1. CWM UNDERGOES MAJOR RENOVATIONS & EQUIPMENT PURCHASING – The Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital in Suva is undergoing major renovation works worth close to $10million.
2. FIJI AMBASSADOR ADDRESSES UN SECURITY COUNCIL – Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Peter Thomson, addressed the Security Council today in the context of the Council’s Open Debate on “Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and sub regional organisations in maintaining international peace and security”.
3. FARMERS ASSOCIATION TO SAFEGUARD BUSINESS INTERESTS – Farmers in the province of Kadavu are now working closely with government agricultural authorities to establish an association to safeguard their businesses.
4. BA STUDENTS VISIT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF FIJI – Students of Ratu Rusiate Nabuta Memorial School in Ba were today treated to a tour of the National Archives of Fiji, the agency responsible for safekeeping official and historical government records and other repository items.
1 CWM UNDERGOES MAJOR RENOVATIONS & EQUIPMENT PURCHASING
The Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital in Suva is undergoing major renovation works worth close to $10million.
As part of the renovation a number of new modern medical equipment will also be installed and commissioned.
A new urology center will be commissioned which will include a state of the art “lithotripter”.
A Lithotripter is a machine that pulverizes kidney stones by ultrasound as an alternative to their surgical removal. This will cost the Fijian Government $1.3million.
“We are also commissioning a new CT scanner. The one that we have right now is 9 years old and we saw a need for it to be replaced. Commissioning of the new CWMH CT scanner services on 30th August”, said the Health Minister Dr Neil Sharma said.
“During this process, CT scan services will be disrupted, however for serious cases the Ministry will be referring it for an MRI which is fully functional. We would like to request members of the public to bear with us since the upgrading and commissioning of new machines is done for their benefit”, Minister Sharma said.
“Apart from commissioning of all these machines, two new operation theatres will be ready at CWM by the end of this year while work on another two will be completed by mid next year. So all in all CWM will have a total of 13 operating theatres by mid next year which is a great achievement itself”, added Dr. Sharma.
Minister Sharma says with the increase in the number of operating theatres, Ministry will be recruiting more surgeons and Anesthetists to cater for the increasing need.
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2 FIJI AMBASSADOR ADDRESSES UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Peter Thomson, addressed the Security Council today in the context of the Council’s Open Debate on “Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and sub regional organisations in maintaining international peace and security”.
The Security Council meeting was chaired by the President of Argentina Cristina Kirchner.
Ambassador Thomson spoke of Fiji’s long-standing commitment to UN peacekeeping, including the recent deployment by Fiji of 501 RFMF personnel to UNDOF in the Golan Heights. He said efforts were also being undertaken in the Pacific Islands region to build on this experience and the ability of the region to contribute further to UN peacekeeping. He advised the Council of the efforts of the Melanesian Spearhead Group to develop collective peacekeeping capabilities in the area of police peacekeeping, saying that this could be used in the service of UN peacekeeping in the future. Ambassador Thomson said this initiative would be discussed with the UN through a visit to New York by an MSG delegation in the near future.
Ambassador Thomson highlighted that in all UN peacekeeping efforts, the needs of the host country must be kept paramount. He stressed that UN peacekeeping efforts should be measured against their efficacy in meeting the host country’s requirements, rather than such measures as the number of States contributing peacekeeping capabilities to any particular mission.
Open Debates of the Security Council provide an opportunity for UN Members who are not members of the Security Council to make known their views on issues of importance relating to the maintenance of international security. Fiji endeavors to participate in all such debates at the Security Council relevant to its interests.
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3 FARMERS ASSOCIATION TO SAFEGUARD BUSINESS INTERESTS
Farmers in the province of Kadavu are now working closely with government agricultural authorities to establish an association to safeguard their businesses.
The Ministry of Agriculture’s senior agriculture office in Kadavu Mr Epeli Dugucagi said they are in the process of setting up a farmers association for the various district in Kadavu to avoid high costs incurred when dealing with middlemen.
“For years Kadavu farmers have been selling their yaqona for a lower price to middlemen. These middlemen are taking the cream of the profit which was supposed to be for farmers only.
Through the association, farmers will now get their hard earned cash which they deserve,” Mr Dugucagi.
“We’ve started with yaqona farmers in the district of Tavuki and other farmers from the other districts in Kadavu have expressed that the idea of having an association will indeed benefit them,” Mr Dugucagi.
Mr Dugucagi said that they are also assisting farmers with farm sheds which especially for farmers who have farms far away from their district.
“We are also assisting farmers with their farm shed which they can build in their farms so they can camp and spend weeks in their farms. This way they can boost their production by allocating more time to planting yaqona and dalo,” Mr Dugucagi said.
“We are also engaging in planting coconut to replace the old coconut trees for their future generation. We are also trying to encourage farmers to plant more ‘dalo ni tana’ and yams because there is a need for these commodities in the Fiji market” Mr Dugucagi said.
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4 BA STUDENTS VISIT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF FIJI
Students of Ratu Rusiate Nabuta Memorial School in Ba were today treated to a tour of the National Archives of Fiji, the agency responsible for safekeeping official and historical government records and other repository items.
The school’s teacher, Mr Avinesh Kumar said his students appreciated and valued the importance of keeping the country’s history alive through the National Archives.
“In schools we teach children about the history of Fiji and it’s better for the children to come and see for themselves the pictures and the events that have unfolded over time. This will also enable the students to show greater interest in the history of our country,” Mr Kumar said.
He pointed out that the students were particularly interested in seeing the videos for the Independence Day as some of the children at the school do not have access to internet.
“The way in which the National Archives has done a marvellous task of preserving the first newspaper was also of interest to our students.”
The National Archives director, Opeta Alefaio said such visits are educational for school students as they learn about the role of the National Archives of Fiji as well getting access to information which is not available anywhere else in the country.
“What we are trying to impart to them is that we hold government’s permanent records. These records will relate to them in terms of land, which is very important for iTaukei, also documents that relate to the migration of iTaukei through the years over the different parts of Fiji,” Mr Alefaio said.
“We also have information on birth registers and marriage registers so they would be able to reconstruct their family trees. We are trying to show them that we have those resources here for them if they need them.”
The 230 students, including kindergarten students, and their teachers were taken on a brief tour of the various sections of the National Archives of Fiji.
“In the library, we have newspaper collections from the first newspaper ever in Fiji, the Fiji Times, from the first issue to the current issue. We also have the first translation of the Bible into Fijian. We also have the microfilm section where we microfilm the records so that they are able to be preserved better,” Mr Alefaio added.
“The children visited the conservation section which is the only one in the South Pacific. That section conserves the historical document. If the documents get damaged, there are specialised techniques to restore them. These things are very educational for the students.”
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