Comments on: Why is Fiji in this mess? A Fijian Perspective.

By: fijikiwigal

fijikiwigal — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:05:13 +0000

Ballu Khan a reknowed Fiji-Indian busniess man gets brutalised by the Fiji military.

By: Na Dina Fiji Truth

Na Dina Fiji Truth — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Theres really nothing more new in Fiji except Fiji’s Military regime squeezing themselves in & taking over jobs from ordinary people. Take for instance the cane farmers who are now in the process of being evicted so that the soldiers can have something to do. Another case is the little island of Rotuma off Fiji, theres an army post & barracks there now with 25 men as opposed to 02 men. Yes thats right, we all will ask, whats going on in Fiji? Simple answer: ”Continuous SHIFTING OF GOAL POST.” Bainimarama & his merrymrn are running out of excuses. Case in point: read more from Raw Fiji News [we are told this blog is propped up by Fiji lawyers], Military preparing to evict small sugar farmers October 27, 2009 A lot of people are asking why land reform is taking so long. We all know that the sugar industry is struggling as a result of non-renewal of leases on native land. Sugar acreage is way down and this makes it hard for the Fiji Sugar Corporation to make a profit. Like any business, they suffer if they cannot maintain the through-put. So why are the FSC management team not jumping up and down about the failure of the military junta to solve the land problem for them? The answer is really quite simple. For them it?s not really a problem. For them the real problem is the fall in the price the European Union will be paying for sugar. That hits hard and they know they?ll have to lower their cost structure in the future. FSC has already spelled out the model that have in mind -large farms with mechanized harvesting. The more small farmers that go broke and leave the industry the better. Small farmers just get in the way of what they see as their future. They?ll be doing deals with landowners where landowners can expect more rent because the farms won?t be paying for labour to cut cane. Everyone has known for a long time that large farms and machinery are future of our cane industry. That?s why the European Union promised $340 million to help restructure the industry. For a lot of small farmers, the first they?ll know about what?s happening is when they realise they?re broke and no-one can help them. The regime has got the RFMF on the western side rehearsing for their role in enforcing evictions. If there?s no compensation, there?s going to be forced. You can believe the military junta when they say they support reform in the industry and they?ve budgeted funds to assist. It?s just that the funds are in the RFMF budget. And the assistance they?ll give will be forced evictions of small farmers who can?t pay the bills. To all the NFU members: if your old champion Mahen was doing his job you?d know this and be trying to get the EU funds. corruption fighter http://rawfijinews.wordpress.com

By: mong

mong — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 02:49:01 +0000

a brave decision by the Cth. Alghogh suspension on fiji has never been so effective. However, it was long predictable and timely decision. I read from the BBC news that "Fiji has already been suspended from the regional Pacific Islands Forum, and some European Union aid to the country has been put on hold."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8231717.stm

From the Cth’s experience with Fiji, it appears that on the part of the Fijian govt there is a serious lack of respect to the principles and values of the Cth. the above BBC article suggests that this might be because Cth is not a large donor to Fiji, so the suspension is just ‘symbolic’. if it is so, then what significant outcome can the Cth expect from this decision? How’s it gonna work? What about the human rights situation in Fiji?

in my view, suspension does not mean a gurantee of peace and democracy, rather it might turn a military regime like Fiji to be more arrogant with less or no respect at all to the situation of human rights. It has been learnt that media has been restricted since the military took over the power in Fiji. so the risk is that this decision might lead the Fiji’s human rights situation into worse.

What I would suggest is, along with the suspension and keeping the doors open for dialogue, Cth should alwys keep close eyes on the human rights situation. By suspending Fiji, the Cth has taken itself more responsibilities because it has to make sure that the suspension is really effective and Fiji returns to democray, law and order remain stable, and human rights violations are at minimum levels.

By: ZoeWare

ZoeWare — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:37:27 +0000

Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth on 1st September. You can read the full press release about this on the Commonwealth Secretariat website here:
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/34580/213088/010909fijisuspended.htm

There is also an interesting piece about this on Radio New Zealand, which you can listen to here. The section on Fiji starts 4 minutes into the clip below:
http://www.rnzi.com/audio/datepac.mp3