THE experiences of COVID-19 is not a distant memory now but a timely lesson for us all, says newly sworn-in MP Inosi Kuridrani.
In his maiden speech in Parliament, he said when the lockdown was imposed in April 2021, a massive 115,000 people lost their jobs.
“Another 10,000 were placed on part time jobs,” Mr Kuridrani said. “More lost their jobs due to the foolish ‘No Jab, No Job’ policy.
“Even if one were to calculate that 130,000 people went jobless that year and each having an average of two dependents, the livelihoods of a total of 390,000 people were affected.”
Mr Kuridrani said that for the first time in Fiji’s history, people were lining up, risking their lives for food rations because they had no home gardens, farms or had simply abandoned agriculture.
“Had they had a home garden or farm and were cultivating the land, there would have been food for them to survive.
“I believe this is the most important lesson of all that we should have learned from the wrath of this deadly pandemic as we brace for the challenges of the future.”
He highlighted the importance of agriculture and questioned how prepared people were in terms of food security.
“Had the previous government paid attention or adhered to the food basket concept program that was under implementation by the SDL government in 2006, we would not have run out of fresh homegrown foods and vegetables and ended up as a nation on the brink of collapse with the impact of NCDs.
“This is now taking on a toll on lives and the economic development of our nation.”
