Good news
Raymond Kalyan Chandra ,
Kamloops, Canada
When Filipe Bole, a veteran and a long time Minister for Education abolished the Fiji Year Six, Year Eight and Year 10 external examinations five years ago, some people said it was good news.
When Mahendra Reddy, the current Minister for Education, reinstated these examinations in 2014 some people said it was good news.
If the next Minister for Education abolishes these examinations, some people will say it is good news.
Eighth man
Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa,
Delta, BC, Canada
Congratulations to Ben Ryan and the Vodafone Fiji Sevens team for successfully defending the Hong Kong Sevens title.
We must applaud the New Zealand Sevens team who managed to scrape through to the Cup final with only 10 players.
Captain Osea Kolinisau’s words is so true when he said after their win that God is still in control, who strengthened and enabled them to scrape through with Canada and Kenya and the extra energy to defeat the All Blacks in the final.
The Eighth Man is a reality for those who believe and we give Him all the glory for lifting the spirits of all Fijians in these tough times.
Vinaka boys and God bless Fiji!
New houses
Amenatave Yaconisau ,
Delainavesi
I refer to your headline titled ‘$70 m home help’ and your editorial comment on the same topic by Maika Bolatiki (FS 10/4/16) .
No news is good news they say but when the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama spoke recently of Government’s initiative to rebuild houses; it invigorated peoples’ hope from the anxiety and doom it once had.
For almost two months people were left in the dark on how their homes will be rebuilt. Promises were not good enough for them. More than 9000 houses in Fiji; what an undertaking by Government and we don’t care how much it costs and where the money is obtained as long as it’s done.
This is the best news coming their way since the destruction of Tropical Cyclone Winston; a brilliant action by the PM and his team.
A magnificient effort indeed!
A timely reminder also that people are the responsibility of Government at all times; good or bad.
Party politics is there for the taking, come election time.
Thousands of people have lost their homes and have nothing left.
Now they know the place to put their loyalty especially amongst the lower income bracket (below $50,000) who felt the full brunt of the hurricane.
I agree with Maika Bolatiki that this announcement has really lifted the morale of those affected (FS 10/4/16; editorial).
In the same vein I applaud the PM’s point ‘that we cannot leave behind any affected Fijian family or household’.
We can also assume that village boys will enter the job market and be trained as skilled workers for the building industry as it is happening in Koro Island.
This also will be a welcome responsibility of Government, the provision of available labour.
They can be accepted later as trade skilled workers.
This is the most comprehensive plan ever done since this Government came to power.
Some of these houses existed since grandfathers were alive and would not have been rebuilt if it was not for the cyclone.
Some of these houses will be a wonder. They will be built to last.
My only request if the housing policy and plan can be revealed for public consumption please.
Especially the role of the turaga ni koro (village headman) in supplying accurate data and the steps to be taken in procuring a new house.
Implicit to this is the supervisory role of the village council (Bose vakoro) and the local chief.
We request the best companies to supply materials during this process.
“We are depending on you to be honest and we don’t want this scheme to be delayed because we have to check every claim and every roof,” the PM says.
The mobility functions of the Australian and New Zealand armies in supplying materials to remote areas of Fiji during the process will be highly appreciated.
They will be cutting edge in terms of turn-around time before the next cyclone.
I hope there will be no unnecessary profiteering in this process and; more so housing standards will be well supervised by the Fiji Institute of Engineers. Good luck to this effort.
$70m rebuild assistance
Tukai Lagonilakeba,
Namaka
A caring FijiFirst Government, not in any Fijian’s wildest dreams did we expect that those devastated by the monster Tropical Cyclone Winston who got their homes damaged will be rebuilt from the latest announcement by our Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama last week.
The majority of Fijians have tried their very best through withdrawals from their Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) to assist ones family affected but this is icing on the cake.
“Help for Homes” initiative from $1500 limit for partial roofing damage, $3000 for serious roofing damage and $7000 for completely damaged homes respectively.
In the history of our sovereign independent nation this has never ever happened before, but again this calls for responsible honest Fijians to do the right thing and not abuse, it must benefit the right people.
Psychologically, the announcement will boost morale and confidence; it will alleviate stress and bring back quick recovery and smiles to our many families that survived the wrath of TC Winston.
I am very grateful to our Government for the political will to make this big difference and contribution to those Fijian souls who were affected.