increase the group’s interest in several joint ventures.
Sources told BusinessDaily that the bank was eager to strengthen its foothold in the Indonesian banking market where it operates through its PT Commonwealth subsidiary.
PT Commonwealth is the largest Australian-owned bank in Indonesia and has been progressively expanding its national distribution network which now stands at 57 branches and a range of internet-based financial services platforms.
CBA chief executive Ralph Norris has, on several occasions in the past two years, identified the Indonesian market as a target for increased investment.
In December 2007 the bank moved to outright ownership of PT Commonwealth after buying out its minority partner.
CBA is also active in the Indonesian wealth management market through its 80 per cent stake in PT Astra Life Insurance. This business markets life insurance, income protection and investment products.
In the past week, CBA has been rumoured to be among six bidders shortlisted to acquire some of ING’s private banking assets in Asia.
These assets might be a neat fit for the CBA’s Indonesia subsidiary which targets its services at wealthy individuals.
Indonesian professionals are increasingly switching deposits to a handful of AA-rated foreign-owned banks including CBA, ANZ and HSBC.
Apart from Indonesia, Mr Norris has also been moving to boost the group’s presence in China where it holds a 20 per cent stake in Qilu Bank.
CBA may also be able to fund an expansion in China by selling its Colonial Fiji subsidiary which has suffered a decline in operating performance in the past two years.
The bank has been considering a sale of the arm for more than 12 months since a military coup unseated the democratically-elected government.
The hybrid capital program, marketed as PERLS V, will be conducted through an institutional bookbuild process on September 4, with the offer expected to close on October 2.
Commonwealth Securities and Macquarie are acting as joint advisers to the issue, while a string of brokers including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and GoldmanSachs JB Were have been appointed joint lead managers.
- Australia News
New form of democracy in Fiji?
Fiji as a nation ponders what sort of electoral system will work for her, it often get its g-strings tangled in a twist when trying to use NZ and Aust as model states. We all know from the Clarke and Peters rule in NZ, how a small party can keep the country at ransom with only 5% support whilst in Australia the two tier system of senate and parliament is holding on to important pieces of legislation on party lines.
Therefore Fiji need not follow Australia and New Zealand! Lets look North East across the Pacific Ocean and to the greatest country and greatest democracy on this earth the United States of America. What has Westminster system got us?
After the civil war, migrants from all over the world has made the USA the greatest country on this earth. Lets treat 2000 -2006 our civil war era and make Fiji democracy the envy of the world with a system that is truly fair. Key features shall be as follows;
Elected President with a running mate as VP. Winner to get 50% or more votes so run off of top two contenders may be required. Open to all irrespective of race, religion, color, creed , sexuality etc etc!
President to be paid salary of $250k plus other benefits. This is to attract good smart people to the job and also to eliminate corruption. (as they say in Singapore, you pay them well and they shall not want more!)
VP to be paid 60-75% of President salary.
Presidential term of 2 x 5 years max
Cabinet to be appointed via nomination of unelected individual who must be good at their job. Senate select committee shall vet each nomination and shall go through a hearing process.
Maximum cabinet of 15 with each cabinet member getting salaries of around $150k plus benefits. Again to ensure that smart people are attracted to this job and to eliminate corruption. We need not have dumb asses running this country anymore.
All diplomatic postings and Boards appointment to be done by Presidential office but subject to senate approval and hearing if required.
31 member elected senate equally distributed to at 1 per 30,000 people.
Senate term 5 years with half of them up for reelection within 2.5 years of each other.
Senate job full time,passing legislation with 2 x 1 month recess per year.
No lower house. Fiji too small for two houses
Senators required to read committee paper well before meeting and NOT turn up to the senate to have morning tea, lunch and fall asleep.
Senators to be paid $100k per year plus other benefits
A
ll important bills must be passed by senate before the executive and president can implement it. President may use presidential powers to over rule the senate in extreme cases.
VP has seat in senate and vote to break ties.
Speaker to be a senator who shall become VP in case of incapacitation of VP.
In the meantime lets not name a President.
Just putting this amongst the mix of thoughts!
Balwant Singh Ramrakha Jnr
Varadoli
Ba
Ba! Ba! Ba toe Ba hei!
Will FNPF and Hibiscus queen Mere Nailatikau bring hope to disillusioned Fijians?
Mere Nailatikau heralds a new era not only to the Hibiscus Festival of which she is the queen but to the face of what Fiji really is today.
Here is a young, modern, articulate and intelligent Fijian lady who in a way represents what Fiji is all about, minus the political and power-trip coup nonsense its older generation leaders are caught up in right now.
Sources there say that the Hibiscus Festival of 2009 is one of the best in its history coupled with the unbelivable good weather right throughout the festivity week.
The Hibiscus Festival is almost synonymous to rain but that curse was broken last week.
The military regime fears of a possible uprising from the banned Methodist Church annual conference or from the hibiscus festival itself has proven to be nothing but unsubstantiated claim that originated from fear itself.
So the Suva Hibiscus week has come and gone bringing together the oppressed people of the over-populated Suva City to enjoy the festival and encouraged camaderie with their Suva folks.
It would have been undoubtedly the biggest public gathering since the coup of December 2006.
Mere Nailatikau is now the reigning Hibiscus queen and with it comes great responsibilities.
Will she be able to articulately address the many valid but disturbing issues that face her sponsors FNPF members since the coup of 2006?
Will she be the face and voice the FNPF board and management will use to try and water-down the financial hemorrhage it’s plagued with?
Or will she be used by the Suva City Council and Hibiscus Festival organisers for their own agenda.
Is Mere Nailatikau brave enough to advocate for the removal of human rights breaches of soughts on the people of Suva and Fiji by Frank Bainimarama’s junta?
Mere professes to be a proud Fiji Islander.
We believe many people in Fiji feel that way too.
But is it safe to say that Mere Nailatikau is also proud of what the Fiji peoples are going through under the tyranny of Frank & Co?
We don’t think so!
We think Mere Nailatikau is too brilliant a girl to imply that she is also proud of Fiji’s murderous and tortureous military regime her country men, women, youth and child are forcefully subjected under as we blog.
She simply couldn’t admit it because doing so would have seen her and her beautiful green dress with its dazzling sparkling crown get hauled up to the military camp for breaching the Public Emergency Regulation.
But we’re hopeful that someday, somewhere, sometime, Mere Nailitakau will be brave enough to stand up for her fellow countrymen and say it like it is!
Our congratulations is definitely in order for Miss FNPF and Miss Hibiscus 2009, Mere Nailatikau.
Miss Senikau gay festival contestants annouced Fiji’s new illegal Pressie
Sources say that the popular Miss Senikau gay pagent held at Suva on Friday night was not only controversial to the many so-called christian crusades happening around Albert Park, like Atu’s new methodist church, but it also turned into a political platform where the position of president was made public.
Gay contestants were told by the organisers to acknowledge their chief guest Epeli Nailatikau as Pressie and Koila Mara as First Lady, which they all did courteously, eventhough Epeli and Koila are still in an acting role.
There has been talks that tyrant Frank Bainimarama was eyeing that position but he dispelled that during a recent radio interview.
Is the gay pagent the right forum to make such pronouncements regarding the holder of such important position as President of Fiji?
Or was it simply a mis-understanding by the organisers?
In the next few days, we will soon know whether or not the Miss Senikau pagent contestants were indeed telling the truth when they acknowledged Epeli Nailatikau as Fiji’s next illegitimate Pressie.
Frank Bainimarama’s regime moral stench
THE moral stench that emanates from Fiji’s regime is putrefying and can be smelt all over the world.
The wonderful Michael Leunig, contemporary philosopher & cartoonist said once,
“The time has come to be honest with ourselves and stop pretending we live in nicey-nicey, happy-clappy land”
Which is what Frank and Co would like to have us believe. .. Hello … Atu’s Police Station …. praise the Lord.
Struth !!!!
To be frank (wonder why I loathe using that term now) , we live in a country driven by military madness. What is happening to Fiji is deeply ghoulish and evilly primal.
And we experience this unease everyday that we wake up and go out to work.
Each day I meet ordinary citizens who are very principled and who share their opinions; others who show no substance of character but who exist only to bend and twist in the wind, agreeing with Frank one day and siding with Ro Teimumu’s stand the next. These people are empty and creepy and lack a spiritual and moral soul.
Each day we also awaken to see the military and police spooks on their sinister watch in their suwai – in the streets, in our boardrooms and in the internet cafes. A menacing hovering specter in our daily lives.
The killings of Tevita Malasebe, Nimilote Verebasaga and Sakiusa Rabaka caused heartbreak and anger and now has come to symbolize what the regime is doing to the people of Fiji , especially to our young.
We are surrounded with sad stories each day – children who cannot afford to go to school , whose parents have lost their jobs, young ones forced to steal to live. The disasters of all of our coups continue to be infinitely terrifying and distressing.
I cannot help but wonder as the interrogative lights beam down onto us the itaukei, whether we as parents and grandparents will face the the question from our young ones in years to come :
“Where were you all those years ago when it really mattered? What did you do to change things or were you just ambivalent ? Why didn’t you try?”
I am sure the silence will be unbearable for a lot of you.
But that is for you to deal with.
It is unfortunate that as much as we try and dress it up in vakarokoroko and other cultural aspects, the 2 colossal ( and polar opposite) national traits and weakness of the itaukei – treachery & trickery – me vaka na malumalumu va-cikinovu, kei na rokoroko-va’kanace – remain glaring at us in the face. DAILY.
The same 2 weaknesses that are now the strength of the once glorious but now grimy Fiji military.
The guns have silenced the Churches , the Political Parties, the Media – the clamour of the peoples voices have been shut down, the brains depart our shores along with their dollars, there is no new investment, the economy is dying a slow but obvious death.
Fiji is on the same path that Burma and Zimbabwe and Nigeria went down – becoming desecrated, traumatized , disorderly and lawless.
But where have all the morons gone that promoted this gutless yellow-bellied coup? The academics, other country’s opportunists, fat-cat businessmen, failed politicians, the resident kaivalagi colonialist writers and social do-gooder commentators – even the odd bishop and excommunicated minister of the cloth who reached out their grubby paws to “help” with the regime’s foul and untruthful deeds.
Do they take any responsibility? What do these brutish maladroits have to say about the pickle we are in and the melancholia which is spreading like the swine flu?
OH BUT WAIT .. some have already worked on their exit strategy – VERY convenient. I note that a very unlikely beer-swilling lad of an academic called Ratuva has weasled his way into NZ (bully land) . Indeed. And whatshisname the $2 million charter-man ex ADB has also fled back to comfortable old bully land. An ex politician also a $2 million dollar man is now to be seen weasling his way through the ranks and all the others are most likely thinking on their exits too – manipulating, scumbucketing and creeping their way back to bula-bula-happy-clappy land.
In our bula-bula-happy-clappy land you must be happy-clappy and positive all the time – bad news is tabu.
Leunig also points to a book called “On the Psychology of Military Incompetence” by N. Dixon, where we read that one of the principle factors in the origin of military disasters is the inability of commanders to heed bad news or inconvenient intelligence reports; preferring to lie to themselves, their troops and their nation and to rely on flowery Maoist type thinking.
Oh how we do wish to move on from the daily odious essence of boi-da-da ! And worth noting, the wise Leunig also said on this same subject :
“The art of dogs receives very little attention or acclaim, except, of course, from other dogs”.
Whilst Bainimarama’s canine cohorts bow and howl and sniff at each others shortcomings and disguise these as national accomplishments , we must never forget what this process is doing and has done to our nation.
We must also learn from it’s lessons.
And learn to concentrate on what is true .
We must focus on that truth and keep it close. Entwine the truth, our principals and our moral fabric together for the sake and future sanity of our nation.
This regime is only perpetuated by us. And why ? What are we? “Malumalumu va-cikivovu” se da “rokoroko-va’kanace”.
Only you yourself are to know, and for some of us oh what a painful truth may dawn! If you dare.
- discombobulatedbubu
Frank Bainimarama’s junta establishes formal diplomatic relationship with the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cabinet has endorsed the establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country on the Balkan peninsula of South Eastern Europe with an area of 51,129 square kilometers, bordered by Croatia to the North, West and South, Serbia to the East, and Montenegro also to the South.
Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Civil Aviation, Ratu Inoke Kubuabula.
Ratu Inoke explained that the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina had expressed its desire to establish formal diplomatic relations with Fiji.
He said that in accordance with international law and practice, such diplomatic relations are established among sovereign States with the common purpose of promoting international peace and security, mutual understanding, friendly relations and cooperation in conformity with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
Ratu Inoke said that the request by Bosnia and Herzegovina is the second request that Fiji had received from the Balkan region.
Cabinet had, in 2008, endorsed the first request by Albania.
He said that there is no doubt that the establishment of diplomatic relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina will certainly further elevate Fiji’s status in relation to the strengthening and developing of stronger relations with the countries in the Balkan Region, as well as with Europe.
The Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations will sign the appropriate Joint Communiqué on behalf of the Government of Fiji with the Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations in New York.
- Junta Statement
Fiji Times editor, Netani Rika, reports threats
The editor of the Fiji Times says he has received another threat, and he is taking it seriously.
Netani Rika is a staunch opponent of the interim government’s censorship of the media in Fiji, which has brought him threats in the past.
He says he will be stepping up security at his home in Suva as a result of the latest one, which was posted on the internet on Friday.
He says the message was a warning for him to step down as the newspaper’s editor.
“While I’ve been away from Fiji over the last few days, we have had some strange visitors at home and a phone call to the newsroom asking when I would be back,” he said.
“In the current situation it forces us to be extremely careful.”
- Radio Australia
