Biman hits out at Fijian PM; Calling your own citizens uneducated is unforgiveable

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Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. Picture: FIJIAN GOVT

National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad yesterday called on Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama to apologise for calling Fijians “uneducated” during an interview on a New Zealand radio station.

“Calling your own citizens uneducated is unforgivable just to mask Government’s failures and complete inability to contain and eliminate the virus,” the NFP leader said in Parliament yesterday in response to a ministerial statement by Health Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete.

“When the problem was small we didn’t lockdown, we made all kinds of excuses,” Prof Prasad said.

“Even the honourable Prime Minister went onto a radio station in New Zealand and said we can’t have lockdown because the people of Fiji are uneducated.

“This is really a slap on the face of our people, our citizens.

“It is actually shameless and despicable to go on the airwaves and say that and indirectly insult our people.

“Calling your own citizens uneducated in my view is unforgivable. The Prime Minister should actually apologise to the people of this country for saying that.”

Prof Prasad said 565 people lost their lives after succumbing to COVID-19.

He said it “defies logic” that only 371 deaths were direct as a result of COVID-19 while 194 people lost their lives to existing medical conditions.

“Each one of them was alive even if they were suffering from other illnesses but died when they were infected by this deadly virus.”

Prof Prasad said it was not the fault of the people that COVID had spiralled out of control.

“It is the negligence of the honourable Prime Minister and his Government.

“It is his midnight national address on May 29 opening up containment zone borders that resulted in the virus freely travelling into unaffected areas through people.

“The important message of ‘the virus moves when you move’ suddenly became the ‘the virus may move if you move’.

“And it has resulted in near-collapse of the health and medical services, non-screening and non-testing, no contact tracing, no strict isolation guidelines and patients becoming seriously ill by the time they arrive in hospitals.”

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