Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum wants Non-government Organisations (NGOs) to work with Government to avoid duplication and wastage.

He said many people needed assistance but it was important for NGOs to co-ordinate activities with the Government.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum made the remarks at the Soroptomist International (SI) Fiji Awards Day yesterday at the Ba Town Council Hall.

“It is very critical in providing such assistance through NGOs that they are able to tie up with Government and Government’s policies,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“For example, if you identify that you’re going to build  a borehole in a particular area because there is no water,  you must be able to talk to Government because Government might also have a similar plan of building a borehole in that area too.

“So we don’t want duplication and wastage of resources and I think that is very critical. I think some of the NGOs go on their own and do things on their own.”

He said similarly the Government had told its overseas development partners on a bilateral and multilateral basis that they must try and tie in with the work that the Government was doing.

“Some NGOs go and work on a particular project and then we find there is a duplication. Resources everywhere in the world is limited and therefore there is a need to work at a national strategic level.

“In that way your hard work will also be rewarded and in fact will be very self fulfilling.”

He urged NGOs to communicate with relevant ministries in the future in terms of their projects and assistance towards the people of Fiji.

He told members of SI Fiji: “All of you are doing volunteer work and I think it requires a particular level of energy, level of commitment to be able to carry out this works.

“Many times the work is unacknowledged but to have the level of commitment actually means that you believe in what you are doing.”

He thanked the SI Fiji for their efforts towards improving the lives of the people of this country.

SI Fiji consists of seven women’s clubs from Viti Levu and Vanu Levu. It has been operational for the past 44 years where women work on voluntary basis.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum was awarded a plaque of appreciation. The Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar, and Minister for Housing, Infrastructure and Local Government, Parveen Kumar were also part of the event. They were also awarded plaques of appreciation.

Old politics

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum criticised old politics and said it was detrimental to the country.

He referred to the exchanges in Parliament during the Budget debate.

He said it was quiet a tragedy that the Opposition members were resorting to old politics and making everything an ethnic issue.

“They turn everything into a racial issue. That is the bane of Fiji,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

He said instead of making things into a racial issue, they should be looking at analysing things on the basis of need.

“It is important that all citizens and societies and individuals irrespective of their background, who they are, what their ethnicity is must have accessibility to basic needs and infrastructure,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

He said when a project was undertaken we should not ask how many Indo-Fijians or iTaukei were living there.

“We don’t do that. We shouldn’t do that,” he said.

“When water does not come into the taps, people want the engineer to come and fix it.

“Do you ask what religion is he, do you ask which particular temple, church or mosque he  goes to, do you ask what province they come from in Fiji – no, you just want the water in your tap?,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

Mr Kumar said he was disappointed by the face-serving tactics of the Opposition.

He said: “Everybody should work together and take this country forward and that should be the goal of every individual, every political party because at the end of the day what matters is the country so I think we should stop this flip-flop politics and let’s move this country forward.”

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