If the Opposition had its way, Fiji would be looking for aeroplanes to fly come December 1.

Minister for Education Premila Kumar made the comment in Parliament yesterday in light of the international arrival of tourists today.

“The Government’s COVID strategy including the decisive plan for vaccine roll out has worked,” Ms Kumar said.

“We are very pleased that the infection rates have gone down substantially, businesses are open, and jobs are being restored.

“And most importantly we have aeroplanes to fly when the international border opens on December 1(today).

“If the Opposition had its way, we will be looking for aeroplanes to fly as they would have returned the planes not knowing how the leasing arrangements in the aviation industry works.”

This would have meant that the thousands of tourists expected over the next few months would be choosing another airline resulting in revenue meant for Fiji going to other countries.

COP26

The significance of Fiji’s participation at the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland is an example that Opposition and politically biased Non-Governmental Organisations and individuals do not understand the role that Fiji played.

“Calling our participation at COP-26 as a junket trip, is an example of politics of pettiness and ignorance,” she said.

“The Opposition cannot fathom that a small country like Fiji is punching above its weight in matters of global significance, alongside major countries that are known to dominate international diplomacy and action.”

She highlighted that Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama was in Glasgow as the chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum and former chair of COP-23 and the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum played a leading role in negotiations in his capacity as Fiji’s Minister for Climate Change and Champion on Ocean-Climate Nexus and Climate Finance for the Pacific.

“The critics said the trip was a waste of taxpayer’s money. This backfired when they came to know that the Fiji delegation was funded by donors. Immediately, they changed their tune and asked the Government to be transparent and accountable and to present a report on the use of every dollar of donor funds.

“Don’t they know that any funds received by the Government is audited by the Office of the Auditor General and the report is presented in Parliament?

“So what was the point of asking the obvious? Once again this is a good example of politics of pettiness, which I also call “cheap politics”.

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