FORMER police commissioner and Fiji’s high commissioner to Papua New Guinea (PNG) Romanu Tikotikoca’s dreams to venture into politics finally came true yesterday.
Mr Tikotikoca will be contesting this year’s general election under a National Federation Party ticket after his name was announced as one of the 31 provisional candidates for NFP.
He said he had always wanted to become a politician while working for government.
“Some of the ideologues that I have for the election brings me back on what I did as a police officer following the political turmoil of 2000, about reconciliation and promoting racial harmony in the country,” Mr Tikotikoca said. “There’s a lot of hurt still out there and you need to promote racial harmony through reconciliation programs that needs to be undertaken and also through diplomacy and forgiveness.”
He hopes to improve assistance given to native landowners and also promote joint business ventures between overseas and local investors and native landowners.
“Secondly, I feel for our iTaukei landowners. There is nothing at the moment to promote business joint ventures between overseas and local investors and our iTaukei landowners. That is one thing I realised while serving as Fiji’s high commissioner in PNG,” he claimed. Mr Tikotikoca said there was also a need to elevate the status of Fijians, as far as their involvement in business enterprise was concerned.
“The investment that they have is the land that they have, but nothing much has been done to bring about joint ventures between overseas investors and the local investors that we have. I very much think of the needy in this nation, the downtrodden, the marginalised in society, those who live in squatter settlements. We need to provide housing for these people,” he added. Mr Tikotikoca said he chose to contest the polls under NFP because it was a multiracial party.
