Letters, 23rd April 2019
People’s Will
Mere Samisoni, Lami
May I respond to a letter in your Fiji Sun print dated Wednesday 17th P11, under “The People’s Will”.
I am surprised that the writer has drawn in a process of business decision making that is required to cover customer service and quality needs, cost, regulations and profit. All of which is accessible to the public to succeed in business.
It has become apparent to me that the reasoning of the author reflects the same pattern used by the Fiji Commerce Commission (FCC) before the 2014 General Election to discredit me and my company. This was despite my company being the only bread making company to provide documentation of ingredient use, cost, amount, products and sales expected from each shift day by day.
My company produced according to our customer demand for each shop. The shop managers are taught to match “supply and demand” and know who our regular customers are, which is necessary for daily planning.
They carry out this role well and produce only a few more to accommodate casual buyers.
Therefore, we do not over produce, but maintain a balance to reduce risks of wastage and costs. Doing so, we emphasise, compliance.
However, records will attest that the FCC people would appear at any time in our 25 shops, at odd hours to demand the price controlled items should be on the shelf despite the fact that all our regular price-controlled-item customers have been catered for.
Additionally, on price-controlled-item, customers have the luxury of choice to go to other bread shops for their needs.
In fact, their choice also includes biscuits and home-made items like bread itself, pancakes (sapapa and round like gulagula), topoi, roti, pita bread etc.
The choice for the public can be further extended to rice, tapioca, dalo, dalo ni tana, uto, yams, vudi, kumala, and tivoli etc., all of which, are healthy alternatives and should be encouraged in the gluten-free markets today.
I recognise the important issue of convenience, but why push government institutional power which becomes a barrier when it controls business.
I recommend innovation by empowering human talent and resources to add value in order to link up with the “Global Value Chain Management Structure” with inherent market opportunities.
Why does government and their letter writer supporters, push me and my company to produce for their control policies rather than customer needs and demand?.
Why don’t they allow free market choices for more investments and success through innovations and training of human resources, which will increase productivity, good governance, transparency, accountability and inclusivity?
Why? Because Government is interfering with private sector business when government should be keeping out of the private sector, reducing its size and focusing on growing the economy with improved infrastructure access between markets, investments and customer driven relationship based on service.
Business success will grow exponentially in free democratic business environment not under big government power to micro manage and then end up in the European Union blacklist.
On the dirty politics by SODELPA on me, this pattern was also evident, statistically in Central – Naitasiri, Tailevu South, Rewa, Lami, Nasinu, Suva; the West; the South and minimally in the North.
I was informed by one of the successful candidates, from the North, that he chased away the HQs team, when he identified their motives in time.
About ten (10) SODELPA candidates, did not find out in time to prevent the HQs team violating its own SODELPA policy and mission which is to develop talent from the grassroots up and not just down the organisational structure.
Thus it adopted the policy (Chaired by the late Ratu Jone Yavala Kubuabola) of identifying candidates through its various constituencies, to ensure easy access to the Members of Parliament following elections, ensure the people’s voices are heard and to increase likelihood of success given the candidates should be well grounded and have served in their local communities extensively prior to contesting.
I agree that the people’s will should be served at general elections time, but with “Dictatorship” dressed up like democracy accompanied by lies, fear and hate thrown into the equation, the people were confused.
This communication process between the party and the base voters for clarity, interpretation, understanding and acceptance is part of the 21st Century Information Economy to ensure the rights of all voters are met using good governance – accountability, transparent participation.
I also understand that the Opposition Leader Retired Major General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka received sympathy votes but from all over Fiji but the HQs team did not promote the local candidate selected by the local community violating their own policy objective to win more seats and therefore majority to govern Fiji.
To this mission, I and the SODELPA Lami Constituency Council (SLCC) members along with president Jope Koroisavou, SODELPA Youth Wing (SYW) leader and his team, put forward our respective but similar base voters’ concerns at different times.
SLCC handed ours over in January and February 2019 and SYW recently. We have asked the party to hold a retreat in order to evaluate the 2018 General Election in order to guide SODELPA to the 2022 General Elections.
In addition, we have submitted justifications why we believe it best for the AGM to be held in Suva.
Alternatively, SODELPA in our opinion can take the AGM to the North next year.
But for such an important post elections AGM, it requires majority participation logistically.
Another pressing concern that our base voters have and related to the heading of this letter “The people have spoken”, I would like to state that in belonging to a patriarchal society which the Indigenous Fijian (IF) community particularly are aligned towards, the tall poppy syndrome remains and is present even at the Business community level, and this must change.
Respect for women and our abilities is often not welcomed by men who have been used to positions and relationships of power. Hence the resistance from SODELPA to reform and change to keep control.
The same symptoms and archaic values the letter writer amplifies.
On violence against women & children Fiji’s position in the Pacific is 64-67 per cent 2nd behind Papua New Guinea and rate 5th globally (MoWC&PA, 2018).
This is shocking for any woman to accept today.
The Strategic Development Goals (SDG, 2030) #5 on gender equality; # 10 to reduce Inequality # 16 Promote Justice and #17 all equally advocate for the promotion of partnerships, so policies address, misogyny or the hatred of women. [For emphasis, the tall poppy syndrome that I represent as a successful business woman).
At this stage, may I, honour, the late speaker Dr Jiko Luveni who did much to promote the ratification of this landmark UN 17 SDG (2030) that focus attention on the role of women in development and decision making through education and training with support from understanding men.
Accordingly, the power to control is an old world view and order which has changed to the new world view and 21st Information Economy.
Here, data, stats and facts are used to add value to Human Resource Development (HRD) using innovation and entrepreneurial investment to develop people skills that add value to all capital base – social, cultural, technical financial, economic, moral, spiritual, ethical, legal, political, and informational by empowering local talent from the grassroots to invest in and grow the economy.
This is biblical and spiritual (Mathew 25: 14-30 about talents for development).
On the FijiFirst Party Government, Actual Debt stands at $5.1Bilion or 47 per cent of GDP. The average budget for the last 13 years stand at approximately 40-45 per cent of GDP. This is wasteful spending.
On economic growth, actual 3.2 per cent of GDP. Reality is average 2.3 per cent of GDP from 2006-2018.
On Deficit Actual is 7.1 per cent of GDP. Budget target is 2-3 per cent of GDP (RBF 2006-2018).
On Human Development Index (HDI) Fiji has slipped from 66th Position in 1995 to 72nd in 100th position in 2011 (FBoS, 2011).
This narrative and picture tells us Fiji is consuming not producing from our diverse market bases in the new 21st Century Economic world order.
Savenaca Narube has argued for IMF’s concern on governance in order to remove Fiji from the black list urgently. It would augur well for these views to be independently accessed and evaluated for adoption. No thought is a wasted thought.
Having said the above, I submit that my experience remains useful and gold in my opinion, to my voter base from the grassroots up, where I champion the concept of producing, as a preferred alternative to consuming in order to move people, especially here in Fiji out of poverty.
Poverty contributes to the high level of violence against women and children which Fiji must address collectively among other challenges like its liquidity position, high debt, high consumption without national information on productivity etc.
I am compelled as one who understands business and economic development, to speak out now against leaving such irresponsible financial and social calculations to our children and their heirs. Accordingly, I do not accept the casually thrown “not blame or retire” misogynist line as suggested by your writer.
History will capture my desire to reverse the high prison population of Indigenous Fijians (IF) incarcerated despite the fact, we are asset rich yet cash poor, and in my position to do so, I am willing to be admonished.
I thus also take this time to say that the risks and benefits of the economy are not spread out as designed for a free democratic society with supportive institutions to grow Fiji’s economy and Trade, as captured in the Qarase, Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) Government’s Strategic Development Plan of 50/50 by 2020.
What a waste of time, energy and resources, the last 13 years has been, only to show an EU Blacklist and an IF successful business woman being kicked out of SODELPA because she has dared to prove the ‘establishment’ wrong.
Union Blackmail
Simon Hazelman, Savusavu
The revelation that unions are encouraging their members not to turn up to work on May 3 is not only reckless but totally irresponsible.
Once again we get to see these union leaders who have failed miserably at past elections finding an unethical and unproductive way of taking absolute advantage of disrupting the upcoming Asian Development Bank meeting.
No doubt this stunt is based solely on the selfish and arrogant attitude of a handful of under-achieved losers!
Basically this nasty plan will not only inflict financial loss to the nation, but paint a rather bad picture of what we are as a people. The fact of the matter is that the nation, its employees and their families will ultimately suffer.
It’ll become a costly affair for all.
It is already hard enough to keep up with the best of times.
Many families have existing problems and such action will only aggravate the existing issues and the tensions, and the uncertainties of the work situation will be reflected in the home. Invariably it’ll affect the lives of everyone.
For a developing nation such as ours, such a move is never a forward march but a backward one!
Absolutely irresponsible on the part of all unions and they and the country will simply reap what it sows.
Wake up and remove the blinkers people, we don’t need such arrogant thinkers!.
Traffic Congestion
Dharmendra Kumar, Suva
The Fiji Roads Authority chief executive officer Jonathan Moore has hit the nail right on the head by saying, the new electronic car parking system at Sports City is contributing to more traffic congestion.
Mr Moore, it’s not only the Sports City electronic car system but also the one at Damodar City.
We have two huge shopping centres beside Grantham Road and both entry and exit is on the same side.
A lot of emphasis was given to the look and feel or exterior finishes of the malls, but not to the basics, shopping centres should be adequate to accommodate traffic at the busiest hours of each centre.
Traffic congestion is not caused by people rather by vehicles in poorly designed roads. Who is responsible?
Noisy Preachers
Joji O. Toronibau, Tunuloa
I listened to radios, watched television and often hear preachers, yelling, screaming and stomping if you like to the top of their voices. They are holding on to a microphone instead and still not satisfied with the din.
Maybe the One above is deaf and out of reach?
For some last week it was holy week but for most of them there would have been many noisy preachers.
Senior Citizen
Vijay P. Madhavan, Suva
When is a Senior Citizen NOT a Senior Citizen?
After 6pm every day and on Public Holidays according to Damodar Cinemas.
Mr Joel Abraham , FCCC, please help.
Savusavu Airport
Shariff Shah, Savusavu
Can the authorities please advise as to why the above airport carpark and entry is in such a state.
The first impression is very important.
Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj
