The Jet Volume 7 Number 1

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Fiji Airways welcomed homeits latest ATR72-600 aircraft for itsdomestic subsidiary Fiji Link onFriday, December 23, 2014.

The new aircraft arrived at theFiji Airways Hangar in Nadi af-ter a long journey from Toulouse,France.

Fiji Link staff members werepresent at the Hangar to greet thenew aircraft which was followed

JANUARY 2015. ISSUE 60 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

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By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Fiji Airways Receives Second ATR 72-600 for Fiji Link

by the Vakamamaca (welcome) cer-emony.With the planned acquisition

announced by Fiji Airways in Janu-ary last year, it will contribute tothe fulfilment of the airlines stra-tegic growth and five-year MasterPlan.

The Master Plan is designed togrow Fiji Airways capacity in thePacific islands region by 86.6%.

The new 600 series aircraft isexpected to offer greater passen-ger capacity and connectivity in

the region as it is equipped withthe latest in aviation safety andtechnology, as well as the award-winning ergonomic cabin designand functionality.

Fiji Airways Managing Directorand CEO Stefan Pichler said theexcitement always builds strongeras they welcome new members intheir aircraft family.

These are exciting times forus. The ATR 72-600 will help bringabout enhanced connectivity inour regional network through the

development of routes.It will also complement ourcurrent regional schedules operat-ed by the 72-600, like Apia (Samoa)and Port Vila (Vanuatu) flights.

ATR72-600 is on lease from Ire-land-based Nordic Aviation Capital(NAC).

The aircraft was officially hand-ed over to Fiji Link General Man-ager Shaenaz Voss in Toulouse,France before it made way to itsnew home in Fiji.

The new Fiji Links second ATR 72-600 touches down at Nadi International Airport.

INSET: Captains Tolja Henningsen and Maline Skorstesgard who brought the aircra from Toulouse France. Pho-tos: MUNAUWAR KHAN.


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THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER2

FROM THE DESK

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

Fiji - the way the world should be Being the hub of the Pacic, Fiji has everything that a spectacular tropical paradise has to oer -

from private island resort accommodations, top class restaurants to white sandy beaches, inbound

tours, jet boat rides, hot air balloon rides, mountain trekking, inland tours, eco tourism, sky diving,

helicopter rides, cruise trips, scuba diving, massage and beauty parlours, vibrant night life and a

lot more than any other destination in the world oers

q SALOTE QALUBAU

THE JETis Fijis rst community newspaper published bi-monthlybyYOURSPACE LIMITEDfrom Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.

PUBLISHER : SAMUEL SHANKAR Cell: 9966115

EDITOR : ANUSHIL KUMAR Cell: 9203847PRODUCTION : MUNAUWAR KHAN Cell: 9222456

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Life Cinema Brings Smiles toPeople of NadiBy PATRICK LAL and

SALOTE QALUBAU

The Fiji police force isurging parents and guard-ians to be cautious of theirchildrens whereabouts dueto recent reports of sexualabuse.

Children are vulnerableespecially in the presenceof strangers which is whywe cannot stress enoughthe importance of keepinga close eye on them at alltimes, said Assistant Com-missioner of Police andChief of Investigations Intel-ligence Henry Brown.

You cannot afford to

Police Advise Parents to Prioritize

Safety of Childrenbe complacent about theirsafety and should be mind-ful of who they are with andwhat they are doing.

ACP Brown highlightedhis concern about certaincases whereby childrenwere often ignored evenafter relaying the matter totheir parents or a guardianwhich leaves them in a vul-nerable state.

Its worrying when achild is not taken seriouslyby those who are supposedto be protecting their well-being and interests. If theycant rely on us then whoelse can they turn to in theirtime of need, ACP Brownadded.

He emphasized on thecrucialilty of parents and

guardians placing the pro-tection of their childrenabove all other aspects.

Holding a soft opening forthe people of Nadi, the new-ly opened life cinema basedin Martintar Nadi opened itsdoors for business on Friday,December 7, 2014.

Anyone is welcome to

come in, the foyer is set upso that anyone can comein and enjoy the space. Its20 to 50 metres long withbig seats, this is here for thepeople of Nadi to enjoy,said Life Cinemas GeneralManager, Hamish McGuire.

The cinema has a to-tal of four theatres and forfrequent movie goers, theprice range for a normalmainstream ticket is $8.00,3D movies are also $8.00with the added cost of $2.00for the 3D glasses which thegeneral public will be al-lowed to take home.

V.I.P seats, which were

under construction duringthe soft opening ceremony,cost $20.00, while Dmax the-atre prices costs $10.00.

The kitchen and the bararea are behind time andwill come up very soon,andwere pretty much hav-ing sessions from 10amthrough till 9.30pm and thenwe will expand or move oursessions accordingly going

from our first figures andanalysis that we will do.

The response from thepeople of Nadi has beenamazing I havent seen oneperson not take a photo.

Our first movie wasNight at the museum 3 andthen they stagger throughthe rest of the day. Thefirst session of PK was alsoscreened on the day of this

soft opening and its been asuccessful start.

The welcoming atmo-sphere, new style of the cin-emas food emporium andcomfortable seats providean atmosphere of ease toavoid congestion within thefoyer while waiting for mov-ie screenings.

The new Life Cinema in Nadi which has already started its operation.Photo: SALOTE QALUBAU.

The newly appointedCommissioner for the West-ern Division, Manasa Tagi-cakibau, will strengthen thework carried out by his pre-decessors to develop the di-vision.

Commissioner Tagi-

cakibau said he is preparedto undertake governmentsvision of improving servicedelivery and to improve thelives of ordinary Fijians livingin the division.

I am ready for the chal-lenge and am looking for-

ward to continuing the levelof service delivery as mypredecessors CommanderJoeli Cawaki and Luke Mo-roivalu, he said.

They have certainly setthe bar and which I hopeto continue and emulate to

ensure that the people ofthe western division contrib-ute positively towards theirfamilies, community and thenation.

He added the western di-vision played an importantrole in Fijis socio-economic

development; in particularthe role played by the tour-ism and sugar industry.

The western division isa very critical componentof the Fijian economy as thehub of economic activitiesand that is why implemen-

tation of government poli-cies and programmes areequally important, Mr Tagi-cakibau said.

I would also like to re-affirm to the communitiesin the four provinces ofgovernments commitment

New Commissioner Readyto Take on Western Challenge

Newly appointed Commissioner Western Lt. Col Manasa Tagicakibau during the

handing over ceremony by former Acting Commissioner Mr Luke Moroivalu. Photo:SUPPLIED

q DEPTFO

towards better living stan-dards and infrastructure.

My former post as Direc-tor NDMO has equipped meto take on the challenges

and knowing that the divi-sion is a disaster prone one, Iam ready to part knowledgeon the field in the westerndivision.

Mr Tagicakibau start-ed with his new role onWednesday, January 7.


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THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 3

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PRIME MINISTERS NEW YEARS ADDRESS

Rear Admiral J. V. Bainimarama, CF(Mil), OSt.J, MSD, jssc, psc

Hon. Prime Minister and Minister for iTaukei Affairs and Sugar IndustryPRIME MINISTERS NEW YEARS ADDRESS 2015

My Fellow Fijians,Bula vinaka and a very

Happy New Year to you all.Once again, another year

is upon us. And as we moveinto 2015, we can all reflecton the achievements of thepast year and our hopes forthe future both for our-selves and our families andour beloved nation.

No Fijian can doubt theimportance of 2014 by anystandards, a monumentalyear in our history.

It was the year in which

we embarked on our newand true democracy, a year

in which Fijians voted over-whelmingly for a new begin-ning.

In our landmark electionon 17 September, we deci-sively turned our backs as anation on the divisions of thepast and opted instead foran inclusive future of hopeand great promise.

By embracing a commonand equal citizenry and de-claring every citizen a Fijian,the Fijian people rejected

the voices of disunity amongus and set us on a new path.

In the process, we shat-tered many of the assump-tions about politics in Fiji that it would always berace-based and favour theelite. We drew a line un-der the politics of fear andshowed we were no longerprepared to be manipulated.

We voted for unity, for equalopportunity for every Fijianno matter who we are orwhere we come from. Andin doing so, we have finallygiven ourselves a shot attrue nationhood. One Fijiwith freedom and justice forall.

It was a genuine turningpoint in our nations fortunesand we are already reapingthe benefits as the rest ofthe world recognises our re-markable achievement.

It is a wonderful privilegefor me to have been givenyour confidence and trustto take us forward. But this

has been your victory - a vic-tory of common sense anddecency and a vote of con-fidence in a better future forourselves and generations ofFijians to come.

My fellow citizens, thechallenge now is to capital-ize on the events of the pastfew months. To build on oureducation revolution. Tobuild on the improvementsin our infrastructure such asroads, electricity and water.

To build on the advantagemy Government has createdof a vastly improved econ-omy growing by more thanfour per cent a year.

There is still much to bedone to catch up as a na-tion on the lost years. Theyears we squandered argu-ing about who deservedmore when we should have

been building a better futurefor everyone. The years inwhich selfish elites put theirown interests above thecommon good and ordinaryFijians were deprived ofsome of the necessities andopportunities of life.

In 2014, we put thoseyears behind us. And in thecoming year, we are spend-ing more than 3 billion dol-lars to move our nation for-ward, around a third of thatimproving our infrastructure.

To the many thousandsof Fijians affected by watercuts in recent times, I wantto say this: For 50 years,

successive governmentsneglected to maintain or re-place our pipes. But on theback of our growing econ-omy, I am determined tofinally fix the problem onceand for all. The same goesfor our roads and bridgesand our transport links withmaritime communities,who didnt see a new shipfor nearly 40 years until wecame along.

And so my fellow Fiji-

ans.The coming year will be

about putting the properstructures in place to carryus into the future. The prop-er structures in our econo-my to maintain the growthwe are now experiencing;the proper infrastructure tokeep trade flowing and im-prove our export earnings;

the proper restructuring ofthe Civil Service to make itmore efficient and improveits ability to serve our needs.

All this is to fulfill our vi-sion of Fiji as a truly modernnation- state in which a pop-ulation that is better educat-ed can get jobs that are bet-ter paid and more satisfying;in which Fijian-made goodsbecome a byword for qualitythe world over; in which Fijicements its place as a pre-eminent Pacific Island na-tion and a respected voicein the world.

We were greatly blessedin 2014 when 45 of our UN

peacekeepers were freed af-ter two weeks in captivity inSyria. Their courage and for-titude impressed us all andimpressed the world. And itunderlined our importanceto the global community -a small Pacific Island stateable and willing to serve introubled parts of the worldand doing so with courageand distinction.

My fellow Fijians,All in all, 2014 was a mag-

nificent year for Fiji. As weturn our eyes to 2015, I ampersonally convinced thatgreatness lies over the hori-zon. And we have our sightsset as a Government on tak-ing us there.

It is traditionally a timefor resolutions so today letus make some together as anation.

Let us resolve to remainunited. Let us be patriotic -to love our nation and putits interests above our own.And let us love and care foreach other, and especiallythose among us who areless fortunate.

As our economy im-proves, it is they who de-serve more of our nationalresources. And Im proudthat in our spending priori-ties for the year ahead, somany are aimed at povertyalleviation and creating sus-tained livelihoods.

As the old year gives wayto the new, let us, above

all, thank God for our manyblessings and rededicateourselves to the task ofbuilding a better Fiji.

Wherever you are on thisNew Years Day, I wish youall a very happy and pros-perous 2015.

Vinaka vakalevu.Thank you.

Prime Minister VoreqeBainimarama paid a sur-prise visit to senior residentsand staff at the Golden AgeHome in Lautoka on Satur-day, January 3.

Accompanied by his fam-ily, the head of the Fijiangovernment took time tomeet with the senior citizens

living at the nursing home inNatabua, Lautoka.For the homes supervi-

sor, Ms Tara Naresh, surprisevisit by the Prime Ministerwas a gesture that was ap-preciated by everyone, par-ticularly for the residents atthe home.

It was really nice of thePrime Minister to come andsee us; many of these resi-dents dont have a familyand their faces lit up whenthey saw him coming, MsNaresh said.

Ms Naresh also requested

the Prime Minister to lookinto assisting them with re-pair works at the home in-cluding a new walkway toshelter the residents.

The Prime Minister com-municated this request tothe Divisional Commis-sioner Western ManasaTagicakibau to carry out in-

spection at the home and tofacilitate repair works.The Golden Age Home

which currently looks aftermore than 40 senior citi-zens, was the former site ofthe Natabua Primary Schoolin the 1960s.

Prime Minister Bainima-rama attended the sameprimary school before it wasrelocated.

PM Makes Surprise

Visit to SeniorLautoka Residents

q DEPTFO

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama with his family and the residents and sta at the Golden Age Home in Lautoka. Photo:DEPTFO.


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LOCAL NEWS

Extension of the Rent Freeze OrderThe Minister for Industry,

Trade and Tourism Hon. Fai-yaz Siddiq Koya has extend-ed the freeze on residentialrents for another year, untilDecember 31, 2015, basedon the advice received fromthe Fiji Commerce Commis-sion.

The current freeze wasdue to come to an end on 31

December 2014, however,keeping in mind the needto maintain a certain level ofcontrol to ensure fair treat-ment of tenants, the Ministryhas decided to extend theCommerce (Rent IncreaseRestriction and GroundRent) Order for another

year, Minister Koya said.In accordance with the

Order, a person must notraise the rent for residentialtenancies above the levelthat was applicable to thesame premises as at 31 De-cember 2014.

The Minister explainedthat, traditionally, rent con-trol was imposed to counter

inflation and regularise animperfect housing market,however, now it also servesthe broader purpose of en-suring protection for all Fi-jian consumers.

Amongst other initiativesannounced in the 2015 Bud-get, by further extending the

rent freeze, the Fijian Gov-ernment will ensure that it isfulfilling its obligation of pro-viding access to adequatehousing at reasonable cost,the Minister said.

However, the Govern-ment also has an obliga-tion to ensure that both thelandlord and tenant are pro-tected.

Therefore, next year, theMinistry, the Fiji CommerceCommission and the So-licitor Generals Office willwork towards developinga Residential Tenancy Lawthat will provide appropriatelevel of protection to tenantsand also ensure that the in-

terests of landlords are pro-tected.

He also said the legisla-tion will be aimed at pro-tecting the rights of both thelandlord and tenant, as wellas ensuring fair treatmentand fair play in the market.

In the meantime, land-lords are encouraged tocontinue to register with

the Fiji Commerce Com-mission and to maintainproper records, as per therequirements of the Com-mission. These records anddocuments include LettingAgreements and receipts.

q DEPTFO

Government Officials Pay Tribute to the

Late Manasa Vaniqi at Funeral ServiceThe former permanent

secretary for the Ministry ofSugar Industry, the Late Ma-nasa Vaniqi, was laid to restat the Enamanu cemetery inNadi after a church serviceat the Namaka MethodistChurch on Friday, January 9.

The funeral was attendedby His Excellency the Presi-dent Ratu Epeli Nailatikau,Prime Minister Hon. VoreqeBainimarama, cabinet min-isters senior military of-ficials and those from thesugar industry.

Director Sugar VilliameGucake and Commander ofthe Fiji Military Forces Mo-

sese Tikoitoga were among

those who delivered eulo-gies on behalf of the mili-tary and the sugar ministrywhere he served.

Mr Vaniqis contributionsto the sugar industry at atime when the industry wasat its lowest and immenselycontributed towards bring-ing the industry back on itsfeet, Mr Gucake said.

He (Mr Vaniqi) alwaysled from the front and alsobrought all the sugar indus-try stakeholders togetherachieving success for anindustry that has continuedto grow from the last three

years.

Vaniqi was best de-scribed as being resilientand tenacious when it cameto duty but was humble andmodest in his interpersonalrelations.

Lt. Col Vaniqi was aman who has served in themilitary in various roles andexcelled in all the duties as-signed to him. Apart frombeing a man of humour, hisadvises have always beennoted as he continued tomentor those younger thanhim, Republic of Fiji Mili-tary Forces CommanderBrigadier General Mosese

Tikoitoga said.

The 62-year-old had anillustrious career in the civilservice rising through theranks to Permanent Secre-tary in 2007.

Fiji Sugar Corporationexecutive chairman AbdulKhan said Mr Vaniqi wouldbe missed by the industryand his contributions couldnot be measured.

The Late Manasa Vaniqiwas also on the board of theFiji Development Bank, theSugar Research Institute ofFiji and was Chairman of theSugar Cane Growers Fund.

q DEPTFO

Increase in the Priceof Locally Produced

Exercise BooksAn in-house survey of ex-

ercise books conducted bythe Consumer Council of Fijiclearly shows an increasein the price of some locally-produced exercise books.

Just like the Council, par-ents also expected the priceof locally produced exercisebooks to remain same or re-duced as a result of competi-tion.

This years survey wascarried out in 12 retail outletswhich looked at the prices ofsome of the most commonlypurchased brands and booktypes. The survey found thatof 85 types of exercise bookssurveyed, more than 30%(26 types) have had price in-creases compared to pricesgathered in the same periodin 2014 and immediatelyafter the budget announce-ment in November 2014. Atotal of 18 books (21.2%)dropped in price, while 35books had no price changefrom 2014.

The Council is disap-pointed that some retailershad increased the prices onsome locally produced exer-cise books such as Oxfordand Ivola, which are widelyavailable in the marketplace.

After the survey, theCouncil contacted the ma-jor exercise book manufac-turers who confirmed thatthey had not increased the

wholesale price of the lo-cally produced books.

The Government had in-troduced 32 per cent dutyon imported exercise booksas announced in the 2015national budget, assuringthat this would not result inincrease in prices of locallymade exercise books.

The Council contactedthe retailers who were sell-ing locally produced exer-cise books at a higher priceto understand the rationalebehind this increase. Oneretailer blamed his staff forputting wrong price tag onthe exercise books whileanother retailer gave ex-cuse that they had droppedthe price of text books andto recover this cost, they in-creased the price of exercisebooks.

With parents rushingto round-off their back toschool shopping, the Coun-cil is once again calling onthe families to compare theprices of the items in partic-ular the exercise books be-fore spending their money

Parents are also advisedto watch out for qualitywhen buying school itemssuch as shoes, bags, station-ary and exercise books.

Ms. Premila KumarCEO Consumer Council ofFiji


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LOCAL NEWS

The burden of buyingschool text books for theyear 2015 will be eased forparents.

This was conveyed afterthe Ministry of Educationconfirmed all the text bookswill be provided by its par-

ent body which is in the pro-cess of printing materials forclasses and subjects.

All these materials willbe transported to all theSchools in Fiji once the print-ing is completed.

The Schools, for thetime-being, can use the ma-terials that they have in theirpossession from last year.

Heads of Schools havebeen informed by the Minis-try not to provide a text booklist to any students/parentsand the teachers have beenasked to use the same mate-rials from last year until fullset of materials are provided

by the Ministry.Education Minister Dr Ma-

hendra Reddy made theseannouncements to his se-nior staff earlier this month.

Parents and guardiansare to be relieved of buyingprescribed text books by theMinistry of Education.

All students in the prima-

ry and secondary schoolswill be provided with a setof the prescribed text bookby March of this year at thelatest.

Teachers are to ensurethat each student have ac-cess to all prescribed textbook for their relevant sub-ject.

Soft copies of the full setof materials, which will beavailable for download onMinistrys home page (on-line), will also be providedto the schools which the stu-dents can make copies fortheir use if they have accessto computers at home.

Text Books Provided for Students

Rice Experts to Implement

$10million Development Program

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

q DEPTFO

q DEPTFO

Change in FNU Vice ChancellorshipThe Hon. Minister for Edu-

cation, Heritage and Arts andChairman of the Fiji NationalUniversity Council, Dr Ma-hendra Reddy announcedthe change in leadership atthe Fiji National University.

I wish to announce to-day (December 29) that theCouncil in its last meetingheld last week has agreed toa change in the Vice Chan-cellorship of the Fiji NationalUniversity, Dr Reddy said.

Following discussions inthe Council meeting for a re-direction and consolidation

of the Universitys strategicfocus, the Chairperson ofthe University Council, theUniversity Council and theVice Chancellor have mu-tually agreed that the ViceChancellors employmentcontract be brought to anend before the expiry of thesame. The mutual parting ofways has been amicable.

The Council has ap-pointed Prof. Ian Rouse, theDean of the College of Medi-cine, Nursing and HealthSciences as Acting ViceChancellor of the University.

Professor Rouse bringswith him vast internationalexperience and has to dateprovided excellent lead-ership of FNUs Collegeof Medicine, Nursing andHealth Sciences.

The Council notes andacknowledges the excellentcontribution Dr Chand hasprovided in developing theFiji National University andwishes to place on recordhis leadership in the amal-gamation of the six nationalInstitutions into a Universitythat Fiji now calls its own

University.The Council of the Fiji

National University reiter-ated its appreciation of Dr.Chands dynamic leadershipof the University.

The University Council isfull of praise for Dr GaneshChand. Having worked withthe Vice Chancellor overthe past five years, and hav-ing seen his leadership firsthand, I echo these senti-ments as well. Dr. Chandwas always on his toes. Hewas full of energy and de-termination to make the

University a credible anda leading university. It was

his strategic thinking, andhis drive, enthusiasm andpassion that saw the rapiddevelopment of the Univer-

sity, concluded Dr Reddy.The Fiji National Universi-

ty Council wishes Dr Chandwell in his future endeav-ours.

A team of rice expertsfrom China is in Fiji to im-plement a $10million RiceDevelopment Program inVanua Levu.

The Ministry of Agricul-ture acting permanent sec-retary Mr Uraia Waibuta said

the team is in the countryto demonstrate and trainfarmers and agriculture of-ficers on the technologiesto increase rice production,to improve local varieties

and introduce best cultiva-tion techniques to local ricefarmers.

The team including twoRice Breeders will work atthe Northern Dreketi Irriga-tion Project on 200 hectaresof rice land extension and

also at the Koronivia Re-search Station for rice seedsexperiment and research.

A memorandum of un-derstanding (MOU) betweenthe Peoples Republic of

China and the Fijian Govern-ment was signed last year toboost rice production in Fiji.

The China ShandongInternational Economicand Technical Coopera-tion Group Limited (CSI) intechnical partnership with

world known hybrid riceseeds company, Yuan Long-ping HighTech AgricultureCompany Limited will worktogether with the Ministryof Agriculture in producing

more rice locally.Fiji currently imports

$40million worth of rice an-

nually and the assistanceprovided by the rice expertsis an opportunity for Fiji to

reduce its rice import bill.

Chicken Express (Fiji)Limited, the specialist fastservice chicken takeawaycompany is proud to an-nounce that it has becomean advocate for road safetyin Fiji by partnering with the

Land Transport Authority.The two parties havesigned a one-year sponsor-ship agreement that will al-low Chicken Express (Fiji)Limited to display a LandTransport Authority (LTA)road safety message onspeeding and contact detailsto the Authoritys NationalCall Centre on its dual facebillboard which is located inOlosara Sigatoka, until De-cember 2015.

Mr Naisa Tuinaceva, ChiefExecutive Officer of LTA hasexpressed his sincere grati-

tude to Chicken Express(Fiji) Limited for working inpartnership with the Author-ity.

LTA is grateful for thiskind gesture and we are ex-tremely delighted to know

that LTA is not alone in thefight to stop accidents onour roads, remarked Mr Tu-inaceva.

Bill board advertising isa very powerful medium tohighlight road safety mes-sages for our motorists, pe-destrians and all road users.

Chicken Express FijiLimited has chosen a stra-tegic location since thearea is considered a redspot, many lives have beenclaimed in the spot and weare confident that with theirtimely sponsor together we

can save many lives on ourroads.

The LTA needs supportfrom corporate entities tocarry out awareness on roadsafety.

Chicken Express (Fiji)

Limited has also includeda road safety message to-gether with contact detailsto the Authoritys NationalCall Centre on its 2015 yearlycalendar which is being dis-tributed to its customers.

Speeding is the numberone killer in the past tenyears, therefore the Author-ity will be carrying out moreawareness in this area thisyear.

The LTA is facilitating gov-ernments Decade of RoadSafety for Action 2011-2020initiative launched in 2011

which is aimed at reducingthe number of deaths on ourroads.

Fijis lowest death tollwas recorded in 2012 and2013 with only 41 victims peryear.

In 2014, 49 people losttheir lives on our roads. Mostspeeding cases are being re-corded on Western Divisionroads.

An analysis of the figuresshowed the West recorded29 of the 49 fatalities, a simi-lar trend recorded in 2013where of the 41 fatalities, 26were in the Western region.

This is an alarming figureand the LTA is once againcalling on all road users toexercise extra caution whenusing the road.

Chicken Express Fiji Promotes Road Safety

q PRESS RELEASE

Senior sta of the Ministry of Agriculture with the rice experts from China.Photo: SUPPLIED.

The Chicken Express billboard in Sigatoka showing the LTAroad safety message on speeding and contact details to theAuthoritys National Call Centre. Photo: SUPPLIED.


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LOCAL NEWS

It was an emotional yetjoyous moment for proudparents Basant Kumar andBen Kumar as their daugh-

ter Sheenal Priyanka madea perfect end to her collegelife.

The 19-year-old SwamiVivekananda College stu-dent scored a total mark of373 in the Fiji Year 13 Cer-tificate Examination record-ing the highest mark in theWestern division and anoverall of fifth highest in thenational rankings.

Speaking to The Jet,Sheenal expressed her ex-citement and revealed thesecret behind her success.

I am overjoyed. I am re-ally glad that I was able toend my high school life on

such a high note, she said.I had always worked

hard since the beginning of

Sheenal Shinesthe year. I tried my best notto procrastinate. One thing Irealised was that we have toalways be attentive in classand participate in discus-sions and that really paiddividend to me at the end.

Sheenal scored 96 in

Mathematics, 95 in Account-ing, 94 in Economics, 88 inEnglish and 85 in ComputerStudies.

She said she is lookingforward to pursue her stud-ies in overseas institutions ifgiven a chance.

After receiving my re-sults, I am considering over-seas institutions as well. Ifnot, then my second optionis University of the South Pa-cific, she mentioned.

To accomplish success,Sheenal also had a shortmessage for all her peers.

I would like to recom-mend my peers to be hum-

ble in victory and gracious indefeat, she concluded.The highest mark in the

Year 13 Examination (previ-ously known as Fiji SeventhForm Examination) is 379and was scored by NischalRaj of Jai Narayan Collegewhile the overall percent-age pass is 79.7%. This is anincrease of 4.5% when com-

pared to the 75.2 % pass rateof 2013.Meanwhile, the Minister

for Education, Heritage andArts, Dr Mahendra Reddycongratulated all those stu-dents that passed their Year13 Certificate Examination.

The door is now openfor students to pursue theircareer and is also an oppor-tune time to secure financialassistance from the TSLBin the form of Toppers andLoans Scheme. The gov-ernment has provided thisassistance to ensure thatstudents achieve their goalsin life and contribute to the

society that groomed them,remarked the Minister.For those that fail the

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

exams, there is still roomfor further studies. They canrepeat the examination orpursue bridging courses thatwill allow them to fulfill theiraims and dreams in life.

We want to see that all

students proceed in variousfields of study and secure orcreate employment in the

future. We will now analyse

the results by school andsubject to identify whichschools need more attentionand which subjects studentshave performed poorly so

that resources are directedtowards addressing theseweaker areas.

The detailed data will bemade available to Schooladministrators, Heads, Headof Departments and teach-ers so that they take appro-priate action in ensuring thatperformance bar is raised.

New Hospital to Open in Lautoka

People of Lautoka willhave better access to healthfacilities by the end of thismonth.

The Memorandum ofAgreement (MOA) for thenew hospital was signed be-tween the Ministry of Healthand Punjas Group of compa-nies at the Punjas Headqua-ters in Lautoka on Friday,January 9.

Health Minister Jone Usa-mate was grateful to thePunja family as a whole forthe wonderful contributiontowards the health servicesin Fiji.

We in the Ministry ofHealth know that in ourmarch towards the visionthat we have of coming upwith a healthy population,

we need a caring health

care delivering system,something that cannot bedelivered by the governmentalone, Mr Usamate said.

Today the governmentis very grateful to you (Pun-jas) and others like you thatare willing to provide theresources so that we canpropagate this message oflooking after the health forthe people of Fiji.

On behalf of the Govern-ment, thank you very much.We will make sure that theservices we provide therewill be of assistance to ev-erybody in this country. Imust thank the Punjas Chari-table Trust for doing all thissince many years before.

On behalf of the Govern-ment, we look forward to avery successful collabora-tion.

Director Punja & SonsLtd, Mr Rajesh Punja waspleased to sign the MOAwith the Ministry of Health.

We are delighted to besigning this Memorandum ofAgreement for a new medi-cal center for the citizens ofLautoka, Mr Punja said.

Punjas, since its incep-tion in 1935 has kept thecommunity at heart and thisproject is our way of contrib-

uting to the health and well-being of people and makingtheir lives better.

The Punja Charity Trusthas taken the initiative topartner with the governmentof Fiji and in particular theMinistry of Health and Medi-cal Services in providing thisservice to people so theycan get quicker and qualityhealth care without crowd-ing our hospitals.

A total of $500,000 hasbeen invested for this proj-ect that has an ambulancebay, nursing station, twoconsultation rooms, rampfor bed transfers, recordsroom, pharmacy, staff kitch-

en, cleaning room, changeroom with shower facilitiesand amenities for the dis-abled.

We believe that health is

wealth and all efforts should

be made to maintain andpromote this. This year, wemark 80 years in service andwhat better way to com-memorate this than with a

gift of good health.

The official opening ofthe new facility is expectedto take place on January 24.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

UniFiji Farewells Mr Joji UluinakauvadraThe outgoing Director of

the Centre of iTaukei Stud-ies in the University of Fiji,Mr Joji Uluinakauvadra wasfarewelled by the staff of theUniversity at Saweni Cam-pus on Friday, January 9.

He started with the Cen-tre in Semester two, July2007.

The Registrar of the Uni-versity, Mr Kamlesh Arya,in his words of farewellhighlighted the early daysof the University when thefounding Director Mr. FilipeBole had handpicked MrUluinakauvadra to take overfrom him when he joinedthe Interim Government in2007. Master Joji then actedas the Director for Semester2 before he became a con-firmed Director of the Cen-tre from 2008 until 2014.

The staff members of theUniversity who were pres-

ent had put together a greatmorning tea with all formali-ties observed. Master Joji inhis speech thanked the AryaPratinidhi Sabha (APS) fortrusting him with the direc-torship and for employinghim.

He thanked the Senateand the Council, both the

past and present staff andthose that were present forthe contributions and sup-port rendered towards himduring his service. Mr. Ulu-inakauvadra advised thestaff present to enjoy theirwork.

The 78-year-old was ateacher, a soldier and a poli-tician. In his final speech, hestated that whilst lecturingthe Law students at the Suvacampus in 2014, he realizedhe could not stand up towrite. He decided there andthen that he had to end his

teaching career at the end oflast year.

During his handing overof the keys to the office ofthe Centre of iTaukei stud-ies, he advised the InterimDirector to be strong andcontinue with the vision andmission of the Centre andachieve their goals.

Mr Uluinakauvadra ad-vised Mrs Salome Rokutaand Mrs Amelia Tuilevuka touphold the vision, missionand goals of the Centre intheir daily work.

He then prayed for thestaff and the Centre beforehe finally closed the door totake his leave. He was ac-companied to his transportby the two ladies where hefinally bid them farewell.

q UNIFIJI

Sheenal Priaynka (right) with her proud father BasantKumar showing her hard-earned marks achieved inthe Fiji Year 13 Certicate Examination. Photo: SUP-PLIED.

Punjas Group chairman Kanti Punja (middle) hands over the keys to Health Minister Jone Usa-mate (right) and Assistant Health Minister Veena Bhatnagar (le) during the MOA signing at thePunjas Headquarters in Lautoka. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.

Mr Joji Uluinakauvadra with the Registrar of the University of Fiji, Pt Kamlesh AryaPhoto: SUPPLIED.


8/24


9/24



LOCAL NEWS

Vendors Sign Agreement for Food Voucher Programme

Improved Accessto Australian

Market for FijianTCF ProductsThe Fijian Textile, Cloth-

ing and Footwear (TCF) in-

dustry is set to benefit from

more favourable access for

exports to the Australian

market, with the implemen-

tation of the Developing

Country (DC) Preferences

by the Australian Govern-

ment earlier this month.

The Minister for Indus-

try, Trade and Tourism Hon.

Faiyaz Siddiq Koya, said this

was a very positive develop-

ment for the TCF industry in

Fiji.

The DC Preferences

will provide Fijian exports

more favourable terms of

access into the Australian

market than the previous

South Pacific Regional Trade

and Economic Cooperation

AgreementTextile, Clothing

and Footwear (SPARTECA-

TFC) Scheme, allowing for

easier and simpler qualifica-

tion requirements for duty

free entry, Mr Koya said.The Minister added the

new rules will allow for

greater flexibility for export-

ers to source raw materials

from more efficient and cost

effective sources, outside of

Australia and the Pacific Re-

gion.

The Fijian TCF export-

ers, for example, will now

be able to procure textiles,

including woollen materials,

from developing countries

such as China, Bangladesh,

India, Thailand and Viet-

nam, and then convert these

into finished garments for

duty free export into Austra-

lia, he explained.

Such flexibility was not

included in the earlier

SPARTECA-TCF Scheme.

And, for the first time, wool

products are included as

part of the new flexible

rules. After 13 years of exis-

tence, the SPARTECATCF

Scheme expired on Decem-

ber 31 last year.

The Scheme is now re-

placed by the Developing

Country (DC) Preferences

under the Australian System

of Tariff Preferences.

This comes after a re-

quest by the Fijian Govern-

ment to the Australian Min-

ister for Foreign Affairs, Hon.

Julie Bishop, for an exten-

sion and a review, with the

view to improve the terms

and the rules, of the previous

SPARTECA-TCF Scheme.

The Australian market

accounts for 85 percent of

the total Fijian TCF exports,

and there is potential for

further expansion of exports

and investment in the indus-

try, with the new and more

favourable market access

conditions in 2015, said the

Minister.

Minister Koya said the

Fijian Government over the

past 6 years has assisted

the TCF sector through a

marketing grant that has en-

abled the industry playersto group together to explore

new markets and reinforce

themselves in the existing

markets.

The FijiFirst Government

will continue to explore

ways to support the further

development of the TCF In-

dustry, he said.

The TCF industry is an

integral contributor to the

Fijian economy, providing

employment to about 5,500

workers, majority of whom

are women, and comprises

a significant component of

Fijian exports in the manu-

facturing sector.

The Fijian TCF industry is

re-establishing itself to man-

ufacture high-end fashion

garments that require faster

and high quality production.

Details on the Australian

Developing Country Pref-

erences can be obtained

from the Ministry of Industry

Trade and Tourism.

The Ministry of Women,Children and Poverty Allevi-ation has signed agreementwith authorised food ven-dors for the continuity of thegovernments Food VoucherProgramme.

The official agreementsigning between the Min-istry and Carpenters Fiji

Limited (Morris Hedstrom),Dhan Raj Chauhan Enter-prises and Vanita Uluidaitook place at the Ministrysheadquarters.

The Food Voucher Pro-gramme is assistance pro-vided to social welfarerecipients who are part ofthe Poverty Benefit Scheme

(PBS) and the Care and Pro-tection (C&P) Program.

The Ministry is current-ly assisting 18,000 Fijiansthrough the Poverty BenefitScheme while 5000 childrenare assisted through theCare and Protection Pro-gram.

The Ministrys permanent

secretary Dr Josefa Koroivu-eta said the signing signalsa growing relationship be-tween Government and theprivate sector in assistingwelfare recipients.

As announced in the2015 national budget, themonthly Food Voucher pay-ment has increased from

$30 to $50, Dr Koroivuetasaid.

These variations havebeen projected into the con-tract, which has been ex-tended till june this year.

With the increase in theallocation for food voucher,we are also re-looking at thecurrent food lists. New items

will be identified and add-ed onto the lists to suit theneeds of the needy familiesand vendors will also makethe necessary arrangementsto avail these items for theclients.

Speaking on behalf ofDhan Raj Chauhan Enter-prise, Subhashni Lata Chau-

han thanked the governmentfor the opportunity providedto serve the underprivilegedfamilies in Naitasiri.

The Shop based at Lot 6Vunidawa has been servingmore than 170 social wel-fare clients since Februarylast year.

We provide basic food

items to the clients whoare mostly senior citizensand this arrangement withthe Ministry is working outwell, Mrs Chauhan said.

With the increase ofmonthly food voucher from$30 and $50, we agree thatthe food item lists need tobe reviewed. Sometimes,

the clients want to buy itemslike milo, sugar and bottledwater, which is not includedwith the current lists. The re-view of the foodlist is timely.

We want to thank thegovernment for extendingour contract and giving usthis opportunity to serve un-derprivileged families in Nai-

tasiri area.Ms Vanita Singh of VanitaUluidai Shop said they havebeen serving clients comingfrom as far as Monasavu.

We have entered into anagreement with the Ministrysince January this year andhave been, serving morethan 300 clients who come

as far as Monasavu. I amgrateful that this contracthas been extended todayand we look forward toreach out to as many clientsas possible in Naitasiri, MsSingh said.

The contract came intoeffect from Thursday, Janu-ary 1 and will expire on June

30. Further extensions to thecontract will depend on theevaluation of the servicesprovided by these vendors.

q DEPTFO

q DEPTFO


10/24



Agriculture toDrive Economy:Cawaki

The Fijian Governmentwill continue to enhanceagricultural practices withmodern technology as part

of efforts to raise productiv-ity.Assistant Minister for

Agriculture and Rural andMaritime Development Hon.Joeli Cawaki says this wouldassist in reducing the nation-al import bill and ensure Fijiis self sufficient.

In his address at thehanding over ceremony forthe Division CommissionerWestern, Hon. Cawaki saidthis was one of the mainreasons the agricultural min-istry was linked to the ruraland maritime ministry.

Government has notedthe need for a harmoniousapproach and the linking ofthe two ministries augurs

well for its developmentplans to making Fiji self sufficient, he said.

The Fijian economy hasdone very well in the pastfive years however, there is alot of rooms for improve andGovernment recognises theneed for agriculture to boostthis growth.

Assistant Minister Cawakisaid the western divisionwas a critical division in gov-ernment goals and develop-ment plans and would con-tinue to ensure that idle landis fully utilised.

Kiti Tabulawaki, Veiyan-uyanu Handicraft Centre &ToursTo work hard and make my

business grow.

Gauna Tuiwai, NadiTo improve my life and at-titude

Shanil Prakash, Malolo NadiThis year i made my resolutionto stop drinking

Kelevi Yawayawa, NadiImprove in my work and may-

be stop drinking

Ana Verenika, Votualevu NadiMy new years resolution forthis year is for us to love oneanother more and work togetherand join hands in improving thisyear

What is your new yearsresolution?

Sweet Tweets

q DEPTFO

We will never see thetrue potential of Fiji unlesswe utilise our land and agri-culture provides us that op-portunity because we con-tinue to import millions ofdollars of vegetables for our

consumption. This can beour answer and agricultureis our answer to reducingfood import bills for pota-toes carrots and other veg-etables.

He said the Fijian govern-

FNU Graduates TeachersA total of about 700 grad-

uands from the Fiji NationalUniversity gathered at theGirmit Centre Lautoka onFriday, January 9 to cel-ebrate their hard earnedachievements.

Minister for EducationHeritage and Arts Honour-

able Dr. Mahendra Reddywas the Chief Guest at theauspicious occasion.

You will be put in verychallenging positions whereyou will be required to makedecisions that personallyyou will want to make and itwill be very difficult for youto make decisions at a per-sonal level and that is thereal test of a leader, how youlook at the bolder picture,how you put your person-aly interests and emotionsoutside the decision makingprocess, said Dr Reddy.

Graduands were remind-ed of their crucial role which

will be to educate and in-spire as well as to mould

and develop close to 200,000students each year throughtheir noble professions.

University acting vice-chancellor Professor Ian

Rouse inspired the grad-uands with his motivational

words during the ceremony.Its the inspiration which

is so important becauseif you can encourage yourstudents to love to learn and

they carry that passion fromprimary school, through sec-

ondary and University intoworking life then Fiji willcontinue to be a leader inthe pacific, he said.

Professor Rouse thanked

the students for makingthe Fiji National University

as their ideal institution tobe educated in and furtherurged them to utilise educa-tion as a vital tool in makinga difference in the society as

a whole.

By SALOTE QALUBAU

Fiji National University graduands aer the graduation ceremony at the Girmit Centre in Lautoka on Friday, January 9. Photo:ANUSHIL KUMAR.

Minister for Education and FNU Chancellor Dr Mahendra Reddy with actingvice-chancellor Professor Ian Rouse . Photos: ANUSHIL KUMAR.

From le: Salvina Chand, Shana Shameeza Shah, Kishan Kumar and Ranjana

Kumar aer the graduation ceremony at the Girmit Centre in Lautoka.

LOCAL NEWS

ment would continue to ex-plore more advanced tech-nological farming methodsfrom countries it has bilat-eral relations with to benefitFijian farmers.

Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Hon. Joeli Cawaki. Photo: SUPPLIED.


11/24



ADVERTISEMENT


12/24



BULA DESI BOLLYWOOD SHOW

Bollywood Stars Rock Nadi

Photography By ANUSHIL KUMAR

The Bula Desi Bollywoodshow lived up to expecta-tions with action-packedentertainment, comedy,

Bollywood choreographeddances and charismatic mu-sic at Prince Charles Park inNadi on Saturday, January11.

Stars Tusshar Kapoor, Za-rine Khan and Ali Asgar putup some grand performanc-es on their own hits.

Gorgeous Ms Khan wonthe hearts of the 1000 plusFijian fans present at theshow with her dazzling per-formance on some of hermost popular hits like Suriliakhiyon waale from her firstever Bollywood movie Veerstarring with star SalmanKhan.

It feels really great per-forming in front of our fanshere in Fiji as people werereally eager to see us per-forming in front of them. Wehad been receiving greatresponse from the time wewere here in Fiji and I amsure people must have en-joyed the show, an excitedMs Khan said.

I am really happy andlooking forward to comingback to Fiji in future.

Star Kapoor also gave anawe-inspiring performanceon his own all-time hit songsfrom his movies like Golmaaland Kya super kool hai hum in

which he showed 17 dancemoves in one act changinghis costumes seven times.

I hope people of Nadienjoyed our show as we hadbeen preparing for it sincewe were in Mumbai. Theresa lot of niceness in the peo-

ple here and I just love beinghere in Fiji, said Mr Kapoor,the son of Bollywood favou-

rites Jitendra.While for Ali Asgar, he

kept the audience laughingand giggling throughout theshow with his comedy acts

of the role Dolly Daadifromhis popular television showComedy Nights with Kapil.

Bula Desi Bollywoodshow promoter AneshMishra was happy with thegenerous support for hissecond promoted show. His

first show was organised inSydney last year.

I am really happy to

see the generous supportfrom our major and all theplatinum sponsors who hadbeen hand-in-hand to makethis event a successful one,

Mr Mishra said,If we continue to get all

the support like this, surely

we will have more Bolly-wood shows in future.

The Bollywood stars, whohad been in the country fora week, left our shores on

Monday, January 12.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Bula DesiBollywood

Bollywood star Tusshar Kapoor with the local talented dancers during the Bula Desi Bol-lywood show at Prince Charles Park in Nadi. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.

Bollywood star Zarine Khan entertains the crowd during the Bula Desi Bol-lywood show at Prince Charles Park in Nadi. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.


13/24



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14/24



TOURISM

To meet the growingdemands of the Meetings,Incentives, Conferencesand Events (MICE) segmentwithin the tourism industrythrough the newly estab-

lished Convention Bureau,Tourism Fiji has announcedthe expansion of the role ofthe organisations Directorof Events, Sally Cooper onTuesday, December 23.

The MICE business is in-credibly important for theFijian tourism industry, es-pecially so, as visitors in thiscategory have a higher aver-

Growing MICE Business Receives Boost

q TOURISM FIJI

age daily spend than mostleisure visitors and MICEbusiness works well duringFijis low season a timewhen it can be challengingto encourage leisure visitors

from Australia and New Zea-land.

Until now, Fiji has not hada co-ordinated approach tomarketing the destination toMICE travellers, leaving it toindividual operators to large-ly work on their own.

The Tourism Fiji Conven-tion Bureau will focus ontwo key areas. Firstly, it will

brand and market the des-tination to this sector. Sec-ondly, it will be an impartialbody to coordinate bidsfor large scale MICE pro-grammes.

In establishing the Con-vention Bureau, Acting CEOKen Freer elaborated on thefacets of the Convention Bu-reau that will help grow Fijistourism industry.

The Convention Bureauwill allow Fiji to be market-ed to the MICE segment ina professional and coordi-nated fashion, by the body

New Tour Book to AttractMore Tourists from Asia

The release of a newtravel guide produced in theChinese mandarin languagewill strengthen Govern-ments tourism campaignand attract more touristsfrom Asia.

The Hon. Ministerfor Tourism Faiyaz Koyalaunched the Tour ManagersChinese Travel Guide con-taining all the information avisitor would need.

Company Director Da-men Goundar said they

came up with the idea forthe guide after noticing anincrease in the number ofChinese tourists to Fiji.

We have noted an in-crease in visitor from Chinaand worked on a holisticapproach in ensuring that

we are ready to capitaliseon the influx of visitors fromChina, he said.

Goundar said with moreChinese tourists looking fornew holiday destinations,the travel guide is the per-fect marketing tool.

Tourism Minister FaiyazKoya commended the initia-tive adding that any effort toattract non- English speak-ing tourists is a welcome in-vestment.

The Chinese Travel

Guide is another importantinitiative that is the result ofa partnership between TourManagers, Tourism Fiji andother industry players, Min-ister Koya said.

As an industry, we shouldbe proud of this collabora-

tive effort. The Guide willmake information about Fijireadily available to the Chi-nesetraveller in their ownlanguage, whether they areon holiday, on business orjust passing through. This isthe first guide in the Chineselanguage in Fijis history, andis a crucial part of our strat-egy to boost Chinese visitorarrivals.

We want to make Fijias welcoming as possible,especially to those whosefirst language isnt English.This is an important way forus to do this. In the future, Iwill encourage Tourism Fijito develop similar guides inother strategic languages.

The FijiFirst Govern-ments vision is to increasetourism to a $2 billion in-dustry by 2020, and this willbe achieved by focusingon the quality of services,diversification of productsand having the right supportinfrastructure to increasethe stay of the visitors andincrease their spend whilein the country and this re-

quires commitment, notonly to providing the finestfacilities, but to ensure that alasting impression is left onour visitors.

Minister for Trade, Industryand Tourism Faiyaz Koya

during the launching ofTour Managers new Chinese

Travel Guide. Photo: SUP-PLIED.

best placed to do so theNational Tourism Organisa-tion (NTO), Freer said.

Its important to notethat this is a long-term planand the real benefits of the

Convention Bureau wont beseen for 2-5 years, especiallyfor large-scale events andconferences where destina-tions are planned a numberof years in advance.

So, while Fiji will seea benefit straight away interms of smaller pieces ofbusiness such as smallerincentive groups, the biggerwins will come further downthe track.

With the launch of theConvention Bureau effec-tive as of January 1, 2015,the previous role of Direc-

tor of Events has evolvedto include MICE marketmanagement to provide theadvanced level of servicedemanded by this niche.Current Director of Events,

Sally Cooper, has been ap-pointed to manage bothevents and MICE businesses.

In accepting the appoint-ment, Ms Cooper shared hervision for the growth of thisparticular segment.

As infrastructure in Fijiimproves holistically withair capacity, roads, transportproviders, venues and roominventories increasing - thismarket is a positive growthmarket, said Ms Cooper.

With the establishmentof the Convention Bureau,we aim to offer educational

seminars each year to bet-ter educate the local serviceproviders and front linersabout the differences be-tween servicing the needs ofthe corporate guests as op-

posed to guests on leisure.Essentially people that

are here on business expectprofessionalism, punctualityand a higher level of service,which the Convention Bu-reau will assist the industrycultivate over the next fewyears.

Fiji has the technologyand the facilities to deliverconferences and incentivesto international standardswith the added bonus of thehappy Fijian service.

TOURISM TRENDS

q FNU


15/24



TOURISM

It was a stylish andmemorable new years eve

celebration for the staff,

management and guests

of InterContinental Fiji Golf

Resort & Spa as they greeted

the year 2015 with an exclu-

sive White Ice Affair.

According to the Director

of Dining and Entertainment

Mr Denny Akira Tanaka, it

was the best new years

eve they ever had with the

special edition by Mot and

Chandons Ice Imperial

Champagne.

Featuring entertainment

by Fijis best dance group, alocal live band and DJ, it was

the most unforgettable New

Years Eve party in Fiji, Mr

Tanaka said.

We planned some sur-

prises and seeing the delighton our guests faces was the

best moment indeed.

Resorts Area General

Manager Mr Erik Stuebe ac-

knowledged the successors

for having a great 2014.

The resort has had a suc-

cessful 2014 and we would

like to thank our owners, the

Fiji National Provident Fund,

our tourism stakeholders,

our colleagues and our

guests for their support, Mr

Stuebe mentioned.

We welcome 2015 and

look forward to the chal-lenges that come with the

new year.

InterContinentalFiji Welcomes 2015in Style

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Fiji Airways Group Announces World Class

On-Time Performance Result for 2014Fiji Airways, Fijis Na-

tional Airline, and Fiji Link,its regional and domesticsubsidiary, reported on Fri-day, January 9, their overallon-time performance (OTP)results for the year endingDecember 2014, with bothairlines performing healthilyabove industry standards.

Fiji Airways has main-tained above industry stan-dards targets, reporting anoverall 2014 on-time perfor-mance of 83.02%.

Fiji Link continued their

above 90% performance thisyear, with an overall result of93.59% OTP.

Fiji Airways Group Man-aging Director and CEO Ste-fan Pichler was pleased atthe performance, adding theairline will continue its focusof maintaining OTP above80% for 2015.

These are good resultand were glad to be sittingcomfortably above the 80%industry standard, Mr Pi-chler said.

The whole team will be

working hard to ensure wemaintain or better this per-formance this year.

We had some minormechanical issues with acouple of our B737 aircraftlater in the year, along witha handful of operational-related factors which con-tributed to some disrup-tions, but were committedto providing our customersthe best service whilst at thesame time ensuring we donot waiver from our priorityof safety.

The on-time perfor-mance for both airlines isavailable on the Fiji Airwayswebsite: /about-fiji-airways/on-time-performance/. OTPis a global airline industrybenchmark which mea-sures aircraft flight depar-tures as being on time if theydepart from the gate within15 minutes of the airlinesscheduled departure time.

q FIJI AIRWAYS

The exclusive Moet & Chandon Ice Imperial champaign. Photo: SUPPLIED.


16/24



PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH)DAY CELEBRATION

Muslims Celebrates Prophet

Muhammad (pbuh)Birthday

Officiating the celebra-tions for the Prophet Mu-hammads birthday on Mon-day, January 5 at ChurchillPark in Lautoka, His Excel-lency Honorable Epeli Naila-tikau acknowledged the FijiMuslim League and its pio-

neer members for their im-mense contribution to Fijisprogress as a nation.

As we gather today tocelebrate the birth of Proph-et Muhammad, I encourageall believers of Islam to standfirm in your faith and in yourefforts to be an integral com-ponent of a truly united Fiji,said Mr Nailatikau.

A Fiji where every Fijian

By SALOTE QALUBAU now or in the future can beproud to call their home.

Members of the Islamcommunity were furtherencouraged to continueto pursue and cultivate ahigher sense of being, and inthe process facilitate moreunderstanding and toler-ance of each other and ofother communities in Fiji

as this would be parallel tothe idealistic foundationalteachings taught by ProphetMuhammad.

Mr Nailatikau highlight-ed eleven days prior to thedays celebration, Christiansall over Fiji had celebratedthe birth of Jesus Christ theMessiah and with the Is-lam community gatheringto celebrate the auspicious

About 300 AhmadiyyaMuslims gathered at the Riz-wan Mosque in Lautoka tolisten to the teachings of theProphet Muhammad.

The national Seerat-Un-Nabi-Jalsa event wasmarked by devotees resid-ing on Viti Levu includingBa, Nadi and Suva a fewflew from overseas.

President (Amir)/mission-ary for Ahmadiyya Fiji, Mau-

lana Mahmmod Ahimad Sa-hib said it was another timeto enlighten the devotees onthe true teachings of Islam.

We should enlightenourselves on the true teach-ings of Islam and ProphetMohammed; there is a needto remind ourselves of thosepractices, Mr Sahib said.

Islam is always spreadthrough love and peace. Weare gathered here so that weshould adapt to have loveand peace among ourselvesin reality.

He added that Islam con-

demns such as such as ha-rassment and terrorism and

will not be associated withit.Islam was made from

peace; Islam can never beseparated by force or weap-on so that was the messageand enlightenment to allhere, he said.

There is also a need toact accordingly and if youlook at Islam and the prac-tice of the holy Quran, it hascondemned any form of ha-rassment, terrorism and allactivities associated with it.

Interestingly the Ahmadi-ya community does not cel-

ebrate the Prophet Muham-mads Birthday.

We can never ever cel-ebrate his birthday; even hehimself did not celebrateit during his 63 years. Evenafter his demise his entirecompanion, even his wifedid not celebrate it, so weonly celebrate what he did,he said.

A similar programmewas held for those in VanuaLevu at the newly built MajidNoor, in Seaqaqa and BaitulJame Mosque in Taveuni hesaid.

Ahmadiyya Muslims

Commemorates a SpecialDay

occasion of the ProphetMuhammads birthday thishas indeed proved to be anembodiment of Fijis melt-ing pot of diversity, be it cul-turally or religiously in termsof understanding and honor-ing the different beliefs oneholds.

The common thread inall these achievements is

undoubtedly the strengthand unity of your faith. I,therefore, pay tribute to yourforefathers and also to thoseof you in the current genera-tion.

I have no doubt that yourreligious teachings and theprinciples of good citizen-ship will be passed on toyour children who will alsobe model citizens of Fiji.

WAISEA NASOKIA /Fiji Sun

His Excellency the President of Fiji Hon.Epeli Nailatikau addressing the muslims gathered atChurcill Park in Lautoka to celebrate Prophet Muhammed(pbuh) Birthday.Photo: SUPPLIED.

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community gatheredat the Rizwan Mosque in Lautoka to celebrate ProphetMuhammed(pbuh) Day. Photo: Jariullah Khalid.

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Do you have experience but wish to upgrade your qualification?

Do you wish to study through USP Lautoka Campus?

APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO SEMESTER I 2015 IS NOW OPEN!! Application form is available at the USP Lautoka Campus Front Office Counter and accessible

online via: www.usp.ac.fj/student

USP Lautoka Campus offers programmes and courses at CCE, Vocational, Pre-Degree, Certificate,

Diploma, Degree, Post Graduate and Masters level.

For more informationcontact via email: [email protected] or telephone: 6666800.

VARIOUS LEVELS OFCHINESE LANGUAGE

COURSES IN USPLAUTOKA CAMPUS

A non-profit organisation, the Confucius Institute at the University of the South Pacific (CI-USP)

was established between the University of the South Pacific and Beijing University of Posts and

Telecommunications, China. CI-USP is offering various levels of Chinese (Standard Chinese)

courses in Lautoka Campus in 2015. If you want to open a door to the profound Chinese culture

and history, to run a business with the fast developing country, or to travel, study or work in China,

here is your opportunity.

OUR COURSES:

USP semester based courses

- Credit courses for USP students (LL181/LL182/LL281/LL282)

- Social courses (Beginners / Intermediate / Advanced levels)

In-house training courses

Flexible courses to meet the different demands of individuals, businesses, schools, government

departments and NGOs.

Distinctive cultural workshops

- Chinese Tea Ceremony (Semester I, 2015)- Chinese Calligraphy (Semester I, 2015)

- Chinese Minority Dancing (Semester II, 2015)

Course details:

Courses Venue Duration Fee Notes

Creditcourses

(LL181/LL182/

LL281/LL282)

Refer to the USP Calendar 2015 for the course details and fee

schedule.

Social courses

(Beginners /

Intermediate /

Advanced levels)

USP Lautoka

Campus

17 weeks FJD$200

Class will

start on 9

February

2015

Distinctive cultural

workshops

Chinese Tea

Ceremony/ Chinese

Calligraphy/

Chinese Minority

Dancing

USP Lautoka

Campus

TBA FJD$10 TBA

Contact us:

Ms. Teresa Ali, tel: 6666800; email: [email protected] or [email protected] and Ms. Guilan

Chang, tel: 6666800-3222; mobile: 9919067; email: [email protected] or visit our Website:

www.usp.ac.fj/ci or Facebook: Confucius Institute at The University of the South Pacific


17/24



TOURISM

q PRESS RELEASE

Film Fiji, Fiji Airways and Tourism Fiji SignMemorandum of Understanding For PromotingFiji as a Film Destination

Health is WealthBonus Scheme

Film Fiji, Fiji Airways and

Tourism Fiji signed a Memo-

randum of Understanding(MOU) on January 9, for

the promotion of Fiji as a

film destination to overseas

based production houses for

filming of Hollywood, Bolly-

wood and other internation-

al productions.

The MOU signed by Fiji

Airways Managing Direc-

tor & CEO and Tourism Fiji

Chairman, Stefan Pichler,

and by Film Fiji CEO, Dallas

Foon, will see a coordinatedapproach by these organisa-

tions in bringing to Fiji new

opportunities for film pro-

duction.

Film Fiji CEO, Dallas Foon,

said We are very pleased to

partner with Fiji Airways and

Tourism Fiji in a coopera-

tive effort to promote Fiji.

Film production and

tourism go hand in hand.

A successful international

movie always results in amarked increase in tourism

to that location from fans.

For example, the successful

Bollywood film Zindagi Na

Milegi Dobara, shot in Spain

in 2011, saw an increase of

32% in Indian tourist arrivals

to the country almost over-

night. We want to do the

same for Fiji.

Stefan Pichler said We

are very happy to work with

Film Fiji in bringing produc-tions to Fiji. Ultimately, tour-

ism will be the big winner

here if a major production is

shot in Fiji, hence, it makes

absolute sense to partner

with Film Fiji for this.

We had already been

working together over the

past year in promoting Fiji

as a film destination and this

MOU brings some structure

to our earlier efforts togeth-

er. As well, this partnership

fits perfectly into the plans of

the expanding Fiji Airways

fleet and with the extra tour-

ism expected, Fiji Airways

and Tourism Fiji will be in

good position to provide the

required capacity.

So, exciting times ahead

for Fiji for film and tourism.

A total of 103 staff on Trea-

sure Island Fiji registered to

take part in the companies

Weight Loss programme.

The programme was su-

pervised by the Islands Full

Time Resort Nurse who also

gave dietary and exercise

advice.

Every week the staff

member who lost the most

weight would earn a chequeof $100.

At the end of twelve

weeks the person who lost

the most weight would earn

$1,000.

The total weight loss

for all staff over the twelve

weeks was 163 kg. This is

equal to three 50kg bags of

flour plus a five kilo bag of

rice a five kilo bag of sugar

and three kilos of onions

and cassava.

Group General Manager

congratulated all those who

took part in this programme.

Many of those who par-

ticipated reported feelingmore active, with less aches

and pains.

The staff also reported

they were able to breathe

easier, walk more freely and

had a lot more energy.

In 2014, Film Fiji issued

52 approvals to productions

ranging from small budgetsto those over $10million.

Most of these productions

flew Fiji Airways to come to

Fiji.

The winner of the

scheme was Rosie Chong

who lost a total of 22 kg over

the period.

Rosie thanked the com-

pany for the scheme and

that it pushed her to par-

ticipate. Rosie will be put-

ting this money towards her

sons university fees as he

will be starting university in

2015.She also announced she

is continuing to lose weight

and has set herself a new

goal to lose another 20kg.

q PRESS RELEASE

The winner of the Weight Loss Programme Rosie Chong (right)receives her $1000 cheque. Photo: SUPPLIED.


18/24



BUSINESS NEWS

FNPF ReleasesContribution Breakdown

q FNPF

Additional benefits in the FNPF Education Assistance SchemeFiji National Provident

Fund members, spouse,

children and siblings can

now access funds under the

new Education Assistance

Guidelines which has been

reviewed to assist members

in attaining quality educa-

tion.

Two significant value add-

ing changes to the Funds

education assistance policy

are the increase of inciden-

tal expenses from $5,000

to $10,000 for the period of

study overseas and the in-

clusion of $200 per semester

for text books for tertiary stu-

dents.

Members like Joseva Rai-

ka plans to take advantage

of the provision of $200 text

book to assist him in pur-

chasing his daughters text

books this semester and is

one of the few that has al-

ready submitted his early

withdrawal application for

assistance.

FNPF has been assisting

me to provide for my family

and am thankful to FNPF for

continually making it easier

for us members to obtain

financial assistance for the

purpose of education and

the $200 provision for text

books will certainly ease

the financial burden for me

in the beginning of this aca-

demic year, he said.

The above are value

adding changes to the cur-

rent benefits under the

Funds Education

Assistance scheme in-

cluding;

Local and overseas

tuition amounts for year 13,

tertiary studies including

vocational courses for ap-

proved institutions only.

Foundation level stud-

ies offered at high school.

Tuition for students

who attend special schools

with a specialist report to

confirm this.

Tuition for courses that

are examinable and may re-

sult in the attainment of an

academic certificate.

Assistance for accom-

modation for local studies

with a provision of $2,500

per student per semester.

And balance of fees

subsidized by government

under the free education,

where the net amount can

be assisted by the Fund.

FNPF Chief Executive, Mr

Aisake Taito said the Fund

is aware of the importance

of investing into education,

and it would ensure that

members continue to ac-

cess their funds in order for

them to achieve their aca-demic goals.

In the last financial year,

FNPF approved more than

29,000 education assis-

tance applications totaling

$33.2million.

Through education,

members are able to upskill

and upgrade their capabili-

ties to attract better pay and

in turn improve their stan-

dard of living, Mr Taito said.

In helping our members

improve their standards of

education, FNPF is also con-

tributing to the

social and economic de-velopment of the country.

q FNPF

10% employerscontribution

Effective from January 1,Employers are mandated topay 10 per cent as manda-tory contribution towardstheir employees retirementsavings. This is an increaseof 25 per cent from the pre-vious 8 per cent mandator yEmployers contribution.

The increase followedgovernments announce-ments to increase employ-ers contribution by two percent in the 2015 Budget.

The increase will boostsavings for members andenhance their income at re-tirement. The Fund expects

all Employers to complywith the new rule.

AdditionalContributions

Effective January 1, com-pulsory members (those informal employment) canchoose to contribute more

than the mandatory 8 percent contributions from their

wages.Additional contributions

one member can deductwill be maintained at a max-imum of 12 per cent of themembers gross wages.

Additional contributionmust be paid together withthe mandated contributionwhen due.

The maximum amount ofcontribution from a compul-sory member is 30 per cent;where 10 per cent will bepaid by the employer, 8 percent by the employee and 12per cent of additional and orexcess contributions.

Excess contribution ispaid by some employers aspart of their employees ben-efits paid above the manda-tory employer contribution.

Members who make ad-ditional contributions to-wards their FNPF accountswill need to decide onwhich accounts these de-

ductions are to be directedto; the Preserved and/or

General Account.The General account

can be accessed for earlyor pre-retirement withdraw-als whilst the Preserved Ac-count is reserved for retire-ment

FNPF Chief Executive, MrAisake Taito said allowingmembers to pay additionalcontributions towards theirFNPF means that memberscan save more for retire-ment.

Our core area of busi-ness, again this could notbe emphasised enough is toensure that

members have a decentincome to live comfortablyat retirement.

The Fund therefore willcontinue to explore oppor-tunities to secure the fu-ture for our

members, Mr Taito said.

be Money Wi$eEssay Competition

The Reserve Bank of Fiji

has partnered with capital

markets industry players to

organise an essay competi-

tion for school students be-

tween the ages 15-19 years

as part of the be Money

Wi$e (bMW) program.

The BMW program is

part of the Capital Markets

Awareness platform, target-

ing school students.

The objective of the pro-

gram is to promote the im-

portance of acquiring good

money management skills

with a particular focus on

understanding the concept

of investing and investment

products available in Fiji.

Deputy Governor, Ariff Ali

stated the essay competi-

tion will assist students to

familiarise themselves with

real-life scenarios utilising

important concepts such as

goals, saving, capital mar-

kets, investment products

and investment choices as

it requires students to learn

and research about the capi-

tal markets in Fiji.

The theme of the essay is

be Money Wi$e securing

my future goals today.

Details of the competition

are available on the Reserve

Bank of Fijis website: www.

rbf.gov.fj or be obtained

from the Reserve Bank of

Fiji by telephone 322 3441 or

email: [email protected]

The competition closes

on 27 February 2015. Win-

ners will be awarded with

cash and investment prizes,

and all participants will be

awarded a certificate of par-

ticipation.

q RBF

The Department of Immi-

gration is exploring the pos-sibility of printing passportbooks at its divisional officesin Lautoka and Labasa/Sa-vusavu.

Director ImmigrationNemani Vuniwaqa said thiswould reduce a backlog ofpassport applications re-ceived in Suva through itsdivisional offices.

We are looking into thishowever, that would meanan extensive research onour part which we are cur-rently undertaking in Labasa

Immigration Explores Passport

Printing at Divisional Officesand Suva, he said.

However, we have beenworking ver y hard in ensur-ing that our passport ser-vices are more streamlinedand this has meant a fasterclearance of backlogs thatwe used to have in the past.

Mr Vuniwaqa highlighteddespite the challenges en-countered in 2014, the de-partment will strengthen itsservices to the public.

We have enough (35,000) passport books withus on standby and we havereceived positive reviews

about our services which

we are aiming to even betterin the New Year.

We have been inun-dated with applicationsand requests from formerFiji residents and many ofthem have started workingtowards coming back hometo either invest or assist theirfamilies which is an indica-tion for the positive growththat Fiji is already experienc-ing.

q DEPTFO


19/24



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20/24



BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD


21/24



ADVERTISEMENT


22/24



LOCAL SPORTS

Ministry to Meet More Youth, Sports ClubsThe Ministry of Youth

and Sports will strengthen itssports awareness and promo-tion programs in partnershipwith the Fiji National SportsCommission and sporting or-ganisations.

This is to help elimi-nate misunderstandings andimprove relationships and

knowledge between membersof the public, sports enthu-siasts and sporting bodies inFiji, The Hon. Minister forYouth and Sports Mr LaiseniaTuitubou said

The ministry has begunconducting talanoa sessionswith youth clubs since No-vember last year in the north-ern and western divisions.

We will continue in thewestern division soon and weare hoping to extend the pro-gram to sporting clubs espe-

cially rugby.Hon. Tuitubou met with the

chief executive ofcer of theFiji Rugby Union RadrodroTabualevu at the ministryheadquarters where he was

briefed on the unions visionand way forward.

The ministry sees that ta-lanoa sessions will augur well

with sporting clubs and feder-ations in forging and strength-ening relations between all

parties, identifying gaps inservices and address the needsof those involved in sports atall levels, Hon. Tuitubou toldMr Tabualevu;

Mr Tabualevu told the HonMinister he fully agreed withthe concept and the ministrycan be rest assured that it hasthe full support of the FRU.

However he was concernedwith the inux of rugby play-

ers locally because of the riseand popularity of other con-tact sports.

Our vision is that to en-sure that rugby players arecreated or identied, nurturedand groomed at an early age toguarantee a successful rugby

brand or nation.We are hoping that we

will pull national resourcesand synergise efforts of allrugby organisations or bodiesto ensure that the right skillsand knowledge are taught and

practised from primary schoollevel onwards, Tabualevusaid.

He also added the FRUwould adopt the approachtaken by the sports ministry toensure and promote good gov-ernance within rugby clubsand unions around Fiji.

Youth Ministry Discusses WayForwardThe Ministry of Youth

and Sports is determined tomaximise on its increasedbudget and review its poli-cies to ensure effective de-livery of services in 2015.

The Ministrys seniormanagement held its firstmeeting for the year at theministry headquarters inSuva earlier this month.

The meeting involves allthe divisional and depart-ment heads, the director,the permanent secretary

q DEPTFO

The Hon. Minister for Youth and Sports Mr Laisenia Tuitubou with Fiji Rugby Union CEO RadrodroTabualevu. Photo: SUPPLIED.

q DEPTFO

and the minister, The Min-istrys permanent secretaryMr Josefa Sania said.

The meeting centredon the new structure of theministry, the new targetsand how we can best uti-lise our increased budget in2015.

Mr Sania added they havediscussed ways to maximisethe existing Integrated RuralDevelopment Framework inmost of their programs andactivities this year for the

benefit of the youths and thecommunity.

The Hon. Minister forYouth and Sports Mr Laise-nia Tuitubou also told thesenior managers that theyneed to continue workinghard to achieve bigger andbetter things this year.

We have improved ourachievements last year andit is to prove that we can goa notch higher in 2015, saidHon. Tuitubou.

I encourage you to maxi-

Sports Minister VisitsWestern Youths

The Minister for Youth

and Sports Hon. Laisenia Tu-

itubou visited youth groups

in parts of Yasawa, Legalega,

Nanoko, Kubuna, Emuri, Na-

talaicake and Saioko during

his tour in the Western divi-

sion.

Mr Tuitubou, in his ad-

dress, mentioned about thegovernments commitment

to the development of young

people in the country.

Government is commit-

ted to the development of

youths in the country and

we will continue to visit

youth groups until we have

covered all the youth groups

regardless of where they are

situated, he said.

We have visited Vanua

Levu and met with youths

in Bua and Macuata and we

will also visit youths in Lau

and Kadavu and conclude

with the Central Division asit is closer to us to gauge

how best we can improve

our services to the youths.

He also highlighted on

the significance of register-

ing with the ministry in order

to receive assistance from

all government departments

and ministries.

Once you have regis-

tered with the ministry, you

will have access to all of gov-

ernments assistance and

that is why registering with

us is important because we

can provide support for fur-

ther assistance from other

government departments.

There are a lot of pro-

grammes available with theministry to develop youth

groups in order to generate

income and develop young

people.

Mr Tuitubou also urged

the youth groups to utilize

their available resources

properly which could assist

in being self-employed and

generate income.

The Minister also held

informal talanoa sessions

with youths and members

of the seven communities

where some important dis-

cussions were made regard-

ing the needs of the youthsand how the ministry could

assist in the best possible

ways.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

mise the available policiesand processes while imple-menting your programs andensure that you serve youraudience the youth of Fijiwith passion.

He added he had noticedthe hard work and commit-ment of his staff during thelast three months of his ap-pointment and he is look-ing forward to working withthem this year.

The Hon. Minister for Youth and Sports Laisenia Tuitubou with youths of Natalaicake Village in Ba.Photo: SUPPLIED.

R e q u i r e dAdvertising Reps


23/24



LOCAL SPORTS

Trial Begins for Nadi EelsBy SHEIK DEAN of Fiji SunThe Nadi Eels Rugby

League Club has ki

Documents

The Jet Volume 7 Number 1