WAIKUBUKUBU JOINS FIGHT AGAINST VIOLENCE – Waikubukubu village in the interior of Tavua district, in the Ba province has joined 45 other communities in its efforts to become a violence free community.
CLOSURE OF RAKIRAKI BRIDGE ON KINGS ROAD – The Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) is advising members of the public that effective from Sunday June 30, 2013, the ‘Rakiraki Bridge located on Kings Road’ near Rakiraki Village will be closed to all traffic.
MINISTRY PRAISED FOR EARLY PLANNING – The Strategic Framework for Change Coordinating Office [SFCCO] of the Prime Minister’s Office praised the Ministry of Youth and Sports for being the first government Ministry to plan for 2014.
LITTERING CONCERNS FIRE AUTHORITY – All National Fire Authority (NFA) stations Fiji wide are currently conducting fire hydrant checks within their respective area of operation.
WAIKUBUKUBU JOINS FIGHT AGAINST VIOLENCE
Waikubukubu village in the interior of Tavua district, in the Ba province has joined 45 other communities in its efforts to become a violence free community.
Minister for Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni while presenting a certificate of commitment to the village elders congratulated them on their stance against eliminating not only violence against women and children but also eliminating crime.
“This certificate of commitment does not mean anything if you (villagers) don’t change your attitude towards violence in your homes,” Dr Luveni said.
“This is just a piece of paper but the commitment that you make to your wives, siblings, children, relatives and other villagers is more important.”
Dr Luveni reminded the violence free committee gatekeepers of the task that lay ahead towards a better Fiji for all.
“We need love and happiness in our homes and neighbourhood and I am sure that Waikubukubu will become a beacon for other villages in the district and country,” Dr Luveni said.
Waikubukubu gatekeepers committee treasurer, Laite Nadave said the commitment by the men of the villages has been welcomed by the women’s group in the village
“Women are ill treated and even some of my neighbours have been beaten in the past but we are happy that the village men have made the commitment and have shown a different attitude,” Ms Nadave said.
“We are happy that such initiatives have been implemented so that women are also given an opportunity to assist men in running of the house, although men will still be head of the house.”
Waikubukubu will now be the centre of workshops and other awareness programmes for the next 12 months and will be monitored before being declared a Violence Free Community.
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CLOSURE OF RAKIRAKI BRIDGE ON KINGS ROAD
The Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) is advising members of the public that effective from Sunday June 30, 2013, the ‘Rakiraki Bridge located on Kings Road’ near Rakiraki Village will be closed to all traffic.
The public is advised that a new bridge will be constructed following the demolition of the old bridge.
It is expected that the new bridge will take between (9) to (12) months to construct.
The FRA has arranged a detour route for all traffic travelling via the Kings Road from the Rakiraki Village going into Penang Mill access road to Rakiraki Town. Signages will be in place.
On the diversion route, a maximum speed limit of 50 KMPH applies. However, at the Rakiraki FSC Mill Bridge, all vehicles carrying a gross weight of 32 tonnages with an excess loading of 10 tonnages is permissible to access the bridge whilst not exceeding speed limit of 15km/hour.
The aerial map (attached) shows the detour route for Kings Road. FRA advises members of the public to obey all signage and speed restrictions for their safety.
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MINISTRY PRAISED FOR EARLY PLANNING
The Strategic Framework for Change Coordinating Office [SFCCO] of the Prime Minister’s Office praised the Ministry of Youth and Sports for being the first government Ministry to plan for 2014.
SFCCO deputy secretary Etuate Tunidau commended the officials of the Youth and Sports ministry while addressing the Annual Corporate Plan workshop at the Nadave Training Centre.
Mr Tunidau was invited to the workshop to explain the performance of the Ministry.
“It’s encouraging to see that you are already planning for 2014 and I commend you for the early effort,” said Mr Tunidau.
The Ministry performed extremely well in the fourth quarter of last year with a rating of 91 per cent by the SFCCO.
With an average rating given for the first quarter of 2013, the Ministry is looking forward to a high rating in the second quarter of this year.
The two-day workshop ended on Friday with officials reviewing their programmes, new project initiatives and opportunities for improvements as suggested by service excellence evaluators.
Permanent secretary, Mr Joseva Sania said the Ministry is carrying out its deliverables at a commendable level but some areas still need to be worked on.
“This workshop is also to allow us to prepare ahead for the 2014 Annual Corporate Plan as well as for the budget submissions,” Mr Sania said.
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LITTERING CONCERNS FIRE AUTHORITY
All National Fire Authority (NFA) stations Fiji wide are currently conducting fire hydrant checks within their respective area of operation.
To-date NFA firefighters have inspected 1167 fire hydrants and have come across a number of cases where underground fire hydrants are covered with rubbish.
In some cases, firefighters have reported that parts of the underground fire hydrant are missing.
NFA chief executive officer John O’Connor is requesting members of the public not to pile rubbish on top of underground fire hydrants because rubbish accumulations affect firefighting.
“It is very important for firefighters to access these fire hydrants in case of fire and any delay caused by clearing rubbish to access the fire hydrants will severely affect firefighting,” Mr O’Connor said.
Mr O’Connor is urging community members to look after fire hydrants in their area properly. These hydrants are marked by white post near the road side.
“NFA always targets to provide the best level of service to our people, but we need their assistance in such cases,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Fire hydrants are located around the country to assist the firefighters to fight fires effectively and if the fire hydrant is tempered with rubbish and other forms of wastes piled on it, then it makes our job very difficult. Locating the fire hydrant clearing it, affects our firefighting capabilities as we have to source water from other static water sources when the fire hydrants are not working because of such actions by some members of the community.”
Mr O’Connor said in such cases firefighters have no option but to look for the next nearest hydrant or sometimes travel to large distances away from the fire scene to refill water in trucks.
“Our plea to all the members of the public is to take good care of the fire hydrant and its surroundings which will enable our firefighters to carry out their duty successfully during a fire,” he said.
NFA and WAF in a joint project are currently installing new fire hydrants in identified high risk areas around towns and cities.
“We thank members of the community who having been making submissions in relation to the installation of fire hydrants in their respective areas,” Mr O’Connor said.
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