Cocoa industry
I WOULD like to thank the Swedes for being concerned about the cocoa industry
in Fiji.
The gesture will boost interest among cocoa farmers and the industry.
We could produce chocolate and many related products which can be sold here
at a cheaper price.
We should be grateful to the Swedes for wanting to share their knowledge and
ideas with cocoa farmers.
It will certainly revive the cocoa industry.
Pranesh Karan
Suva
Poor show
THE national team performed very poorly at the London Sevens.
Injuries to key players did not help their cause.
There is still time to regroup and get a better result in Scotland.
We do not want a return to the old days in the IRB series when the Kiwis were
beating us in every tournament.
Eddie Chan
Lautoka
London Sevens
I REFER to Jacob Korodrau's letter (FT 30/5).
It seems Fiji's loss is bothering him so much.
What has he done or given to help the players in their preparation?
If the Fiji team wins or loses, we will still stand by our heroes.
The fact is, Sir Revi is the best role model in our beloved nation and he
will always be cherished.
Mr Korodrau should let the team and its management deal with the loss.
I suggest he do something positive for himself and refrain from writing
pathetic, rotten' letters.
Benji Vakacegu
Labasa
Sevens team
I REFER to Jacob Korodrau (FT 31/5).
Every time the Fiji team wins, everyone is happy.
But people, including Mr Korodrau, should also leran to accept defeat and
appreciate what the team has achieved.
The national sevens team has been a good ambassador for the nation for many
years, even when things were not going right in the country.
At school, we teach our children to be appreciative and open-minded about
whatever situation they are in. Winning is not everything.
Elesi Dawai
Nadi
Mere pettiness
THE directive issued to all ministries and departments to stop using the
reputable law firms of Munro Leys and Howards is pettiness at its best.
What are the reasons? Is it because the firms believe in upholding the rule
of law by doing their job as lawyers? It is ironic.
The timing of the directive coincides with Graham Leung's (Howards) defence
of a police officer facing charges relating to corruption.
Rosalind Pratt
Townsville
Australia
Legal action
THE directive from the PSC that the law firms of Howards and Munro Leys
should not be engaged by any government entity, reeks of revenge.
It appears to be a warning to private law firms against engaging in legal
action against the interim Government.
The taxpayers of this country must raise their objection against this kinds
of action because we stand to lose a lot in terms of quality and informed legal
advice and representation.
It exposes government departments to unnecessary risks which could cost heaps
of taxpayers' money.
We have been harping about transparency and honesty.
Can the PSC explain the basis of its directive not to engage the two legal
firms?
Aren't we unlevelling a level playing field purely to punish players who make
legal tackles?
James Bolavucu
United Kingdom
PSC directive
I READ with interest the PSC directive to government ministries not to engage
two law firms in their business dealings.
Lawyer Graham Leung of Howards, said the circular was "extraordinary".
Richard Naidu of Munro Leys said they were a bit "puzzled" by the
directive.
I am not a legal expert nor am I as well educated as the two gentlemen.
But I would like to point out to them what may have caused the directive.
They cannot expect to be challenging the State in legal cases and to be hired
by the same administration to represent it in other cases you are with them or
against them.
I hope the two gentlemen see my reasoning.
Jacob Matai
Kuwait
On a prayer
WARREN Crain (FT 29/5) says prayer does not help students academically.
He seemed angered by the suggestion that prayer be allowed in Fiji
schools.
Prayer is banned in US public schools and has been for decades. Perhaps, that
is why the US has one of the world's highest rates of school dropouts, teen
pregnancies, teen drug use, teen alcohol abuse and depression.
While prayer does not necessarily result in higher academic scores, studies
show that children raised with religious values succeed at a higher percentage
than those raised with spiritual vacuum.
We must be careful not to become so politically correct that our children are
left like so many in western countries who are spiritually bankrupt.
Summer Kabakoro
Idaho
USA
Power of prayer
WARREN Crain's letter (FT 30/5) warrants a reply.
Maybe he does not depend on divine intervention in his affairs but people
such as me are dependent on that special intervention.
As the minister rightly pointed out, we will try our best to invest our time
sincerely to study and seek help and assistance from the Creator.
We will proudly teach our children the same.
Abdul Hafiz Ali
Nausori
Church broadcast
IT is interesting to note that Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited has
progressed in embracing advanced technology to reduce its operating costs and
boost revenue as commended by interim Minister for Public Enterprises Poseci
Bune (FT 5/5).
Ironically, an area of concern is how the radio station has continued its
services such as broadcasting church services on Sundays which raises a question
on the radio station's ability to continue undisrupted broadcast services such
as last Sunday at 6.45pm from the Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Unless the homily encroaches into the "hate speech" category, FBCL is obliged
to explain the recurrence of disrupted broadcast church services.
It has indeed boosted its revenue, delivering only a portion of what it
actually charged for. Amen.
Sebastian Aqulala
Suva
Lazy English
I REFER to letters from Tina Sharma (FT 22/5) and Lawrence Narayan (FT 28/5)
on poor English and lazy speech.
Poor English will not help anyone wanting to migrate overseas.
The New Zealand and Australia governments and other overseas countries
require good written and spoken English from a person to qualify him for
citizenship.
One has to sit an English test and pass with 75 per cent or more.
For me, if a person doesn't use proper English to address me in writing or
speech, I won't mind at all.
The laziness and poor English show that people have gone out of touch with
the real world.
What will happen when they cannot read or write the correct things
anymore?
That includes newspaper reporters, radio news readers and television
journalists who often speak poor English.
The Ministry of Education should look at this matter very seriously before it
is too late.
English is the language most commonly used anywhere you go in the world.
Reza Raiza
Cherrywood
NZ
Suva soccer
I AGREE with a Suva fan (FT 29/5) who asked why Suva soccer let William
Lasaqa play while Azmat Begg was on the bench.
The game was dominated by Suva but poor finishing led to their downfall.
Feeble attempts by Lasaqa saw Suva lose to Lautoka.
I urge the Suva team management to look into this matter and carefully
consider who needs to play because die-hard fans are losing hope.
Avenesh Sami
Nasinu
List of doctors
THE article in the People's page (FT 23/5) on a Doctor Jay Narayan needs
clarification.
The article might infer that Dr Narayan is a medical practitioner or medical
doctor.
He is a doctor of philosophy (PhD) and I believe he did it in laboratory
technology.
I wish to offer him my hearty congratulations for achieving the feat at the
age of 60.
The reason I raise this is because if journalists are not careful their
report can mislead readers.
Too many conmen spring up as doctors in the country without proper
registration and work illegally.
That is why I call for the annual registration of doctors and that their
names be published annually as the Fiji Law Society does.
DR Ram Raju
Nadi
Sevens team
I WOULD like to put into perspective the comments made by the manager of the
national sevens team, Epeli Lagiloa, about Sireli Naqelevuki which resulted in
his not travelling with the team when they left for the final leg of the IRB
sevens series.
It seems Mr Lagiloa is blaming everybody but him. He said on television that
either the court or the Immigration Department did not do their job.
He is quoted in one of the daily papers as saying "Immigration held him back
for a day without a good excuse because all along they did not have a case
against Sireli".
For his information, he should know that: The Immigration department does not
have a case against Sireli. It is the court which ordered the
stop-departure.
The stop-departure order can only be rescinded by the court through an order
and not by Mr Lagiloa at the departure desk.
the court papers nullifying the previous order not to allow departure were
delivered to my office by the law firm representing Sireli on Monday, May 21
which resulted in the removal of the no-departure order.
It would have been better to settle the matter with the court not on the last
working day of the week before departure, and
The sevens team had similar problems in the past and it seems a valuable
lesson has not been grasped by team managements.
Sireli was held up at Nadi because someone did not do his job and I am of the
view that Mr Lagiloa, as manager of the team, should shoulder the blame.
Mr Lagiloa forgot to mention that what transpired was the result of someone
doing her job and it was the female Immigration Officer at Nadi who stood firm
despite his insistence that Sireli should be allowed through without necessary
pre-requisite order.
Mr Lagiloa should apologise to the female Immigration Officer for unfairly
blaming the Immigration department through her when she was only performing her
duty with integrity.
This is a case of Sireli to be more responsible, Mr Lagiloa to do better and
Esther to keep up the good work.
Viliame Naupoto
Director Immigration
Life on Rotuma
I WOULD like to thank ousted Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and the SDL
government for their enormous contribution to the development of Rotuma while
they were in power.
Financial aid worth millions of dollars was not used properly, roads were not
upgraded, the wharf and airport are in poor condition and the telephone service
is so frustrating it causes high blood pressure.
All agriculture projects failed. It's a pity and a shame and a waste of
taxpayers' money.
I also thank the interim Government for visiting the island last month.
The members had a chance to see and witness the level of development done on
the island.
All funds spent on cocoa, vanilla, piggery, poultry and fishing worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars ended up in the ocean.
Some civil servants on the island lack discipline and are not productive.
Yaqona drinking during working hours should be banned if we want to see
progress on Rotuma.
Tominiko Vaurasi
Rotuma
Cause of violence
I WISH to comment on the remark by Shamima Ali (FT 21/5) that the military is
to blame for creating a culture of violence among men in our society.
I do not believe this is true because violence had been there before the
military takeover.
We have had many drunken brawls in the past which led to deaths.
There are people in society who, when drunk, tend to cause trouble and
show-off to other people and bystanders to show them his manhood.
Our world is an evil world, filled with sin.
We were born sinners and will die sinners.
Righteousness depends on which path you choose to follow.
If we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and follow his commandments there
will be no violence.
We should not continue to blame other people but look deep in our hearts to
rectify where we have gone wrong.
God said: "Do not do as the wicked do or follow the path of evildoers."
"Avoid their haunts, turn away and go somewhere else, for evil people cannot
sleep until they have done their evil deed for the day.
"They cannot rest until they have caused someone to stumble.
"They eat wickedness and drink violence." (Proverbs 4: 14-17).
Wallace Samuels
Suva
Pathetic road
ROAD conditions in Labasa town is pathetic and the road to Delailabasa is
worse.
The ratepayers are going through some difficult times in the past months
because of natural disasters but have managed to keep paying their rates.
However, things have not improved because we still have potholes, poor street
and crossing lights and some roads washed away.
They have endangered the lives of pedestrians and posed a high risk to
motorists.
Are they going to be fixed or the town fathers will come up with the same
excuse about poor weather conditions, financial constraints and lack of
manpower?
They are probably waiting for more road deaths before they do something.
Is this the service we get for what we pay?
Perhaps the town council badly needs a clean-up.
Sarju Prasad
Labasa
Military song
BACK in the good old 70s when we were still at school, we used to love
singing Red, White and Navy Blue about the Fiji Military Forces.
It goes like this:
Red, white and navy blue.
Army, navy and the air force too,
They were fighting side by side,
We are proud of you.
Over land, over sea, over sky,
When the bullets go whistling by,
You'll find the Fiji Battalion,
Fighting by your side."
Back then, young as we were, soldiers were Nice Bolas' and Ka Shines in their
uniforms and all.
We looked up to the army and were proud of them.
But I can't say the same about them today.
For instead of the Fiji Battalion fighting by our side, with us and for us,
they are fighting against us, the very people they are suppose to defend and not
suppress, deprive, chastise, censure, persecute and terminate by any form at
all.
L. Underwood
Nausori
Toothless tigers
IF police were toothless tigers, then thieves are elephant-tooth tigers.
Thieves are getting smarter than police. It is time for police to wake
up.
Mulchand Patel
Suva
Tough period
I AM a want ok from Papua New Guinea and I love reading Fiji Times
online.
I have been to Fiji once and it is a nice place to visit. I would like to see
more trade between PNG and Fiji in these difficult times.
Like many other Papua New Guineans, I understand what happened in Fiji and
believe your country will go through this tough period.
Esekia Litur
PNG
State lawyer
THE anti-corruption commission needs to get its act sorted out before it
loses credibility.
The interim Attorney-General should explain the failure, on his part, to have
Grant Tyrrell appointed as chief prosecutor without a practising
certificate.
Mr Tyrrell should explain why he did not make sure he got the necessary
practising certificate before going to court on a high-profile corruption
case.
It seems local lawyers are more efficient and smarter. It's not a good start
for him.
What's up next?
Gul Zaman
Auckland
NZ
Cashless society
THE introduction of the new $100 bill and other notes plus public awareness
in the media on their design and security features was to convince the public
that the notes could not be counterfeited.
Since technology is available to good and bad people we have to go further
than that.
Like many developing countries, Fiji is not far behind in electronic cash
where the amount of goods and services are electronically deducted from the chip
inside the customer's bank card and added to the retailer's chip without
accessing the customer's bank balance.
We are close to the Bible's prophecy of a cashless society. In Revelations
(13: 16-18), it is written: "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and
poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or on their
foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or the
name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man and
his number is six hundred, threescore and six (666)."
Mondex is next.
Lawrence Narayan
Suva
Prayer in school
IN a letter Sereana Vagiga states a common belief that in the United States,
children are not permitted to pray in school.
That is propaganda promulgated by religious organisations which try to force
their beliefs on others.
Actually, children can pray in school.
There are no regulations prohibiting it.
What has been prohibited is permitting children to be led in prayer in public
schools and that doctrine does not prevent children from praying silently any
time they choose to.
Prohibiting children from being led in prayer was done to prevent pressure to
conform to beliefs which were unacceptable to some children and their parents.
For example, suppose children were led to recite the Hail Mary'; obviously
many would not approve and if they were in the minority, they would be ridiculed
and bullied by other children.
When leading children in prayer was permitted, this sort of thing often
happened and resulted in lawsuits.
To force a belief on others inevitably causes disrespect for organised
religion in general.
It thus prohibits leading children in prayer in public schools.
Frank Egger
Albuquerque
New Mexico
Culture of violence
AS we are all aware, in particular Shameema Ali in her daily dealings with
victims of violence, the culture of violence which she refers to and accusing
the army of, did not come down with the last shower of rain or last ray of
sunshine.
Nor did it start on December 5, 2006.
It has, unfortunately, been part of our society for a long time.
It appears that she might be having delusions of adequacy in her role with
the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre.
Otherwise, she and the Crisis Centre would have come up with something more
constructive with regards to the problem rather than their "holier than thou"
posturing and finger pointing.
Talei Burness
Suva
