1. PM RECEIVES HIS JOINT ID CARD – Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama received his joint Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority (FRCA) card today .
2. CABINET APPROVES PURCHASE OF 30MW NEW HEAVY FUEL OIL GENERATOR SETS FOR KINOYA POWER STATION BY THE FEA – Cabinet has given its approval to the Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) to purchase an additional 30MW Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) Generator sets for its Kinoya Power Station to improve the security and reliability of power supply to the Central Region of Viti Levu.
3. CABINET APPROVES HEALTH MOU WITH THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA – Cabinet has endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Health of Fiji and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Korea on Bilateral Cooperation in Health Care and Medical Science.
4. ILLEGAL LOGGING CONTINUE TO BE A CHALLENGE – Government’s mechanisms to eliminate illegal logging in Fiji’s forests has noted a positive step with the number of activities on the decrease, especially in the Western Division.
5. LEVUKA PUBLIC RECEIVES NEW WASHING MACHINE – Levuka Public School last week received two new washing machines for its new girls hostel.
1. PM RECEIVES HIS JOINT ID CARD
Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama received his joint Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority (FRCA) card today .
FRCA chief executive officer, Jitoko Tikolevu, while responding to PM’s queries about the process and the rationale behind the need for such a card, reassured Commodore Bainimarama that tax information would not be divulged and would remain confidential.
“The tax information of individuals and companies will not be released to FNPF, that’s not a data we will be sharing as that information is confidential to FRCA but for other information, members can use just one card to access that and use it for identity purpose as well,” he said.
FRCA treats tax information of individuals and businesses as confidential.
Mr Tikolevu told Prime Minister Bainimarama that there were some individuals who had abused the Tax Identification Number letter which was one of the issues the card would address.
He said this card would also bring Fiji in line with other countries of the world, such as the United States, where they had social security number.
However, the card holders will have to go to the respective institutions to get their information, that is, tax information can only be obtained at FRCA and likewise for FNPF.
Application forms are now available with FRCA having started the registration process and FNPF will follow soon.
Mr Tikolevu said this project did not require the two institutions to fork out extra funding because all resources and manpower were already in place.
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2. CABINET APPROVES PURCHASE OF 30MW NEW HEAVY FUEL OIL GENERATOR SETS FOR KINOYA POWER STATION BY THE FEA
Cabinet has given its approval to the Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) to purchase an additional 30MW Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) Generator sets for its Kinoya Power Station to improve the security and reliability of power supply to the Central Region of Viti Levu.
Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Minister for Works, Transport and Energy, Captain (N) Timoci Lesi Natuva.
The Minister said that the new generator sets will ensure that power disruption to all customers in the Central Division is at its minimum in the event of failure of hydropower generation at Monasavu/Nadarivatu or failure of the 132KV transmission line from Wailoa to Cunningham Road.
The Minister also said that given the importance of this project, FEA will be funding this investment through domestic borrowing.
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3. CABINET APPROVES HEALTH MOU WITH THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Cabinet has endorsed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Health of Fiji and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Korea on Bilateral Cooperation in Health Care and Medical Science.
Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Minister for Health, Dr Neil Sharma.
The Minister said that the MOU seeks encourage and promote co-operation in such areas as public health policy, health resources, public health management, health delivery system including primary health care, disease control and prevention, drug and health care research, traditional medicine, and other areas of mutual interest that may be jointly decided upon by the sides.
He said that the parties will co-operate through exchanges of information, exchanges of delegations and experts, exchanges of experience on priority issues for both countries, participation in congresses, conferences and other events, joint projects and personnel training in the fields of health care and medical pharmaceutical science, and any other form of cooperation that may be jointly decided upon by the sides.
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4. ILLEGAL LOGGING CONTINUE TO BE A CHALLENGE
Government’s mechanisms to eliminate illegal logging in Fiji’s forests has noted a positive step with the number of activities on the decrease, especially in the Western Division.
This is a sign of the various platforms Government has introduced to ensure illegal logging remains a problem of the past.
Divisional forests officer Asaeli Mata said though numbers had come down to just two this year, they were working towards ensuring this activity was wiped out.
“In the past we used to have more than 10 cases of illegal logging, however with the different platforms used to monitor these areas, numbers have come right down to two cases so far,” Mr Mata said.
“They were recorded in Nadarivatu, and Ba and this just shows how people continue to find their way into other boundaries, especially in the interior.
The reports were from Fiji Pine. Mr Mata said illegal logging was evident in many parts of the Ba highlands, with causes attributed to the offer of money.
“Illegal logging is a challenge for forest owners,” the forests officer said.
“Most logging companies that operate right in the interior tend to break the law in the way they conduct logging. We have seen poor logging practices that have led to landslides and flooding, which is also a challenge to the department.
“Resource owners should take ownership of their resources in the best interests of their welfare, safety and future generations.”
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, had in 2010, stated that logging companies and sawmills should be closed if they condoned illegal logging.
PM Bainimarama said logging companies caught breaching logging laws would have their licences revoked.
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5. LEVUKA PUBLIC RECEIVES NEW WASHING MACHINE
Levuka Public School last week received two new washing machines for its new girls hostel.
The washing machines were handed over to the school by the Ministry of Education, National Heritage, Culture and Arts permanent secretary Dr Brij Lal.
The washing machines were promised to the school by the Minister for Education Filipe Bole when he opened the new girls hostel earlier in the year.
“These washing machines should ease the work load on the boarding girls so they can spend more time in their academic preparation. It is the wish of the minister and I for students to be assisted in all ways possible so they can maximize their potential,” Dr Lal said.
School principal Ane Rika thanked the minister and his permanent secretary for the kind donation.
She said this would provide the needed motivation for the school, especially the boarding girls to perform better this year.
The school has also been boosted with the inclusion of Levuka Town on the World Heritage listing recently.
Dr Brij Lal said the Ministry of Education was focused on the theme Step Up for 2013 and all schools were expected to put in the desired effort to perform beyond the attainments of 2012.
The permanent secretary also visited some of the heritage schools in Levuka to see the progress of development on the site.
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