CAPTION: Dr Lee is seen here visiting the Fiji Museam with Director Museam Sagale Buadromo.
1. BA VILLAGES TO ACCESS WATER – Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has ordered the Water Authority of Fiji and Commissioner Western’s office to provide clean water to villages along the Kings Highway in Ba.
2. LANDS STRENGTHENS MONITORING MECHANISM – The Ministry of Lands & Mineral Resources permanent secretary, Tevita Boseiwaqa says the ministry is reviewing its system and processes to strengthen the monitoring of state land leases.
3. ICHCAP CHIEF VISITS CULTURAL HERRITAGE AGENCIES – The Intangible Cultural Heritage Asia Pacific (ICHCAP) director Dr Samuel Lee is on a 1-day tour in Suva visiting ICH agencies today (Monday). He visited the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture, Department of National Heritage & Arts, Fiji Arts Council, Fiji Museum and the Pacific Heritage HUB at the University of the South Pacific.
4. POLICY ON BONDING FOR CIVIL SERVANTS – Public servants will be required to serve their bond in Fiji by working in the Public Service or the sponsoring ministry after attending training and studies locally or overseas.
5. NEW MILKING STATIONS POISED TO BOOST FIJI DAIRY INDUSTRY –Two more milk chilling centres will be opened in the western division later this year as attempts are now being put in place to revive Fiji’s dairy industry.
6. 13 SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM $10,000 ASSISTANCE – The Minister for Education, Filipe Bole received a cheque of $10,000 today as assistance from Tappoos Fiji Limited for 13 secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa education district.
7. COMMISSION WORKS WITH SPORTING ORGANISATIONS – The Fiji National Sports Commission (FNSC) has called on various sporting organisations in the country to look for sources of funding to develop their respective sports.
1. BA VILLAGES TO ACCESS WATER
Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has ordered the Water Authority of Fiji and Commissioner Western’s office to provide clean water to villages along the Kings Highway in Ba.
Villagers of Sorokoba and Natunuku still do no not have proper water systems.
During his visit there recently, the Prime Minister himself noticed empty taps in these villages in Ba.
When the Prime Minister turned the tap on, he was surprised to see there was no running water. Upon enquiring, he was told that tap water was yet to reach the village.
“Water is a basic necessity and tap water must be accessible to all Fijians,” PM Bainimarama said, ordering WAF to start looking into the issue urgently.
“In this day and time no Fijian is to be deprived of access to water.”
Divisional planning officer, Mr Luke Moroivalu said they were working together with WAF to provide tap water to the villages.
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2. LANDS STRENGTHENS MONITORING MECHANISM
The Ministry of Lands & Mineral Resources permanent secretary, Mr Tevita Boseiwaqa says the ministry is reviewing its system and processes to strengthen the monitoring of state land leases.
He made the comments as the ministry collected around $2million of revenue from state land rentals in the first three months of this year.
“We are fine tuning our processes so that we can better manage state land in line with Government’s expectations of making more land accessible for productive use,” Mr Boseiwaqa added.
“This includes developing an inspection report form for all our lease inspectors in the various divisions, development of a standard operating procedure for state land dealings and harmonizing of our state land data to ensure it is consistent with what we have on the ground.”
This, Mr Boseiwaqa said, would add value to the decision making process.
While the ministry agrees there are delays in some of its processes, which at times frustrates clients and members of the public alike, Mr Boseiwaqa is hopeful the new exercise will bridge this gap.
In addition, the permanent secretary reiterated that the poor policing of state land denied Government the opportunity to generate revenue that could contribute to the nation’s socio-economic development.
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3. ICHCAP CHIEF VISITS CULTURAL HERRITAGE AGENCIES
The Intangible Cultural Heritage Asia Pacific (ICHCAP) director, Dr Samuel Lee is on a one-day tour in Suva visiting ICH agencies today (Monday).
He visited the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture, Department of National Heritage & Arts, Fiji Arts Council, Fiji Museum and the Pacific Heritage HUB at the University of the South Pacific.
Dr Lee of South Korea was most appreciative when shown a presentation of the work being done by the iTaukei Affairs, especially on cultural mapping throughout Fiji.
“Your own characteristics , family life, safeguarding of traditional knowledge in relation to traditional culture system, family life and social life for the sustainable development and peaceful relationship is something that you can share with us and let us know about that,” Dr Lee said.
ICHCAP relations with Fiji began in 2010 and this is the first time for its director to come and see for himself that assistance given by the organisation to Fiji is being used well.
Dr Lee’s visit is also to collaborate with stakeholders here and find ways he can assist them in the future.
Department of Culture and Heritage director, Mr Peni Cavuilagi said Dr Lees visit was important because in this day and age we really needed to safeguard intangible culture and tradition because it was our identity.
“UNESCO has supported the need for different cultures in the world to protect their intangible cultures during the 2003 UNESCO Convention. Dr Lee is in charge of the ICHAP which covers our region,” Mr Cavuilagi said.
The collection of intangible cultural heritage in Fiji has attracted other countries to follow and Dr Lee’s visit will enhance Fiji’s standing.
“It is basically the knowledge systems and expressions that come with it as well as, we show the world we appreciate what our ancestors have done for us, what they have used. It is our identity,” Mr Cavuilagi said.
Fiji Museum director, Ms Sagale Buadromo said Dr Lee really appreciated his visit to the museum.
“His visit is a very good because we deal a lot with intangible cultural heritage, especially in collecting oral traditions from different ethnic groups around Fiji,” Ms Buadromo said.
“And we are working on that trying to collect a lot of information, especially with black birding decedents, grimitiya and iTaukei. But we have limited staff and limited funding, so any help we can get from Korea will be good.”
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4. POLICY ON BONDING FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
Public servants will be required to serve their bond in Fiji by working in the Public Service or the sponsoring ministry after attending training and studies locally or overseas.
This is according to a new policy recently released by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
PSC permanent secretary, Parmesh Chand said that for programmes that were six (6) months or less, the bond period would be for a year. However, programmes for more than six months will have a bond period of at least two years.
“Government’s investment on candidates who go on in-service training is quite substantial and as such officers are obligated to fulfil their commitment to serving the Government upon their return from studies,” Mr Chand said.
This policy will apply to public servants who study at tertiary institutions, those who attend training and education programmes, work attachments, those sponsored by Government or Development Partners, those attending training valued at $12,000 and above and any other capacity building related programme.
“This bonding policy aims to support all government agencies in their endeavour to consolidate and sustain their human resource capacity, at an efficient and productive level. Accordingly, there is a need to introduce an encompassing bonding policy that would adequately address and have positive implications on human resource management,” he said.
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5. NEW MILKING STATIONS POISED TO BOOST FIJI DAIRY INDUSTRY
Two more milk chilling centres will be opened in the Western Division later this year as attempts are now being made to revive Fiji’s dairy industry.
This was revealed by the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama when he opened the first milk chilling centre in Ba recently.
At that event, the Prime Minister pointed out the enormous potential for the growth of the dairy industry in the Western Division. In his address, the head of government urged farmers and those aspiring to tap into this industry to take advantage of the various incentives and other opportunities being introduced.
“I know that there are plans to open another two milk chilling centres in the Western Division to cater for the high number of cattle that are here,” the Prime Minister said.
“Nothing is more important to Fiji’s future than for us to become self-sufficient in food production. This is especially so in the case of the milk industry, where our reliance on imports is unacceptably high.
“There are 12, 665 sugar cane farmers in the western division who have cattle that could contribute positively towards Fiji Dairy Limited and buying Fijian Made products.”
Southern Cross Foods Limited has confirmed that negotiations are in its final stages with Yaqara Pastoral Company to have another centre located there to cater for dairy farmers in the Rakiraki and Tavua area.
Fiji consumes 77 million litres of milk annually however, bulk of this milk is imported from New Zealand.
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6. 13 SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM $10,000 ASSISTANCE
The Minister for Education, Mr Filipe Bole received a cheque of $10,000 today as assistance from Tappoos Fiji Limited for 13 secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa education district.
The assistance will benefit 250 students from these 13 schools.
“The assistance today, I must say is really good because it will greatly benefit the students from the 13 secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa education district. The support from Tappoos is commended as this will assist students reach the highest level of secondary education,” Mr Bole said.
“This initiative from Tappoos is a testimony of collaboration from donor agencies in the promotion of quality education for our children. The theme of the ministry for this year is STEP UP and initiatives as such will surely propel education to another level.”
Tappoos executive director, Mr Kamlesh Tappoo said that they were pleased to assist students from families with low income earners.
“The aim of this initiative is to assist students access the education services needed in order for them to succeed with their dreams in life. We will continue assisting the secondary students next year through the “Seeds Programme” where students will plant seeds so they can sustain themselves, their families and also pay for their fees,” Mr Tappoo said.
The 13 schools to benefit from the assistance are Sigatoka Andhra Sangam College, Navosa Central College, Nasikawa Vision College, Sigatoka Methodist College, NadrogaArya College, Thomas Baker Memorial School, Nadroga/Navosa Provincial High School, Lomawai Secondary School, Bemana Catholic Secondary School, Kavanagasau College, Cuvu College, Sigatoka Valley High School and Nawai Secondary School.
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7. COMMISSION WORKS WITH SPORTING ORGANISATIONS
The Fiji National Sports Commission (FNSC) has called on various sporting organisations in the country to look for sources of funding to develop their respective sports.
Commission executive chairman, Peter Mazey said the issue of funding was ongoing and sporting organisations needed to organise fundraising, in addition to getting financial assistance from the FNSC.
It is clearly stated in a National Sports Policy that the FNSC is set up to establish higher standards of excellence in all sports delivery systems.
“Future planning and greater accountability of federations and sporting bodies should be enforced by the commission, recognising that individual sports federations are bound by rules and regulations of their international federations,” Mr Mazey said.
He added the 150 per cent tax rebate announced in the national budget was also a big funding source for the commission and an incentive for corporate sponsorship.
“We had meetings with the Ministry of Finance and FRCA on that very issue last week, because at the moment there is 150 per cent tax rebate available to any business that donates in cash $100,000 or more,” Mr Mazey said
“About 2.5 per cent of the sponsored sum is allocated, through a ministerial fund to the development minor sports in Fiji.
“We are also looking at a number of other sources of income and money that is available which we have missed out on. All of this is going to be put into one big pot and we would all be using it to develop sports and physical activity in the country.
”Later on, we’d go to the individual funding that we have available right now.”
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