Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma Indian division superintendent, Reverend Abel Nand, claims some members attending the week-long conference at Furnival Park, Toorak, were here for a holiday.

Reverend Nand said the church must take the stand to minimise the membership for the conference.

In an interview, he said there were too many people attending the conference which was not helping circuits catering for members.

He said they had used $5000 to provide morning tea for members attending the weeklong church conference in Toorak.

“I believe if the number decreases, they would allow us to breathe easier,” he said.

“Some delegates were not able to attend the conference due to the language barrier.”

“There has been an outcry for sometime now.”

“For us, it’s okay but for many they do not understand the Fijian language. Even though there were translators available, this was an area that the church must improve on,” he said.

The Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma general secretary, Reverend Dr Semisi Turagavou, said the executives had discussed with stewards regarding the catering for the conference.

Reverend Turagavou said the stewards were responsible to reveal the outcomes of the meeting to their members.

“Days before the conference, we had invited stewards to come and have discussion regarding the catering. Also, other logistics within the conference,” he said.

“We leave it to the stewards to discuss with their members the outcome of the meeting. The stewards are supposed to tell their members what was discussed during the meeting.”

When questioned regarding the language barrier, he said they had translators around.

He said non-Fijian could ask their ministers to have a translator.

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