Blog Archives

MEDICAL TOURISM DOLLAR LOSS: India benefitting from negligence of doctors, surgeons so its time to inject professionalism in Fiji hospitals

31/10/2014

Indian High Commissioner meets Health Minister to discuss assistance from India

The Indian High Commissioner paid a courtesy visit to the Health Minister and his assistant earlier this week. Minister for Health and Medical Services Jone Usamate and Assistant Minister Veena Bhatnagar met with the Indian High Commission to discuss medicinal assistance from India and capacity building. The Ministry of Health and in particular the people of Fiji have benefitted from a number of programs initiated in the past years such as advance cardiac surgeries, and hip and joint replacements conducted locally, and has proven to be more cost effective. The Health Ministry will continue discussions with the Indian High Commission on health advancements. Source: Fijivillage News, Friday 31/10/2014

Fijileaks Editor: Despite India's so-called medical assistance to Fiji, hip and joint replacement patients are suffering in Fiji hosptials; last year Fiji's Ministry of Health paid Indian hospitals over $192,000, so why make out India is giving free medical care to Fijian patients:

OVERDOSED WITH QUESTIONABLE INDIAN MEDICAL HELP: The former Health Minister Dr Neil Sharma, now a FFP backbencher in Parliament

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/pay-kubuabolas-emergency-medical-bill-now-bainimarama-ordered-fiji-mission-in-new-york-to-pay-foreign-ministers-170000-emergency-hospitalization-medical-bill

UNHEALTHY STATISTICS: WHILE AIYAZ KHAIYUM GOT THE BEST TREATMENT AT SUVA PRIVATE HOSPITAL, THE POOR SICK AND THE DYING HAD TO RELY ON REGIME'S SHODDY HOSPITALS; NO WONDER HE HID THE AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORTS FROM THE VOTERS:

The Voters would have been 'HOPPING MAD' if they had seen Khaiyum's hidden Ministry of Health Report before going into to the polling booths:

ARRIVING IN STYLE ON ISLAND HOPPERS: As Minister for Tourism Khaiyum flies in for the Volcom Pro on Tavarua Island

TWO RULES: THE voters could not carry any hidden papers in their underwear and yet he took it upon himself to HIDE the Auditor-General's Reports until after the September election.

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MERITOCRACY OR MEMORY LOSS IN GENEVA: Khaiyum tells UN Human Rights Council that PSC is now based on meritocracy but HOW come FFP's Kurusiga back at job?

30/10/2014

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The failed FijiFirst Party candidate (565 votes only) and the deputy CEO for the iTaukei Affairs Board Apakuki Kurusiga tells chiefs to accept that the Great Council of Chiefs is NO MORE! BUT how come he is BACK in his old job? Was the vacancy advertised by the PSC? Did Kurusiga reapply and go through interviews? Is he below 55 years old? Did Kurusiga resign to contest the elections? Does his re-appointment also defy the amendment to the Political Parties Decree?Or is FijiFirst leader Bainimarama rewarding Kurusiga (and other failed party candidates) now for he (Kurusiga) and and his family gave their all to put
FijiFirst in power?

In regard to Public Service, Khaiyum told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that the Fiji Public Service policy is now based on meritocracy, after the Government has done away "with discriminatory policies for the public services put in place by previous governments" which introduced policies that "only further advanced an elite agenda and clique...In light of this experience, all appointments in the public service are now made on the basis of qualification and performance alone. The public service is currently undergoing reforms which will ensure that the systemic prejudice based on race, ethnicity, gender identity and religion is eliminated."

2014 General elections and Conduct of Civil Servants
PSC CIRCULAR NO: 36/2014

To: All Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments File: 29/557 - 5

Subject: 2014 GENERAL ELECTIONS AND CONDUCT OF CIVIL SERVANTS Date: 1/8/2014

"Civil servants who consider themselves as prospective candidates for election should not issue any statement, nor in any way publicly announce themselves as candidates or prospective candidates before informing the Public Service Commission or Permanent Secretary of their intention. Civil servants who have made public this intention, must immediately tender their resignation or retirement from the Service."

IN 2008 Bainimarama's brother Ratu Meli (now in Malaysia) told the Fiji Times (3 July) that Kurusiga was on a three-year contract until 2011, so what happened NEXT? From 2011 to 2014, and now after September election?

Kurusiga on a 3-year posting Sunday, July 13, 2008

COLONEL Apakuki Kurusiga's appointment as deputy secretary at the Fijian Affairs Board (FAB) is for three years, says Ministry of Indigenous Affairs permanent secretary Ratu Meli Bainimarama. "Col Kurusiga was assigned to this post from 17 June 2008," said Ratu Meli. "He replaced three officers who were acting in two positions of deputy secretary but reverted to their substantive positions in July 2007. "He was assigned to this post to, among other things, see to the implementation of recommendations his team has made during its visit to the Provincial Councils and the FAB. "He has been offered a contract appointment of three years with the board."

Col Kurusiga preferred not to comment instead referring all queries to Ratu Meli. Public Service Commission deputy secretary Maria Matavewa said the commission was unaware of the appointment. However, she confirmed that the FAB was an autonomous body which made its own appointments. Meanwhile, two political parties said the appointment was a continuation of the militarisation of the government machinery. Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party director Peceli Kinivuwai said the military was putting its people in strategic posts within the civil service. "Why are they bringing in a retired colonel?"

"By doing that they are depriving a career civil servant from a promotion or getting ahead within the civil service and that's demoralising," he said. National Federation Party general secretary Pramod Rae said the appointment of Col Kurusiga was suspicious and the militarisation of the government machinery was continuing.
He said it raised eyebrows because Col Kurusiga had been tasked with investigating Fijian institutions and was now appointed to one of the very institutions he reviewed. "This goes against good governance and shows this is just another job for the boys," said Mr Rae.

"This is nepotism and cronyism."

http://fijisun.com.fj/2014/10/30/call-to-serve-2/

Fijileaks Editor: One would have thought that the first thing Fiji Sun would have done before conducting an interview with Kurusiga or accepting his statement on the rightful place of chiefs in post September election was to point out to him the PSC Circular and the list of questions that Fijileaks has raised in this posting. The Fiji Sun article does not inform its readers that Kurusiga is a failed FijiFirst Party candidate in the September election.

Media Industry Development Authority (MIDA) chairman, Ashwin Raj says they want to build “a trained and strong media” in Fiji. This was part of his statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva today. Raj also set out the challenges of promoting ethical journalism in Fiji and the efforts of the Media Industry Development Authority to build a trained and strong media. Read more at: http://fijilive.com/news/2014/10/mida-wants-a-trained-and-strong-media/59498.Fijilive

Fijileaks Editor: Well, it shows that Leone Cabenatabua, like much of Fiji, is an avid reader of Fijileaks. He should keep on reading it. He might learn something - even if he is too scared to publish it. And "many of his former colleagues think he has lost it" Really? Come on Leo (Coconut Wireless, 25 October), name one - who doesn't work for or depend on the Fiji Sun.Too hard eh?

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ALL RIGHT IN FIJI: Khaiyum, Gates, Raj, Pryde tell UN Human Rights Council that we are now one 'big human family' with all the rights!

30/10/2014

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MINISTRY OF INFORMATION FIJI: Fiji presented its report on its human rights development to the Human Rights Council in Geneva at which a number of countries congratulated Fiji on the receptive and apolitical manner in which the delegation presented and responded to the dialogue.

In his opening statement, the Head of the Fijian Delegation - Attorney General and Minister for Justice outlined Fiji’s significant achievement in the promulgation of the Constitution in September 2013 which has a robust Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights includes not only civil and political rights but unprecedented social and economic rights. The Attorney General also informed the Council that the Constitution has created substantive equality complemented by legal and policy implementation.

The Chief Justice spoke about the barriers experienced by the Judiciary in its functioning after the events of 2009. The effects of the travel ban imposed on judges and the important judicial reforms implemented by him to promote an open and equal justice system.

The Chief Justice’s opening statements were followed by the opening statements of Mr. Christopher Pryde the Director of Public Prosecutions who explained the basis of prosecution in Fiji, the non-political nature of the decision to prosecute and the number of assault cases committed by police officers which were currently before the Courts.

His statements were followed by the opening statements of the Chair of Media Industry Development Authority, Mr. Ashwin Raj who set out the challenges of promoting ethical journalism in Fiji and the efforts of the Media Industry Development Authority to build a trained and strong media. He also addressed the relationship between the Media Industry Development Decree, freedom of expression in the Constitution and the permissible limitations on freedom of expression such as hate speeches and defamation of character.

The Council then broke into interactive dialogue between individual countries and the Fijian delegation. The dialogue included a discussion on violence against women, on media freedom, on the way in which limitations in the Constitution will be read and the important inclusion of social and economic rights in the Fijian Constitution. All countries which spoke in this dialogue congratulated Fiji on its recent elections and on its strong and progressive Constitution. Many countries also commended Fiji on its strong advocacy and implementation of social and economic rights.

In relation to questions about the participatory process of Constitution building, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice told the Human Rights Council Working Group about the numbers of submissions received and the process of consultation which was adopted before the drafting of the Constitution.

In response to the questions about the independence of the Judiciary, the Chief Justice explained how the UN basic principles on the independence of the Judiciary had been incorporated into the Constitution. He said that there was no evidence of any interference with Fiji’s judiciary by Government and that the Judiciary was committed to reforms.

Some countries asked about the way in which media freedom was protected under the Media Development Decree 2010 and the Constitution. The Chair of the Media Industry Development Authority explained that the code of ethics in the Media Decree 2010 and the limitations to freedom of expression in the Bill of Rights aligns with the jurisprudence on European Court of Human Rights and that media laws in Fiji are not an exception to those practised in other jurisdictions.

Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Madam Nazhat Shameem addressed the issue of the under reported dark figure of gender based violence and ways in which Fiji had addressed the need for victims of gender based violence to report these offences.

Fiji’s report and presentation following the interactive dialogue were highly commended by many State representatives. Fiji’s report together with a list of recommendations made by countries will be tabled at the Human Rights Council on 31 October 2014. That will be followed by a concluding speech by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. Source: Ministry of Information, Fiji

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PAY KUBUABOLA'S EMERGENCY MEDICAL BILL NOW: Bainimarama ordered Fiji Mission in New York to pay Foreign Minister's $170,000 emergency hospitalization medical bill

29/10/2014

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Kubuabola was attending the UN Counter-Terrorism Symposium
when he collapsed in New York:

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/he-is-back-the-old-violent-racist-and-nationalist-inoke-kubuabola-who-drove-thousands-of-indo-fijians-out-of-fiji-in-1987-is-standing-for-election-under-fijifirst-party-led-by-bainimarama-and-khaiyum

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TAKING TAXPAYERS FOR A RIDE: Information Ministry paid FijiFirst Party cheerleaders Matua Taxis $2,667.70 when audit calculated taxi costs was $1,396.70; Matua got $6,000+

29/10/2014

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Fijileaks: As we have pointed out previously, these financial scandals, bribery, mismanagement of public funds, were sinister reasons for Khaiyum and Bainimarama not to release A-G Reports before poll; now you see why Matua Taxis chairman Ratu Loma Baleilevuka had declared that all of their 114 taxis will spot FFP colours and banners:

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ORDER! ORDER: "I want Ledua Sogonidobui re-appointed to his existing post despite him NOT meeting minimum qualification as Network Programmer"- Poverty Minister Luveni, 2012

29/10/2014

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On 28 August 2014 Ledua Soqonidobui was granted full-time study leave with pay for one year, with some claiming that he is not qualified to pursue
the Bachelor in Information System:

VANUATU CALLING: 'Hello, darling, are you OK, its mama' - PS Taini Tagicikibau's $1,981.53 phone call to daughter on taxpayer's expense!

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GET LOST UNLESS YOU ARE A BAINIMARAMA: Beddoes critics say he can't run Opposition Office because he is 55 plus but what about Bainimarama's brother Meli in Malaysia?

28/10/2014

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Fiji’s High Commissioner in Malaysia, Ratu Meli Bainimarama, presents his credentials to the King of Malaysia, Yuan di Pertuan Agong.

And these lot (55 plus) who are on Fiji Government's Payroll:

Cama Tuiloma (Fiji's Ambassador to Brazil)

Winston Thompson (Fiji's Ambassador to USA)

Peter Thompson (Fiji's current Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York)

Isikeli Mataitoga (Fiji's Ambassador to Japan)

Romanu Tikotikoca (Fiji's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea)

Beniamino Salacakau (Fiji's High Commissioner to South Africa)

Ratu Tui Cavuilati (Fiji's Ambassador to Indonesia)

Will Sharon Smith-Johns become the new CEO of FijiTV?

Permanent Secretary for Information and National Archives Sharon Smith-Johns is leaving the Government after more than four years.

Her resignation was announced by the Attorney General and Minister responsible for Information Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who thanked Smith-Johns for her service and wished her well on behalf of the Government.

Sayed-Khaiyum said Smith-Johns has played an important role in the transition to our new democracy in Fiji and carries carries the government’s very best wishes for the future.

Prime Minister and former Minister for Information Voreqe Bainimarama said Sharon has been a trusted colleague during some of the most testing periods in our recent history.

Smith-Johns said she intends to pursue opportunities in the private sector. Source: Fijivillage News

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We know you voted for Sodelpa and other parties and NOT for Fijifirst, so we will not give you development aid in the NORTH - Bainimarama the BLACKMAILER is BACK!

26/10/2014

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How does he know who did not vote for him? What does he have from the Elections Office that will allow him to identify who did or did not vote for him? No names or numbers were on the ballot papers?
Development funds come from all taxpayers of Fiji as well as foreign donors. These are not the personal funds of Bainimarama to do with as he pleases. He should understand this by now. Taxpayers include many who did not vote for Frank Bainimarama and his Fiji First Party. They have equal rights for their tax dollars to be used for their well-being.

Opposition hits back - Aiyaz Kahiyum must take appropriate action against Bainimarama for breaching their own 2013 Constitution:

"SODELPA Shadow Minister for iTaukei Affairs, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, said in a statement today that less than three weeks after the first sitting of the new Parliament the Prime Minister, who promised to take care of all, has for the second time threatened the cancellation of government development for those citizens who did not vote for him.’

Reacting to the front page stories of The Fiji Times and Fiji Sun [Oct 26th] Ratu Naiqama said the comments attributed to Prime Minister Bainimarama are in breach of the constitution. They violate Sec 1 (a), (d), (e) and (f) covering Common and equal citizenry, and Sec 26 of the Bill of Rights (1), (2) and (3) covering Right to equality and freedom from discrimination.

"This latest and outrageous threat by the Prime Minister gives people a real sense of the type of government now in office," Ratu Naiqama said. "It is consistent with what he did in early 2013 with the Tui Vitogo and his people. It is similar to the threat he made to Hon Niko Nawaikula’s supporters. Are we to assume the provisions for equality in the 2013 constitution have been abandoned?

By his utterances in the North, the Prime Minister is effectively putting Fiji First voter’s interests ahead of all other citizens creating two classes of citizens. What I want to know, Ratu Naiqama said, was how does he know who did not vote for him? What does he have from the Elections office that will allow him to identify who did or did not vote for him? No names or numbers were on the ballot papers?

"Development funds come from all taxpayers of Fiji as well as foreign donors. These are not the personal funds of PM Bainimarama to do with as he pleases. He should understand this by now. Taxpayers include many who did not vote for Frank Bainimarama and his Fiji First Party. They have equal rights for their tax dollars to be used for their wellbeing."

Ratu Naiqama called on all foreign aid donors to take heed of the stated position of the Prime Minister and be sure to secure guarantees that the funds they give to Fiji for the benefit of all the people, are not used primarily to benefit only Fiji First supporters.

Ratu Naiqama said foreign countries would do well to tread cautiously when re-establishing relations with the Government. It appears to be following the same path of bad and vindictive governance that marked the last eight years.

Ratu Naiqama has called on the Attorney General and Minister for Justice to take appropriate action against the Prime Minister for his breach of the constitution. The Opposition will be following up in Parliament on this extraordinary threat from the Prime Minister."

http://fijisun.com.fj/2014/10/26/pm-supporters-first-on-my-list/
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=284191

IS IT WHY KHAIYUM SAID: "For the first time, development partners, aid agencies and heads of embassies – had the chance to talk directly to the policy makers…the newly elected ministers."

There is work on a five year development plan for the whole country

This was revealed to donors, bilateral and multi lateral partners in a first ever – face to face meeting with Fiji’s cabinet. The plan will outline the focus of the Fiji government and where aid needs to be channelled. Attorney General – Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says this time around, there’s going to be a more coordinated approach to development and aid. “It is not just good for the government for its target that this is what we have to achieve in Year One, Year Two, Year three and Year Four but also members of the public and development partners will know that this is the ball game.”

For the first time, development partners, aid agencies and heads of embassies – had the chance to talk directly to the policy makers…the newly elected ministers. Sayed-Khaiyum says there will be more discussions in weeks to come. “They will be talking to various ministers directly and developing a discussion around that. If a particular Ministry feels that they need a particular equipment to do the job better and whether the developing partners will be able to deliver it.” There’s also a proposal for better coordination of community work done by NGOs… the idea is to make better use of aid money by getting NGOs to work with the government.

“A particular area may say we don’t have electricity, so an NGO may come and say we will give you solar panels. But if they are not in tune with what the government is doing then it could be a waste of money. Perhaps the government is planning to extend the electricity grid to that area within six months time so that solar panels won’t be used there.” The five year development plan is expected to be ready by the first quarter of next year. - See more at: http://www.fbc.com.fj/fiji/23984/five-year-development-plan-for-fiji#sthash.0L5uE9zv.dpuf

Fijileaks Editor: It is not the first time, see below:

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/blackmail-development-if-you-want-development-in-your-area-you-must-shut-up-and-not-criticize-the-regime-for-if-you-do-just-look-at-the-punishment-meted-to-vitogo-villagers-by-bainimarama

Fijileaks Editor: One of the gravest fouls committed in the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Decree 2013 was to force all parties to disclose the names of party supporters, with FijiFirst cheerfully publishing its party supporters names, addresses, signatures (recipe for fraudsters) etc in the Fiji Sun. But when it comes to donors list, it is SECRET. Thankfully, Fiji doesn't have a culture where political party supporters form shadowy 'death squads' like in some countries to seek out and eliminate their political rivals to reduce their opponents voting numbers. We were told voting is SECRET! FFP supporters list, examples, below:

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Divided Loyalty? As Indian PM Narendra Modi plans to visit Fiji, it is clear Sodelpa and former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase had learned nothing from his visit to India!

25/10/2014

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The former PM Qarase with former President of India Kalam (left photo) and with the ex-PM of India Singh (right)

From the Archives on popular request from readers:

Qarase's visit to India with love

By VICTOR LAL
Thursday, August 10, 2005,
Fiji Sun

In the 21st Century every sixth human being will be Indian, says a former distinguished member of the Indian Foreign Service and currently director of the Nehru Centre in London, the author Pavan K. Varma in his book Inside the Real India-Being Indian. I would strongly suggest that the Indian High Commission in Suva send a complimentary copy to the Prime Minister before his trip to India, for it is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand India. Being Indian is an essential book for foreigners who wish to understand Indians and for Indians who wish to understand themselves. In the book the Prime Minister will, no doubt, find many of the parallels and contradictions to his own problems in our country. In it, he will find that the Fijians are more akin to the Indians than the Indo-Fijians, whose old world, in many respects, vanished under the rigours of the indentured labour system.

India, as Varma reminds us, is the world’s largest democracy. It is a nuclear power. Soon it is bound to join the even more exclusive club of manned flights into space. By the year 2050 India will be the third largest economy in the world, after the US and China. And yet how, for example, does the appalling indifference of most middle-class Indians to the suffering of the poor square with their enthusiastic championing of parliamentary democracy? How, Varma asks, can a people who so whole-heartedly supported Mahatma Gandhi’s strategy of non-violence during the struggle for independence burn young brides for more dowries, and beat domestic servants to near-death? Why do Indians have a reputation for being spiritual and ‘otherworldly’ when their philosophy and traditions exalt the pursuit of material well-being as a principal goal of life. They worship animal Gods, and yet the Indian dog is the worst treated animal in the country. Moreover, like the Prime Minister, the Indians thought of democracy as a British ‘foreign flower’ and yet hero- worship it.

Varma also points out how Indians take to factions as naturally as a fish to water, something that finds echo in the current Fijian political factions. It is a cliché that if there are two Indians there will be two parties, says Varma. Swami Vivekanada had once observed that ‘three Indians cannot act together for five minutes. Each one struggles for power and in the long run the whole organisation comes to grief. A strong centre of power can keep factions in abeyance’.

But why will India , despite all her above-mentioned negative traits, not fall apart, and why can its people expect to prosper in the years ahead? According to Varma, no one reason can answer these questions satisfactorily, but a combination of factors can. The unexpected survival of democracy, in a people not democratic by temperament or heritage, is one factor. Democracy has given Indians an institutional framework for the exercise of political choice and the freedom to express dissent. This has acted as an indispensable safety valve in an inequitable context with great discrepancies in the distribution of power and wealth. Although the more privileged citizens saw it primarily as a means for their own advancement, democracy has by the sheer miracle of its survival, given the weakest and the poorest a stake in the system.

In Fiji , the fundamentalist Christians want to declare the country a Christian state. And yet, why have so many faiths found a home in India (Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam etc etc). The first reason, according to Varma, is that Hindus (despite a militant few) are not and have never been, insecure about their religion. Historically, Hinduism has shown a supreme complacency towards any threat to its existence. Co-existence is an imperative, not an option, in India . Indians are pragmatic enough to understand this. The great majority of Hindus and Muslims feel that it is in their self-interest to swim away from the islands of religious exclusiveness inhabited by mullahs and mahants (Muslim and Hindu priests), towards the mainland of greater secular opportunities. In 1947, against the background of the massacres of partition, many learned observers felt that Hindus and Muslims could never live together.

The people of India have proved them wrong, and whatever the pessimists may say, Varma claims, the situation can only improve because of the emergence in the last decades of a sense of Pan-Indianness that refuses to be circumscribed by religion or region. If religious fundamentalism has not taken over the Muslims in India , one of the main reasons is democracy. A new India has emerged in the last fifty years. It does not deny the past, nor is it immune to its influence. But, it is more a product of the challenges of the present, and the opportunities of the future.

In politics, the idea of cohabitation has become inevitability. Caste and communal leaders have made it their virtue to share the spoils of power. Today, the Centre in Delhi is ruled by a coalition of over a dozen parties, and more than half of the states are governed by a coalition whose parties have hardly any common ideology. For too long, both the Indian and the foreigner, have been struck by the bewildering diversity of India, a nation of many languages and ethnicities, deeply divided by insular fealties. But today the great salad bowl of India is gradually emptying into a melting pot. In a pan-Indian context, most Indians are ‘minorities in India ’.

The first Prime Minister of independent India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, whose ancestral original roots lie high in the valleys of Kashmir, spoke emotionally of India's ‘majesty of soul’; he saw her as an anthropomorphic unity, Mother India, ‘a beautiful lady, very old but ever youthful’. He also spoke of Mother India’s ‘Overseas Children’. On the eve of India’s independence Nehru raised the issue of citizenship, including that of Indo-Fijians, in the Lok Sabha on 8 March 1948: ‘Now these Indians abroad. Are they Indian citizens or not? If not, then our interest in them becomes cultural and humanitarian, not political. Take the Indians of Fiji and Mauritius: are they going to retain their nationality, or will they become Fiji nationals or Mauritians? The same question arises in regard to Burma and Ceylon. This House wants to treat them as Indians, and with the same breath it wants complete franchise for them in the countries where they are living. Of course, the two things do not go together. Either they get the franchise as nationals of the other country, or treat them as Indians minus the franchise and ask for them the most favourable treatment given to an alien.’

We are all too familiar with Nehru’s most memorable speech to the Constituent Assembly on the eve of India’s independence: ‘Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.’ For us in Fiji, Nehru should be remembered for his famous speech much earlier, when he was fighting for the abolition of the Indian indentured system. On 29 December 1929, he told the Lahore Congress: ‘This is not from any want of fellow-being with our brethren in East Africa or South Africa or Fiji or elsewhere who are bravely struggling against great odds. But their fate will be decided in the plains of India and the struggle we are launching into is as much for them as for ourselves.’

And yet, when Indian independence came, he was far-sighted enough to urge Indo-Fijians to make Fiji their home, a point reinforced by her daughter, the late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she visited Fiji in 1982: ‘India wants to see the Indians, wherever they have settled, adopt the country as their own and continue with their traditions, culture, and religion.’ The Indo-Fijians had already taken the advice to their heart, for 98 per cent of them opted to take out Fiji citizenship on independence in 1970. They could also take comfort and pride in the words of a former Indian High Commissioner to Fiji, Mrs Sonu Kochar, who reminded them, and inter-alia, the Fijian nationalists in 1982: ‘The Indian contribution to Fiji is no less a feat of pioneering endeavour than that of European settlers in Australia, New Zealand or USA, but with one notable difference. The Indians did not decimate the indigenous people. Instead, in many ways, they became shock absorbers in the harsh reality of a colonial era.’ She also reminded the Indo-Fijians of their rightful status in Fiji: ‘To those Indians who themselves want to migrate, to seek greener pastures, I have always said that they are chasing mirages. This is the piece of earth on which you were born, shaped, made aware; whose flowers you have learned to love and whose paths to roam. You belong here.’

It was not long after that statement that I found out what she had actually meant. In the late 1980s, I went to the Indian High Commission in London for a research visa to India. I thought of myself as a prodigal son returning ‘home’ for the first time since our arrival in Fiji in 1879. It was a shock to my system when I was told to pay for the visa. I jokingly put to the Indian High Commissioner, whom I had met when he had accompanied Mrs Gandhi to Fiji as her Private Secretary, that it is India that has to pay for ‘selling’ our forefathers as coolies to work on the sugar plantations. In reply, and in zest, he gave me a simple test to fulfil – the three Rs. I failed the test miserably. I was a non-Returnable Indian (India was not my home), a non-Recognisable Indian (no caste or regional language), and a non-Rupee Indian (didn’t send remittances to India). I was, however, a truly Recognisable and proud Indo-Fijian. As a matter of fact, the majority of the descendants of Indo-Fijian labourers had lost contact with ‘Mother India’ long ago, except some like the Chaudhry family whose relatives live in Haryana. The following declaration of an ex-indentured woman labourer Rangamma, in 1979, who arrived in Fiji with her parents in 1899, still applies to the majority of Indo-Fijians today: ‘Fiji is my place. There is nobody in India for me.’

And it is this truly unique identity of ours in Fiji that the Indo-Fijian leaders must nurture and cultivate if we also want to turn the country into a truly melting pot. I always find it obnoxious and insulting to our history and heritage in Fiji when Indo-Fijian leaders talk down to us during radio interviews, at election rallies, funerals, and on other religious occasions, in pukka Hindi, which a vast majority of us fail to understand or absorb, instead of the colloquial Fiji-Hindi, which even our Fijian brothers understand and speak in many parts of the country. It is time we cultivated our Indo-Fijian heritage and history and not merely Indian history. It would be the first step towards reconciliation of the two major races.

The PM and Indigenous Rights Test

Finally, why do I support Prime Minister Qarase’s trip to India. I have already outlined some of the lessons he will be able to bring back with him in nation building, hopefully. I would go further, and urge him to take Chaudhry, as Leader of the Opposition, with him for the opening of the Fiji High Commission in New Delhi. When Fiji set up its High Commission in Delhi, I expressed regret that an Indo-Fijian was not posted to represent us, and had suggested the name of the late Dr Ahmad Ali, as a suitable candidate. He would have been following in the footsteps of India’s first High Commissioner to independent Fiji, Bhagwan Singh, the father of the current Indian High Commissioner. In November 1970, Mrs Gandhi appointed Bhagwan Singh to our islands after the Fijian delegation to India, comprising Ratu Mara and the late Opposition leader Siddiq Koya, cracked a pre-dinner joke with her that in case at any time the Indian Government found Bhagwan Singh missing from India, they could always trace him in Fiji where he really belonged. Both Singh’s father and grandfather had served as bonded labourers on the sugar plantations here. It was a dream come true, as Singh later narrated in his autobiography My Father’s Land – Fiji. His son Ajay Singh is today the new Indian High Commissioner to Fiji .

But the ball is in Chaudhry’s court, if Qarase makes an offer to him to accompany the official delegation to India. If Chaudhry rejects the offer, India must neither encourage nor condone if, by some quirk of events, the FLP sends him separately to Delhi, to coincide with the Prime Minister’s visit. The FLP has a remarkable history of sending its people to right places at the right time. To remind India, the Prime Minister Qarase is booked to be their honoured guest from 8-10 October.

Significantly, the trip is important in another very important respect, which may be even beneficial to Chaudhry if he decides to once again gun for the Prime Minister’s job: should a minority leader rule over an indigenous majority? The Prime Minister’s visit might take the indigenous/immigrant rights debate over leadership out of the debate in the 2006 election. For today THE KHANS-Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, all Muslims whose ancestors came with their culture and religion from Arabia, rule the box-office destiny of Bollywood and feel no need to appear to be anything but themselves. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, the President of India, is a Muslim and the Oxford-educated Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, is a Sikh, whose 3,000 co-religionists were only two decades ago murdered during the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi by two Sikh bodyguards.

In an overwhelming indigenous Hindu India, no one has objected to a Muslim President and a Sikh Prime Minister. In Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s case, despite being married to the Gandhi family, she had still clung on to her Italian citizenship. Of course, it should not have been held against her. After all, a vast majority of Indians had voted for her and her Congress Party.

In conclusion, India is the only country on the planet where no Fijian Prime Minister will be able to sell the ‘Indigenous Race Card’ to justify Fijian nationalism, racism, and exclusive political control of the country. For the Indians will be able to shoot it down by reminding the Prime Minister of his hosts – a Sikh and a Muslim- who are ruling a billion indigenous Hindus.

We hope that the Prime Minister will, on the other hand, immensely benefit from the India trip, a country that has skilfully straddled the modern, medieval and the ancient at the same time. As India Today noted in August 2005: ‘The world today is a different place and so is India. India may be an old country but we are a young nation with 70 per cent of our citizens under 35 years. With all its traditions and heritage, India is now a forward-looking nation. It is almost as if we have been freed again from the shackles of our past.’

We hope that the people of Fiji will also benefit from the Indian state visit.

It is high time the Indo-Fijians should say with Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar, ‘I love Caesar but I love Rome more’- ‘We love India but we love Fiji more.’ It is equally time we formed a GOPIFO (Global Origin of People of Indo-Fijian Origin) to help Fiji survive in the 21st Century.

For their part, the Fijians must also play a constructive role, and extend their hand of togetherness, for it will take both hands to wash away the ugly stains from the 1987 and 2000 coups. Unfortunately, a glaring omission from the Delhi celebrations in October will be the voice of Indo-Fijians through our national anthem. For one reason or another, while the national anthem ‘Blessing grant oh God of Nations’ has been translated into Fijian, ‘Meda Dau Doka’, it has NEVER been translated into Fiji Hindi or Indian Hindi, for that matter. Surprisingly, no Indo-Fijian leader of repute has called for a translation of the national anthem.

It is no doubt, therefore, that many Indo-Fijians have grown up singing Sa reh jahan se aacha, Hindustan hamara, hamara (Of all the lands, India is the best land). Its time the Fiji Government’s actions spoke louder than words.
Bon Voyage. To India With Love! Jai Hind.
Fiji mata ki jai ho! Isa Lei, Fiji .

The late Indian Prime Minister Mrs.Gandhi meeting the surviving Girmityas during a visit to the Fiji Girmit Centre

The late and great Siddiq Koya during the London Constitutional Talks in London in 1970; Nehru had echoed similar sentiments in 1948

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HIDING FijiFirst Party businessmen donors scams by not releasing the Auditor-General's Reports before poll: 'R.C Manubhai & Kasabia were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for supply of building materials which were not fully delivered to recipients'

24/10/2014

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Kasabia's managing director Arvind Kasabia was fund-raiser for FijiFirst Party with civil engineer Sanjay Kaba of HL Jacob Ltd, the head of the party's donation collection committee

The FijiFirst Party headquarters building is owned by Bhavesh Patel, director of R C Manubhai. According to RCM employees, all maintenance and painting was done by RCM, Suva. This building used to be owned by Ajax Fasteners which was bought by RCM; FijiFirst has it rent free!

MERIT TEST FOR (SELECTIVE) FIJIFIRST PARTY CANDIDATES BUT BLIND EYE TO DONORS DESPITE HAVING AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT ON HIM; CASH DONATIONS TO PARTY WERE USED AS SLUSH FUNDS TO ENTERTAIN PUBLIC AND TO BANKROLL CANDIDATES CAMPAIGNS AND TO MASSAGE PARTY FINANCIAL BOOKS

Bhavesh Patel was the first fundraiser for FijiFirst in BA back in April 2014 when he reportedly raised $1m for the Bainimarama/Khaiyum Party;
RCM also donated $250,000 per vision group shareholders (Jacks, Automart); in 2010 Commerce Commission chairman Dr Mahendra Reddy, now FFP Education Minister, had ordered raid, after obtaining court order, of R C Manubhai office re hardware supplies market

Isn’t this Agscam all over again? October 23, 2014
The Auditor General’s report on the Provincial Development ministry’s accounts reveal their records are a complete black hole. The Auditor General could not confirm how much money was received and how much was spent. Included in the list of failures is this: “Kasabia’s Ltd and R.C Manubhai were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for supply of building materials which were not fully delivered to recipients.” Doesn’t this sound just like the Agscam that Bainimarama went on and on about?

The 2013 Trust Fund Account expenses by the Provincial Development ministry could not be ascertained by the Auditor General’s office. The Ministry’s trust fund liability account shows a balance of $2.5M, the cash at bank recorded in the Financial Management system shows a balance of $5M – a difference of more than $3m.

The audit also couldn’t ascertain that all receipts and payments have been accurately accounted and disclosed in the main trust – while the ministry’s general ledger shows $5m cash at bank, the bank statement only accounts for $1.9m. The Provincial Development Ministry also did not reconcile the Prime Minister’s National Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation trust fund because no expense ledger was maintained.

Projects for individual communities that have given their one third deposits have been delayed for as much as ten years. 70 projects under the Rural Housing Assistance Scheme with more than $200,000 in contributions haven’t been implemented. It’s the same for 9 projects under the Prime Minister’s Relief and Rehabilitation Project and 5 self help projects.

An inspection of stores at Top-Yard Walu Bay, revealed unaccounted building materials and other items stacked outside the yard, deteriorating due to wear and tear. Tropical Cyclone Rehabilitation materials received in 2011 were still not delivered to those affected in the Northern Division. The audit report says the Provincial Development Ministry has poor control over the administration of Tropical Cyclone Evans Housing Rehabilitation operation in the West – blanket approvals were issued to suppliers without purchase orders – without any ceiling amount for costs.

Kasabia’s Ltd and R.C Manubhai were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for supply of building materials which were not fully delivered to recipients. Source: FBC News.

Bainimarama had told Cyclone Evans victims help was on its way. The Provincial Development Ministry has poor control over the administration of Tropical Cyclone Evans Housing Rehabilitation operation in the West – blanket approvals were issued to suppliers without purchase orders – without any ceiling amount for costs. Kasabia’s Ltd and R.C Manubhai were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for supply of building materials which were not fully delivered to recipients.

From the archives: Coupfourpointfive, Tuesday, 14 September 2010:

Fiji Sun shareholder one of the targets of Commerce Commission’s price fixing investigation raid

Coupfourpointfive investigation into one of the three shareholders in the Fiji SUN reveals that it was one of four hardware giants which the Commerce Commission officers had raided after it had refused to co-operate with the Commission. The company has been accused of price fixing and reaping of Fijian provinces by selling merchandize at exorbitant and inflated prices.

We may recall that on 29 July 2010 we ran a special investigation titled “Hard questions asked about the Fiji Sun: Who are behind the dictator Frank Bainimarama and his egoist poodle Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum's coup propagandist outlet, The Fiji Sun?” At that stage, we were not able to locate the file on one of the shareholders – Sunbury Ltd.

The Fiji SUN: Behind the Scene Movers and Shakers

On 30 March 1999, at a duly constituted meeting of Linkage (Fiji) Ltd, the company resolved to change its name to SUN (Fiji) News Ltd. On 7 May 1999, the following were registered as directors of Linkage (Fiji) Ltd: Manoj Kumar f/n Chandar Kumar, general manager, resigned 30/3/99; Karan Prasad f/n Shiu Prasad, manager, resigned 30/3/99; Sundip Patel f/n Jayantilal Patel, company director and Jayantilal Patel f/n Chotabhai Patel, company director.

On 1 June, at an extraordinary general meeting of SUN (Fiji) News Ltd, it was resolved as follows: ‘That the share capital of the company be increased to the amount of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) by the creation of additional share capital to the amount of Nine Hundred Ninety Seven Thousand Dollars ($99,000) divided into 997,000 ordinary shares of $1 each and ranking Pari Passu (one series of equity will have the same rights and privileges as another series of equity) to the existing ordinary capital in all other respects.'

The share capital of the company “shall be $1,000,000 (One Million) Dollars divided into One Million (1,000,000) ordinary shares of $1each”. The allottee was named as Sunbury Ltd, P. O. Box 165, Suva, with 349,998 ordinary shares. On 11 June 2009, SUN (Fiji) News had a mortgage with the Westpac Banking Corporation of Twenty Million and Sixty Nine Thousand Dollars ($20,069,000.00).

The Directors were listed as follows: Sundip Patel, Sitiveni Weleilakeba (represting Fijian Holdings Ltd) and Pravin Patel. The Secretaries were the Sri Lankan and present chairman of the FNPF, Ajith Kodagoda and Sanjaya Peiris.

The Annual Return of the SUN (Fiji) News Ltd for 2008 reveals the following past and present members: Jayanti Patel, Sundip Patel, Ba Provincial Holding Ltd (5,000 Preference shares), Fijian Holdings Ltd, 500,000 Preference Shares, C J Patel and Co Ltd 2,340,88 (Preference) and 200,775 (Ordinary Shares); Vinod Patel & Co Ltd 159,110 (Preference Shares) and Sunbury Ltd. Total: 3,004,998 (Preference) and 200,777 Ordinary shares.

Sunbury Ltd: Behind the Headlines

Now, a further investigation into Sunbury reveals that while Kodagoda is his secretary, the company directors are Sundip Patel and Pravin Patel. While Sundip Patel is listed as owning one ordinary share, C J Patel and Company holds 179,999 shares in Sunbury, Tony Singh 20,000 and Vinod Patel and Company holds 150,000 shares.

Basically, these companies have cleverly held shares in the Fiji SUN through subsidiary companies – in other words, cross ownership – the much reviled practise, which the illegal Justice Minister has turned a blind eye to, while trying to close down the Fiji Times.

Raid on Vinod Patel and Company Offices

Interestingly, one of the shareholders in Sunbury is Vinod Patel and Co, one of the four companies which were raided by officers of the Commerce Commission in June after it had failed to co-operate with the Commission’s investigation of the hardware supplies market.

Commission chairman Dr Mahendra Reddy had said the companies, Carpenters Hardware, Vinod Patel, R C Manubhai and Suncourt Hardware had failed to provide information pertinent to the investigation.

“They were normal procedures where the companies failed to comply with our requests so we sought court orders and conducted the raids to get the information," Dr Reddy said.

He said the companies had been given ample time to respond to the commission's request. Two weeks ago the deadline for our requests expired and they still had not responded," Dr Reddy said. Edited version.

Suncourt Hardware's Bhikha is now out of prison and working as a consultant to Fiji Corrections Service for $3,000 per month:

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/convicted-suncourt-hardware-director-dhansukh-lal-bhikha-lapping-up-in-prison-and-has-set-up-shop-in-kadavu-for-prison-commissioner-vasu

Colonel Vasu's Kadavu shop (below) which prison officers claimed was being stocked by convict Bhika

Rubbish politics: During the election campaign, Fiji Labour Party had questioned the distribution of 13,000 rubbish bins in the Nasinu area by Aiyaz Khaiyum of Fiji First as nothing but a blatant vote-buying measure. “In fact by doing so just days before the election with pre-polling starting today, he is insulting the people of Nasinu. He is implying that each Nasinu voter is worth a rubbish bin to him,” said FLP Leader Mahendra Chaudhry. FLP called on the Electoral Commission to investigate this and take appropriate action under Section 114 the Electoral Decree. Vote buying is an electoral offence punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 or imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years, or both. The rubbish bins were funded through a budgetary provision of the Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development totalling $280,000.

“Those who want to be considered to be in the interim government will have to make an undertaking that they will not stand in the next election… One of the faults of the transition from 2000 to the next government was that the interim government then, formed a political party, that became the SDL and they used their positions in the interim government to gain political support..this contributed to what was now widely known as the agriculture scam."
Frank Bainimarama, Fiji Times, 19 December 2006

"Yet another motivation seems to be the agriculture-scam trial, now under way in the courtroom of Justice Shameem. PM Qarase and several Ministers from his previous government have been called as witnesses. The defendant is a former Agriculture CEO who allegedly facilitated pork-barrel transfers to ethnic-Fijian districts in the lead-up to Fiji's 2001 elections that confirmed Qarase's place as PM. So far, it is not clear at all that any Qarase Minister will be indicted, though there are plenty of rumors of malfeasance from that time. Several newspaper editorials have pointed out that Bainimarama's call for resignations appears very premature." US Ambassador Larry Dinger to Washington, on Bainimarama's motivating factors for a coup!

The pay of ministers and the Prime Minister, do you think the audit shows any cause for concern on that?

"It indeed does. And we are not satisfied that the complete picture has emerged. The audit report, we are still investigating that. As you know, we raised this issue way back in 2010 that at least two ministers, the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, have approved for themselves huge bank Visas, reportedly at that point in time each one of them was getting more than a million dollars and the salary was paid through a private accounting firm and not the finance ministry. And the private accounting firm had close connections with the Attorney General. These allegations of ours have not been denied or refuted and despite repeated demands that they table the audited accounts of the salaries have not been met. Of course this is what happens when you're not held accountable for a long period of time, and suddenly they release this report. And I don't think much will happen, because nothing has changed after the elections as far as we are concerned. It is the same mob backing, and they will do the same thing again." Mahendra Chaudhry to Radio NZ International, 24 October 2014

Transcript

The Fiji Labour Party leader says the Auditor General's report into government spending over the last seven years details blatant financial mismanagement and breaches of law. It is the first time the government's spending has been made public since before the 2006 coup. Mahendra Chaudhry says there is a lot to be explained by the authorities and overspending by some government department's is just one of the issues. He told Mary Baines there have been instances where money has been transferred from a particular allocation to another area.

MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY: It is quite a voluminous document, looking through some eight years of accounts. It will take a little while before we are through with it. It is very important that we go through them thoroughly in order to see what actually occurred in those eight years.

MARY BAINES: Do you trust that they are genuine audits, they haven't been doctored in any way?

MC: Well, this can only be commented on by the Auditor General himself. One of the things that the committee that we have appointed will be doing is, we will be seeking an interview with the Auditor General to check these facts out.

MB: Some areas of the report have shown a cause for concern, including the audit of military spending in 2007, which shows it spent 23 million US dollars over its allocated budget. What areas are you concerned with in the report?

MC: The areas, particularly where overspending has occurred, areas where money has been transferred from a particular location to other locations for which it was not intended. There has been blatant breaches of the Finance Management Act and the management of government finances and these will need to be properly scheduled so that we can come up with something, which will be an informative document to tell the people exactly how serious these lapses were and whether there was any undue intent behind such spending.

MB: You were Finance Minister in 2007. Were you aware of that military spending?

MC: The military has always operated independently of the finance ministry. Attempts in the past to get the military to assimilate its accounting system with that of the finance ministry did not succeed. They have always operated independently of the finance ministry and this was one of the reasons why the overspending was not being properly monitored, could not be properly monitored.

MB: The pay of ministers and the Prime Minister, do you think the audit shows any cause for concern on that?

MC: It indeed does. And we are not satisfied that the complete picture has emerged. The audit report, we are still investigating that. As you know, we raised this issue way back in 2010 that at least two ministers, the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, have approved for themselves huge bank Visas, reportedly at that point in time each one of them was getting more than a million dollars and the salary was paid through a private accounting firm and not the finance ministry. And the private accounting firm had close connections with the Attorney General. These allegations of ours have not been denied or refuted and despite repeated demands that they table the audited accounts of the salaries have not been met. Of course this is what happens when you're not held accountable for a long period of time, and suddenly they release this report. And I don't think much will happen, because nothing has changed after the elections as far as we are concerned. It is the same mob backing, and they will do the same thing again.

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UNHEALTHY STATISTICS: WHILE AIYAZ KHAIYUM GOT THE BEST TREATMENT AT SUVA PRIVATE HOSPITAL, THE POOR SICK AND THE DYING HAD TO RELY ON REGIME'S SHODDY HOSPITALS; NO WONDER HE HID THE AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORTS FROM THE VOTERS:

The Voters would have been 'HOPPING MAD' if they had seen Khaiyum's hidden Ministry of Health Report before going into to the polling booths:

Kubuabola was attending the UN Counter-Terrorism Symposium when he collapsed in New York:

VANUATU CALLING: 'Hello, darling, are you OK, its mama' - PS Taini Tagicikibau's $1,981.53 phone call to daughter on taxpayer's expense!

Will Sharon Smith-Johns become the new CEO of FijiTV?

Opposition hits back - Aiyaz Kahiyum must take appropriate action against Bainimarama for breaching their own 2013 Constitution:

Kasabia's managing director Arvind Kasabia was fund-raiser for FijiFirst Party with civil engineer Sanjay Kaba of HL Jacob Ltd, the head of the party's donation collection committee

The FijiFirst Party headquarters building is owned by Bhavesh Patel, director of R C Manubhai. According to RCM employees, all maintenance and painting was done by RCM, Suva. This building used to be owned by Ajax Fasteners which was bought by RCM; FijiFirst has it rent free!

MERIT TEST FOR (SELECTIVE) FIJIFIRST PARTY CANDIDATES BUT BLIND EYE TO DONORS DESPITE HAVING AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT ON HIM; CASH DONATIONS TO PARTY WERE USED AS SLUSH FUNDS TO ENTERTAIN PUBLIC AND TO BANKROLL CANDIDATES CAMPAIGNS AND TO MASSAGE PARTY FINANCIAL BOOKS

Suncourt Hardware's Bhikha is now out of prison and working as a consultant to Fiji Corrections Service for $3,000 per month:

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Kubuabola was attending the UN Counter-Terrorism Symposium
when he collapsed in New York: