In 1985, then prime minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara warned of “economic disintegration and chaos” if Fiji did not act to halt the decline in the economy.
“The warning bell is ringing,” he said in an article published in The Fiji Times on February 5 that year.
“It tolls out its message with a quiet but forbidding insistency.”
He made the statements while speaking to more than 200 delegates representing employers, government departments, bankers, social organisations, farmers’ groups and workers during the first National Economic Summit at the National Gymnasium in Suva.
Absent from the summit were representatives of the Fiji Trades Union Congress and the Opposition, the National Federation Party-Western United Front coalition.
“Fiji’s expenditure is exceeding income. Sugar prices are depressed, and the effects of these are compounded by the 1983 drought and the damage caused by cyclones.
“The farmers in particular, were receiving less income. But the national wage bill has been climbing steeply.”
The government paid more than half of its operating expenses in wages and salaries. It had to borrow to meet operating costs.
“And so, we come to this historic national consultation, this coming together of community leaders, representatives of the people and all the many facts of our society.
“We are here, together to face the facts, to gain understanding, to contribute our ideas, to seek consensus on the measures we must pursue to protect Fiji, and to preserve all that we have built together since independence.”
Citing the example of an “Island in the Sun”, the PM said the island nation had gone bankrupt because its expenditure had gone far beyond its income. It had borrowed more to bridge this gap.
He did not name the country, but he was apparently referring to Jamaica, where riots broke out over tough economic measures imposed by the government.
“The medicine was hard to take, so hard in fact, there was a violent reaction. So far, we have escaped the economic fate of that other nation.”
He said the warning bell was ringing, adding he regretted the decision of the FTUC and National Federation Party not to attend the summit.
He said according to NFP, it was not consulted on the planning of the summit.
“This is not the first time the Opposition has bemoaned the fact that they have not been consulted. But many of you recall that I had offered to the Opposition a government of national unity, but this offer was totally rejected without good reason.”
He could not entertain consultation with an Opposition “whose style objective is to bring down the Government”.
FTUC had agreed to attend the summit but wanted to change its structure and content.
“They seem to be determined to force the Government to remove the wage freeze,” Ratu Mara concluded.
