Letters To The Editor August 31, 2019

True status of our economy

Timoci Gaunavinaka, Nausori

Opposition parties and their supporters are spreading rumours that Government has no money.

They are claiming that life in Fiji is getting worse day by day. The consistent Police road blocks throwing fines left right and centre, thousand dollar fines thrown by FNPF for any small sign of non-compliance and busi­ness licence fees demanded from all small businesses including “Kai” sellers are con­veniently used as indicators that Govern­ment coffers are running dry. Some civil servants are fanning the flames of these rumours making it spread like the Amazon wild fires.

But the bigger picture many choose not to see shows something different.

1. Our thousands of civil servants are still getting well paid.
2. Free education and free bus fares for our school children still applies.
3. New hospitals and health centres are be­ing built.
4. New markets and bus stations, new Police stations, court houses, fire stations, new and renovated schools are being constructed .
5. Roads, bridges, Jetties and airports are being constructed or upgraded.
6. Social welfare payments and poverty assistance to our under privileged are still paid.
7. We have hosted a record number of re­gional and international sporting events.
8. We have hosted a record number of inter­national and regional conferences.
9. Investors are pumping in billions of dol­lars showing their confidence in our econo­my.
10. We have a record number of grass roots people buying their own cars as a result of Government economic policies.
11. We have a record number of grass-roots people graduating from universities because of Government assistance to the wider cross section of our people?
12. We have a record number of our rural people being employed offshore by countries who usually shut their doors on us?
13. No one is dying from starvation or hun­ger in Fiji but our people are dying in their thousands every year from NCDs caused mainly by over eating and lack of exercise.
14. Land owners are getting paid for miner­als extracted from their lands for the first time which now includes bauxite and iron sand in addition to gold, gravel and etc.
15. Landowners today have the option to get much better deals in the leasing of their land under the Land Bank which even some opposition party parliamentarians are tak­ing advantage of.
16. Distribution of native land leases are now done in a more fair way benefiting a wider cross section of the Mataqali and Ya­vusa and not just a few elites.
17. Increase in our tax threshold to $30,000 surpassing even those of Australia and New Zealand.
18. Our indigenous people own over 90 per cent of the land and the 2013 constitution guarantees that it will always remain that way in contrast with the natives of Austral­ia, New Zealand and the U.S.
19. Fiji became the first Small Island De­veloping State (SIDS) to be elected to the Presidency of Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP) and at the same time President of the UN General Assembly.

No developing nation has come anywhere near what we have achieved and we did it through good governance that the opposi­tion find too hard to swallow. Today they try to convince our people that all these great Government deeds are bad for them.

Let us hope that they do not tell us that even the air we breathe under the Bainimarama Government is bad for our health and we should stop breathing it.

Martintar’s public convenience

Ronnie Chang, Nadi

For the strongest benefit of all members of the public, locals and tourists alike, will the Nadi Health and Environment Authorities concerned, please ensure this ugly eye-sore is immediately condemned and sealed.

It is a real concern for far too many regula­tory officers have turned a blind eye for far too long.

It would have been applauded if our own Chamber of Commerce officials had risen to the occasion and paid greater attention to our municipal environment.

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