Progress?

The public consultation on the proposed ‘Landlord and Tenant Bill” has entered its second round with the Northern Division having its final sessions last week.

However, appreciated, the turnaround has been far from expected, particularly in the Central Division recording zero attendance in some venues.     Nonetheless, the Commission is pushing ahead in its effort to provide opportunities for the general public to contribute towards the proposed legislation.   The reluctance of the friends to come forth and present their views is a cause of concern to the secretarial team undertaking the exercise.

But the team finds comfort in that attendance is voluntary and those choosing to abstain have made so, on their own free will.

Even though attendance was below par in this round, participation improved from the last round with those attending becoming vocal in expressing their views.

Views were becoming constructive as against that made previously which were delivered mostly in complaints form than as submissions.

As the Fijian public have not been accustomed to making submissions to new legislations in the past as it is being one of the key feature in this government revolutionary change, the realisation of the importance in participating in such vital civil process will gradually become widely embraced in future promulgations.

How to make submission

To enable members of the public contribute towards the proposed bill, submissions are allowed through emails, postal mail, facebook postings and direct delivery to any of the Commission’s divisional offices. The addresses below can be used to post submissions:

Email to:  manager.legal@commcomm.gov.fj or sekope@commcomm.gov.fj;

Mail:

Fiji Commerce Commission,

P O Box 5031,

Suva

Hand deliver to:

The Fiji Commerce Commission

42 Gorrie Street, Suva; or

Office 2, 5 Tukani Street, Lautoka; or

Lot 3, Silas Ramzan Street, Labasa.

Closing Date

According to the timeline designed for the exercise of drafting the proposed bill, all public submissions are expected to be received before 24th April, 2017.   This is to allow the secretarial team to put together the revised draft that will be forwarded to the Office of the Solicitor General for final vetting and preparation of necessary parliamentary papers.

Next week: The new FCC                          

For more information/details on Fiji Commerce Commission and Commerce Commission Decree 2010, visit our website on http://www.commcomm.gov.fj or join us on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/commcomm.gov.fj