- NEW LANDING VESSEL WELCOMED BY RURAL FIJIANS – Rural Fijians have commended government’s investment of a $2.4 million landing craft that was commissioned today by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
- NEW ROAD TO LINK RA VILLAGE TO URBAN CENTRE – Villages and farmers along the Toki – Draunileka Road in the interior of Ra can now look forward to better travelling conditions following the opening of a new road between the village and Vaileka town in Rakiraki.
- FIJI’S HEALTH REFORMS PRESENTED AT WORLD CARDIOLOGY CONFERENCE – The Minister for Health Dr Neil Sharma is representing Fiji at the World Cardiology Conference in Australia to present Fiji’s strides in the area of Rheumatic Heart Disease.
- PUBLIC URGED TO LEARN MORE ON ASTHMA CONDITIONS – Proper management of asthma conditions and education on asthma is vital for patients said Fiji’s National Advisor for non-communicable diseases, Dr Isimeli Tukana.
- STAKEHOLDERS PURSUE DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR NAVUSO SCHOOL – The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) recently held talks with various stakeholders on ways to develop the Navuso Agriculture Vocational School.
1 NEW LANDING VESSEL WELCOMED BY RURAL FIJIANS
Rural Fijians have commended government’s investment of a $2.4 million landing craft that was commissioned today by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
The MLC Vunilagi has the ability to carry 30 passengers including cargo and is ideal for Fiji’s needs with its dedicated freezers and ability to transport heavy goods. It can also bring agriculture produce from maritime communities quickly and efficiently to markets on the mainland.
Commending the government initiative, 60 year old Mualevu villager, Lakalaka Vosavakadua said that she was happy that her family in Lau will now have the opportunity to bring goods and produce to the market.
“My family back home in Lau can now send fish, coconuts and root crops on this landing craft to be sold at the market,” Mrs Vosavakadua said.
“Previously ships will only service islands such as Lau once a month and we were faced with shipping challenges because we couldn’t transport our goods to the mainland.”
Sharing similar sentiments was 49 year old Losalini Raluve of Yawe, Kadavu who said that she was pleased to hear that the MLC Vunilagi would also deliver materials needed for development.
“For us in Kadavu, development still lags behind as there is no proper landing craft to transport material needed for constructing roads and other infrastructure,” Mrs Raluve said.
“Hearing the Prime Minister this morning during his speech has been a huge relief because I know that now this landing craft can take materials to our island for development purposes.”
She added that she would also be able to send goods back to her village via the landing craft.
The MLC Vunilagi makes her maiden voyage to Rotuma tomorrow carrying with it cargo and goods for the island.
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2 NEW ROAD TO LINK RA VILLAGE TO URBAN CENTRE
Villages and farmers along the Toki – Draunileka Road in the interior of Ra can now look forward to better travelling conditions following the opening of a new road between the village and Vaileka town in Rakiraki.
Draunileka Village headman, Erami Loco said the opening of the road all the way to the village will allow more farmers to sell their produce at the Rakiraki market.
“Our prayers have been answered as we did not have any road before but now the road leads right to our village for which we are thankful to government,” he said.
“There was an existing road but only for a short distance but now it has reached the village and the response from farmers and villagers have been very welcoming,” Mr Loco said.
“Government encourages farmers to diversify and go large scale and now farmers in Tiko and Draunileka have access to better markets for their produce.”
In three months several rural roads in the interior of rural Ra have either been upgraded, or constructed valued at more than $300, 000. These roads include Namimila Road which serves Nauria and Nasukamai, Nalidi Road and Duguvatu, which is used by more than 30, 000 people in the districts of Saivou and Nalawa.
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3 FIJI’S HEALTH REFORMS PRESENTED AT WORLD CARDIOLOGY CONFERENCE
The Minister for Health Dr Neil Sharma is representing Fiji at the World Cardiology Conference in Australia to present Fiji’s strides in the area of Rheumatic Heart Disease.
The Minister presented a paper on the Role of Public/Private Partnership “The Fiji Experience”. The paper refers to all levels of partnerships with Global, regional, country level and that of Corporate Social responsibilities.
The upcoming media campaign, advocacy with Rotary Suva titled “Sore throats can kill” and its attempt to lower complicated heart valves damages leading to poor quality of life, premature death impacting on socio-economic and National development was also addressed at the conference.
The meeting will see the development of a road-map to reduce rheumatic heart diseases by 25percent in 2025 for those less than 25 years.
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4 PUBLIC URGED TO LEARN MORE ON ASTHMA CONDITIONS
Proper management of asthma conditions and education on asthma is vital for patients said Fiji’s National Advisor for non-communicable diseases, Dr Isimeli Tukana.
Asthma is a condition where people have sensitive airways which react to triggers such as changes in weather, furry pets, colds, pollen, food allergies, and even exercise.
At the World Asthma Day celebrations held at the Fiji National University College of Medical Sciences, Dr Tukana informed medical students and practitioners that there are three emerging NCDs now in Fiji.
“These are cancer, rheumatic heart disease and asthma. While we are improving medical treatment of asthma, there is a need to get more dieticians and physiotherapists in our health system,” Dr Tukana said.
“We have a big problem of eating unhealthy food and the increase in NCDs is evident. We need to move away from the medical aspect of the disease and focus on the social aspect of patients.”
Dr Tukana added that doctors need to follow up on asthmatic patients when they visit the health centers.
Prevalence of asthma in Fiji is mostly for 14-20 year olds. Ninety-five percent of cases seen in all health facilities around Fiji are asthmatic patients and all health facilities have asthma stations.
Dr Tukana stressed that patients need to move away from depending on nebulizer treatment and focus on the management of their condition with proper diet and lifestyle changes.
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5 STAKEHOLDERS PURSUE DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR NAVUSO SCHOOL
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) recently held talks with various stakeholders on ways to develop the Navuso Agriculture Vocational School.
The Ministry’s senior officials met with senior officials from the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, the Ministry of Education, the High Education Commission, the Commissioner Central Division, and the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry’s chief economist Ilimeleki Kaiyanuyanu said that the meeting was a result of a commitment made by the government through the office of the Prime Minister to assist Navuso Agriculture Vocational School last year (2013) and this year.
“We are in the process of preparing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed between the government and the Methodist Church of Fiji & Rotuma to provide grant to the school and also to look at the curriculum of the school.
He added that it was an opportunity to verify issues regarding the school and to develop a Memorandum of Understanding before grants are issued from Government for the school.
Reverend Malakai Tuikadavu of Navuso Methodist Agriculture farm said he appreciated the outcome of the meeting and also thanked the government for its decision to assist the Navuso Agriculture Vocational School.
The meeting took place at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Conference Room
MINFO