$6Billion Question: Will theTWO UNMASKED bring more Covid into Fiji?
Government says it needs $6b to implement its Climate Change programme under the Paris Agreement. But Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry is calling for details of how the money will be spent and where.
“Given government’s extremely poor accountability and transparency record, the donors should closely monitor that funds made available are properly utilized,” he said.
Mr Chaudhry has also questioned government’s claim that it has involved various stakeholders in designing its mitigation plans and adaptation measures to combat the impact of climate change (FT Nov 5).
"There is hardly any truth in it. The entire process was tightly controlled. It was not inclusive of the representative grassroots orgnisations of the people who become the real victims of natural disasters.
"The farmers organizations, for instance, were not invited to be a part of the discussions, given that the agricultural sector is the most affected by natural disasters", Mr Chaudhry said.
The Climate Change Bill was rushed through Parliament in September without time being allowed for a proper debate.
Details of the $6 billion assistance the Fiji First government has filed for are not known.
Mr Chaudhry has called on the government to table a detailed report on its COP 26 expedition to Scotland, including the costs involved and the funding sources, at the next sitting of Parliament for public information.
“Given government’s extremely poor accountability and transparency record, the donors should closely monitor that funds made available are properly utilized,” he said.
Mr Chaudhry has also questioned government’s claim that it has involved various stakeholders in designing its mitigation plans and adaptation measures to combat the impact of climate change (FT Nov 5).
"There is hardly any truth in it. The entire process was tightly controlled. It was not inclusive of the representative grassroots orgnisations of the people who become the real victims of natural disasters.
"The farmers organizations, for instance, were not invited to be a part of the discussions, given that the agricultural sector is the most affected by natural disasters", Mr Chaudhry said.
The Climate Change Bill was rushed through Parliament in September without time being allowed for a proper debate.
Details of the $6 billion assistance the Fiji First government has filed for are not known.
Mr Chaudhry has called on the government to table a detailed report on its COP 26 expedition to Scotland, including the costs involved and the funding sources, at the next sitting of Parliament for public information.
PUNCH DRUNK ON GIFT GIVING: It used to be a bottle of Fijian
Coconut Vodka. Now, its a copy of Fiji's "new" Climate Change Act
 Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum presents President Biden's Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, with Fiji's old-new Climate Act. |  |
On Cynical Manipulator Aiyaz Khaiyum and his
Grinning Salesman, Frank Bainimarama
"I was still working for Fiji when the legal team at Baker McKenzie and then Pollination drafted the legislation for him [Khaiyum] with a deadline of having it introduced into the Parliament by the end of 2019. Why has it taken so long to finally be tabled? If confronting the climate crisis is so urgent - as Fiji keeps telling the world - why did the FijiFirst government sit for the best part of 24 months on the Act that it is now touting at COP26 as ground-breaking and that other countries should emulate? And if it was ready that long ago, why wasn't it the subject of proper consultation with other MPs, the business community and the Fijian people instead of being plonked before the Parliament on the eve of COP26?"
Graham Davis
Frank Bainimarama likes to take a sevusevu when he goes to meet foreign leaders. Once it was a copy of the 2013 Constitution. Then it was a bottle of Fijian coconut vodka. And now it's a copy of Fiji's "new" Climate Change Act - the one put before Parliament in the September session that had been sitting on the AG's shelf for two years.
I was still working for Fiji when the legal team at Baker McKenzie and then Pollination drafted the legislation for him with a deadline of having it introduced into the Parliament by the end of 2019. Why has it taken so long to finally be tabled? If confronting the climate crisis is so urgent - as Fiji keeps telling the world - why did the FijiFirst government sit for the best part of 24 months on the Act that it is now touting at COP26 as ground-breaking and that other countries should emulate? And if it was ready that long ago, why wasn't it the subject of proper consultation with other MPs, the business community and the Fijian people instead of being plonked before the Parliament on the eve of COP26?
Once again, you can be certain that political and public relations considerations have taken precedence over policy and sound governance. The PM and AG get to spruik as "new" a document that has been gathering dust for two years. And you can bet your last saqamoli that they will use it to boast of the government's own climate-fighting credentials all the way to the 2022 election.
It's the kind of cynical manipulation that has come to characterise Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and his grinning salesman, Frank Bainimarama. As he winds up every meeting in Glasgow by presenting each leader with a copy of the new-old Climate Act, one thing is certain as they bid Frank farewell. They would have infinitely preferred the vodka.
I was still working for Fiji when the legal team at Baker McKenzie and then Pollination drafted the legislation for him with a deadline of having it introduced into the Parliament by the end of 2019. Why has it taken so long to finally be tabled? If confronting the climate crisis is so urgent - as Fiji keeps telling the world - why did the FijiFirst government sit for the best part of 24 months on the Act that it is now touting at COP26 as ground-breaking and that other countries should emulate? And if it was ready that long ago, why wasn't it the subject of proper consultation with other MPs, the business community and the Fijian people instead of being plonked before the Parliament on the eve of COP26?
Once again, you can be certain that political and public relations considerations have taken precedence over policy and sound governance. The PM and AG get to spruik as "new" a document that has been gathering dust for two years. And you can bet your last saqamoli that they will use it to boast of the government's own climate-fighting credentials all the way to the 2022 election.
It's the kind of cynical manipulation that has come to characterise Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and his grinning salesman, Frank Bainimarama. As he winds up every meeting in Glasgow by presenting each leader with a copy of the new-old Climate Act, one thing is certain as they bid Frank farewell. They would have infinitely preferred the vodka.
In safe pair of hands...oceans and beaches in Fiji and the South Pacific?
