Opposition and Pio

Tikoduadua

Tukai Lagonilakeba,  Nadi

All we hear from the two main opposition political parties are:

 We are going to implement this;

 Rename that or improve; and

 Do away with any of the already innovative FijiFirst Government’s policies.

But the Government’s current initiatives have indiscriminately benefitted many long-forgotten ordinary Fijians from previous past governments.

There is nothing new that the Opposition has brought to the table. They are only emulating what this visionary Government has already implemented and achieved. False promises are a thing of the past and is something rife within these Opposition parties.

We now hear of the two-faced characters of a political party. The NFP president and former FijiFirst Party minister Pio Tikoduadua is now a full-time critic of its many excellent policies, to which he was a part of.

Prime Minister VoreqeBainimarama gave him an opportunity to become a politician.  Mr Bainimarama always protected Mr Tikoduadua’s shortcomings during his term in the RFMF and as a senior public servant.

Mr Bainimarama stood by Mr Tikoduadua during and after his surgical operations, including the cost of his medical treatment. Mr Bainimarama still accorded him the respect and granted him continuity as a Cabinet minister despite the many requests from party supporters not to do so. And then Mr Tikoduadua finally resigned citing health reasons.

Mr Tikoduadua benefited greatly with his family and children during his tenure with the People’s Government.

Although it is his right, I believe he is a hypocrite. Mr Tikoduadua has now teamed up with his former nemesis, the NFP’s Biman Prasad. They did not see eye to eye during his FijiFirst Government days where he defended Government’s policies from critics such as Mr Prasad. He is a liability to the NFP, which has a proven record of not being able to form Government after many decades. Mr Tikoduadua’s comments cannot be far from the truth because he was holistically part and parcel of the Laws that now govern our country in his contribution from his days as an RFMF officer, senior civil servant and as a minister, including that of our 2013 Constitution.

Health services

Amenatave Yaconisau, Delainavesi

The analysis by Nemani Delaibatiki on the above subject refers to health moving in a steady and positive direction (Fiji Sun 27/7).

The unnecessary deaths at hospitals are not “something goes wrong” or “negative perceptions” as revealed to us by this newspaper (Fiji Sun 27/7).

They are real and reflect poorly on the health system.

We don’t expect miracles, but a good system that cares.

No amount of money will do that, but compassion.

We appreciate the financial assistance for kidney dialysis treatment.

What happened at WC2018?

Norman Yee, Martintar, Nadi

So much conjecture and possibilities. No one will tell us.

To get some insights one really needs to read Ben Ryan’s book as to what really happens behind the scenes.

Hope the team and coach have learned some hard lessons from this.

With so much hype and counting chickens beforehand one can’t really blame the 8th man for being so let down.

We could have done it and can still do it had we not left out the X factor!

Go Fiji go!

Early Childhood Education

Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa, Suva

Kudos to the Minister for Local Government, Housing, Environment, Infrastructure and Transport, Parveen Bala, who said Government was clear and focused in its belief that an early start to education was important so that no child was deprived of basic education.

He said this while speaking at the closing of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Week celebrations at Navoli Sanatan Kindergarten in Ba.

Even though Government, which has for the first time allocated the Ministry of Education more than $1 billion in its 2018/2019 National Budget, I believe the free school fees and other goodies only apply to Class 1 and above.

If Government is really serious about turning Fijians into a smart nation, then have the free school fees begin with pre-school or Kindergarten and see to it that ECE teachers are paid on par with other primary school teachers.

Club soccer

Shariff Shah, Savusavu

I am wondering if any district in the country organises club soccer to select players for the district in the national league.

Or are any district teams selected even before the knockout tournament or club soccer, if any, starts?

FFA (Fiji Football Association) is solely responsible of the state of soccer in the country and will remain so.

It needs to do something to fix the standard of the game here and its international ranking.

It needs to do that before we start losing all our future players to overseas clubs or to other sports.

Feedback:  jyotip@fijisun.com.fj