1. MINISTER SERUIRATU URGES DEVELOPMENT AS HE OPENS NADARIVATU ROADSHOW – Rural and Maritime Development Minister Colonel Inia Seruiratu this morning urged communities within Nadarivatu to assist in government’s development efforts in order to raise the standard of livelihood in the area.
2. UGANDA AND FIJI ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS – The Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Fiji formalised diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Uganda Mission to the United Nations in New York this week.
3. CONFERENCE ENCOURAGES COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR FIJI’S YOUTH – A youth conference aimed at encouraging Fiji’s youth in commercial or business opportunities was held today at the Kshatriya Hall in Suva.
4. MINISTER WARNS NON REGISTERED EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES – Fiji’s Minister for Labour Mr Jone Usamate has today warned unregistered employment agencies that are offering locals employment outside the country.
5. FIJI RUGBY TEAM RECEIVES MAJOR FINANCIAL BOOST – Positioning the development of Fiji’s sporting youth continues to show signs of commitment by the newly established “Fiji National Sporting Commission”.
6. FARMERS GROW VEGETABLE ON BAUXITE AREA – The Nawailevu Bauxite mine in Vanua Levu is providing new returns for workers ; through the farming of vegetables and fruits at the site following extraction.
1 MINISTER SERUIRATU URGES DEVELOPMENT AS HE OPENS NADARIVATU ROADSHOW,
Rural and Maritime Development Minister Colonel Inia Seruiratu this morning urged communities within Nadarivatu to assist in government’s development efforts in order to raise the standard of livelihood in the area.
As he opened government’s rural road show in Nadarivatu, Minister Seruiratu said development will quickly fulfil its intended purpose through collective support from partners.
Nadarivatu, he said, has one of the richest resources in the country as it hosts the country’s largest hydro electricity scheme which has the potential to reduce Fiji’s import bill.
“The communities of Savatu, Nabobuco, Nadrau and Navatusila are well connected through road networks,” he said. “You also have Fijis largest hydro electricity scheme which generates and supplies power to mainland Viti Levu.
The event allowed him to urge Fiji’s youth to take up the challenge of helping build Fiji’s self-sustainability in food production by engaging in commercial farming.
“The time is right for our youth to take up this challenge,” he said.
“The Prime Minister launched the commercial agriculture program in July this year at Navosa central college in partnership with the Fiji national university. “The first batch of 30 students from Navosa will be trained in current best practices in farm and animal husbandry with the objective of improving their overall yields.”
Minister Seruiratu said he will liaise with the organisers of the training programme on how this initiative can be extended to Nadarivatu.
“Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture are here today to offer you advise you should you have agricultural related questions,” he said.
The roadshow continues this week at Nadarivatu.
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2 UGANDA AND FIJI ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
The Republic of Uganda and the Republic of Fiji formalised diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Uganda Mission to the United Nations in New York this week.
The Permanent Representative of Uganda to the United Nations, Ambassador Dr Richard Nduhuura and his Fijian counterpart, Ambassador Peter Thomson signed a joint communiqué establishing diplomatic relations between the two States.
The communiqué expresses the desire of the Republics of Fiji and Uganda to establish their diplomatic relations in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, guided by the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and international law. The communiqué calls for the promotion and strengthening of bonds of friendship and cooperation between Uganda and Fiji in political, economic, cultural, humanitarian and other fields.
Following the formalisation ceremony, Ambassadors Nduhuura and Thomson held talks on areas of common interest between their two countries, including issues currently facing the Group of 77 and China at the United Nations. In concluding the meeting, the Ambassadors assured each other of the mutual support of their Missions in the furtherance of common causes in multilateral affairs.
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3 CONFERENCE ENCOURAGES COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR FIJI’S YOUTH
A youth conference aimed at encouraging Fiji’s youth in commercial or business opportunities was held today at the Kshatriya Hall in Suva.
The event which saw the participation of 100 youth from Fiji’s central division was organised by Fiji’s Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The Ministry’s Youth Officer for the central division Shamim Banu Mohammed pointed out that a key focus of the meet was to engage more youth in the division in business opportunities including micro business opportunities.
The Ministry has been actively promoting and encouraging youth participating in commercial activities in the country such as its “Seeds of Success” program. Ms Mohammed highlighted that inorder to achieve this, there needs to be a collective commitment by all relevant stakeholders.
“Youth organizations and civil society are encouraged to organize activities that promote an increased understanding of the importance and benefits of youth participation in all aspects of society, “she said.
She said that the conference provides a platform for young people to discuss issues relating to each division and exchange information for development purposes.
The Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC) Specialist Youth trainer from Karen Philip Ross was also present to support the program with the sponsored students from 7 different pacific island countries who are enrolled in the certificate in youth work program at the school.
Also participating at the event were youth from other divisions as well as members from the Fiji Association for the Deaf.
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4 MINISTER WARNS NON REGISTERED EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
Fiji’s Minister for Labour Mr Jone Usamate has today warned unregistered employment agencies that are offering locals employment outside the country.
The head of the Labour Ministry says that they are now working with the police and immigration department to conduct investigations into complaints raised by the public on agencies posing as employment agencies that are promising locals employment opportunities outside the country.
Inorder to establish an employment agency in the country, approval and registration must be sought from the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations & Employment.
“Members of the public have a right to demand for an authorization certificate from these employment agencies who are advertising the recruitment of recruiting of Fijians for foreign”, Minister Usamate said.
“All employment agencies must adhere to the guidelines set out in the Employment Relations (Employment Agencies) Regulation 2008,” he said.
“The Ministry has so far charged one person in relation to operating an unauthorised employment agency and is investigating a number of cases in relation to people who are operating unauthorized employment agencies.”
The Ministry is urging members of the public to seek clarification before engaging the services of foreign employment agencies offering employment overseas..
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5 FIJI RUGBY TEAM RECEIVES MAJOR FINANCIAL BOOST
Positioning the development of Fiji’s sporting youth continues to show signs of commitment by the newly established “Fiji National Sporting Commission”.
This afternoon showed signs of that commitment when the Commission’s chairperson Mr Peter Mazey presented a cheque of $50,000 to the Fiji Secondary School Rugby Union as it prepares for the Fiji U18 Tri Series against Australia and New Zealand.
“From now on we will commit to funding in the area of youth development. There is a big realisation that if we want to get gold in 2016 we’ve got to look at development in all areas of sports from the youth grassroots level,” Mazey said as he presented the cheque on behalf of the Commission.
Today’s donation ceremony provided the Commission to urge various stakeholders and business houses to support and encourage sporting development amongst Fiji’s youth.
“We can’t expect Government to be the only donor at sports and we request the public to assist in such tournaments.”
“In the future we will be working with the Fiji secondary Schools Rugby Union and one of the big moves is to bring international tournaments to Fiji so that the country can benefit.”
The Queen Victoria School under-18 team will play New South Wales Country Schoolboys in its opening game on September 23.
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6 FARMERS GROW VEGETABLE ON BAUXITE AREA
The Nawailevu Bauxite mine in Vanua Levu is providing new returns for workers ; through the farming of vegetables and fruits at the site following extraction.
Workers at the site have been planting farming produce at the site once bauxite has been extracted.
While visiting the Nawailevu bauxite mine this week, a Work Permit Committee (WPC) led by the Director for Immigration Nemani Vuniwaqa were presented with farming produce grown on land that has extracted bauxite minerals.
Nawailevu Mine managing director Mr Isireli Dagaga explains that extracting bauxite from the soil leaves it fertile and allows villagers to use it for commercial farming.
“Once the top layer of soil is mined, we extract the bauxite soil out of it. Once the bauxite soil is removed, we are left with the healthy part of the soil. This healthy part of the soil is then taken back to the mined areas. With the addition of a little fertilizer you can see that vegetables are growing well in the area,” Mr Dagaga said.
“People should understand that the process of extracting bauxite soil in a way is really getting rid of the unhealthy part of the soil. Bauxite is found on the unhealthy parts of soil that is mined,” Mr Dagaga said.
Meanwhile the Work Permit Committee is comprised of the Department of Immigration, the Ministry of Labour, the Fiji Police Force, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Justice.
This committee meets on a weekly basis and deliberates on work permit cases put to it by the secretariat that is made up of permit processing officers.
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