As the world moves forward and implements new COVID-19 strategies and new ways to work smarter, unfortunately as usual, we are left playing catch up here in our beloved Fiji.
There was certainly talk of dropping the enforced quarantine and following other countries on the path of no quarantine being replaced with firm vaccination regulations and also rapid COVID-19 testing, which would have been great news and very much welcomed.
Meanwhile, while we continue to have discussions and debate on this issue, the UK and Europe are being proactive and have dropped quarantine restrictions.
It’s the same in the US and even Australia.
For some reason the decision in Fiji to continue to have the three-day quarantine period enforced upon you, regardless of whether you fulfill the mandatory vaccination rules, green zone country rules and regulations is still a mystery to me.
It does seem we are falling further behind other countries now, who are benefiting from new and easy rules and regulations to manage international passenger traffic.
In turn they are managing to attract more tourists, business people and returning residents alike.
I have not spoken to one person yet who believes the three-day quarantine period is beneficial to incoming passengers or local residents.
I want to point out this is certainly not a criticism of government, but more of a reminder that this issue should be addressed urgently in case they may have forgotten.
I can obviously see it benefits a few individuals and organisations during these times, but for the vast majority of people it is torture.
They have to endure paying for three nights of hotel accommodation, meals, transportation and so many other hidden costs that it sometimes ends up being more expensive than the airline ticket itself.
My personal opinion is that by dropping the three-day mandatory quarantine period all together and follow Australia’s example, which is relying on high COVID-19 vaccination rates to live with the pandemic as infections decline, this will certainly lead to an influx of more tourists and passenger arrivals.
You really don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work this out.
By continually delaying this decision to drop the three-day mandatory quarantine period when you enter Fiji, you will potentially be losing millions of dollars each and every day as tourists stay away.
I am still coming to grips with the science behind the need for this requirement.
Even if you are in quarantine in Fiji, it seems you can move around freely and engage with locals and tourists alike, but I am sure as the saying goes, there must be a method to the madness.
Another simple issue that has been ironed out by efficient, well planned and proactive governments worldwide is the ease of getting a simple PCR or certified RAT test (COVID test) done before flying out of an international airport.
At present you have to run around in the heat and rain 24 hours before your flight in Fiji and consume valuable time by finding businesses who can do this test and then get a certified result.
With many places across the globe now, passengers can simply pre-register online for a test at the airport with results back to you within 30 minutes.
On a quiet day results can be back to you even quicker.
Surely, this would be a more viable and simple system to use.
My advice to authorities is visit a compliant international airport to see how the COVID-19 testing system is done on the spot at the airport and if need be, if you feel this system works you can replicate it.
I am a patriotic citizen of Fiji like so many others and only want to address problems as I see them and try to point out possible solutions to the authorities that may have been overlooked.
At present the powers that be are preoccupied with other matters, such as controlling the highest level of debt in our
nation’s history, unprecedented poverty levels, huge unemployment figures, crumbling infrastructure, roads, hospitals, health centres all needing serious attention etc — that all needs to be addressed and so much more.
I fully understand the enormous task at hand that has grown over the past decade, but in a small way dropping the quarantine requirements and having COVID-19 testing at our international airport might just encourage many more tourists and many more returning residents to visit Fiji and spend more tourist dollars and more Fiji dollars for our locals, who can then contribute to the fledging economy.
We have the famous Bula welcome, we have the famous bula smile, all we need now is the authorities to consider this.
Finally, this is a humble request on behalf of the countless citizens of Fiji and also international travellers, that you
please try and listen to the people’s concerns and also try and address these issues sooner rather than later.
God Bless and see you next week.
- AJAY BHAI AMRIT is a founding member of the Peoples Alliance party and is also a freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are his and does not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.
