Ex PM endorses PM

Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa, Suva

Wow, it is humbling and an eye opener to read that Laisenia Qarase has endorsed Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s statement on the appointment and picking of principals and headteachers on merit in Methodist schools. (FS 23/8)

We all know that the norm where Methodist teachers are to be appointed to Methodist Schools has changed and this brought out a lot of criticisms against the Government.

A delegate said it would be different when a Methodist teacher is the principal and headteacher of a Methodist school.

The former PM, who is also the chair of Lako Yani Management Private Limited said: “It is a matter of policy so the Lako Yani Management can’t do anything about it because the appointments are based on merit.”

“They pick people that are specialised in a par¬ticular field and are qualified and experienced.”

It is ironic that our ex-PM, a member of SODELPA, can openly talk to Methodist delegates and agree with Government on the appointment and picking of principals and headteachers based on merit to Methodist schools, but his SODELPA Party does not accept that the many leadership appointments held by Muslims and Hindus in Government today are based on merit as well.

NFP

Amrit Singh, Bau Road

Recently, much has been said by Opposition Member of Parliament and leader of the National Federation Party, Biman Prasad, and other party leaders regarding the FijiFirst Government.

I remember after my sister’s wedding in 2016, the former head teacher of Vunimono Primary, Ragho Nand, came with Mr Prasad since the shed was already in place and he wanted to talk about NFP’s manifesto.

The first words he spoke was on the price of 800g Rewa butter and till date he is still sticking to his butter ”lagao sab ke” terminology. If Mr Biman has not changed his stance on barking about butter price increases in four years imagine him taking over the government with his buttery terms.

Although Mr Nand has since left this world, when he came to my uncle’s house where the wedding had just finished he demanded if we could fry gulgula since we had just done frying bhajiya. They didn’t fund anything and we thought the NFP leader was coming so we would fry bhajiya from the remaining consumables, but the demand made by Mr Ragho was exceptional since beggars can’t be choosy, right? We thought: “Look at FijiFirst, they never came to Bau Road settlement to ask for votes and they won.”

In four years a lot has been done along Bau Road by the FijiFirst government – new tarsealed roads, a hotel, better electricity coverage, street lights and water new lines.

Razor-Poll

Christopher Griffin, Perth

Without knowing sample size and how the poll was conducted, that Fiji Sun/Razor Poll figure of 60 per cent favouring tighter control of social media (F.S. 28/80) is meaningless.

Editor’s Note: Sample size and poll details are published with Fiji Sun/Razor polls.

Clergy

Amenatave Yaconisau, Delainavesi

Politics involves disagreements and reconciling them amicably and the best way is through the human spirit. We must resolve these differences including the church clergies. The church promote the idea of conforming to the image of God (Romans:12/2) and that there are no differences(Romans 3:22). Your article by Wati Talebula titled ‘Life Ban for Rogue Clergy'(FS 23/8) is relevant.

Daylight savings

Sukha Singh, Labasa

How many parties would continue with daylight savings if they win the 2018 general election?

Proactive measures

Wise Muavono, Lautoka

I thought that the Lautoka City Council would have learnt their lesson after the last fire and taken proactive measures so that no one sets fire to the Vunato Rubbish Dump again. Well I thought wrong!

Hibiscus Benchmark

Floyd Robinson, Suva

One congratulates to the 2018 Vodafone Hibiscus king (Manasa Navara) and queen (Jesscia Fong) who came out victorious.

The competition between the first runner-up, second runner up and king and queen was intensive making the public judging events quite interesting.

Meanwhile, reflecting back on queens of recent times, one has to agree that the benchmark established by Mere Nalatikau was a class difficult to surpass.

Big appreciation to all the contestants who participated at the 2018 Hibiscus Festival and having the courage to rise to the occasion.

Feedback:  jyotip@fijisun.com.fj