Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama made a point yesterday that is worth raising. He said, while Fiji has contained the coronavirus, the country has not been spared of its economic devastation.
That’s a given. No country has been spared the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s just the harsh reality of our lives right now. If we were to shrug this aside, then we are basically clutching at straws.
It becomes critically important then that emphasis shifts to how we are supposed to be effective in countering this predicament.
That shifts emphasis to how we are supposed to sustain what we have right now. Especially the positives that must be nurtured and consolidated during this period of the pandemic.
The realisation that we have successfully contained the virus does place us in a healthy position so to speak. The question is how do we move forward?
Clearly with most international borders closed, it is difficult to organise ourselves in terms of tourism. The pandemic has shown how important this industry has been for the country.
With more pressure expected to fall on many businesses over the next few months, there will be interest on contingency plans.
Speaking at the United Nations 75th General Assembly yesterday, Mr Bainimarama called for global solidarity, commitment and urgency in rebuilding the global economy suffering from the twin devastations caused by climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
While climate change and the coronavirus may be very different beasts, he said, the inequities they had exposed were all too familiar for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
He said Fiji was proud to mark “150 days of zero community transmission”. He also highlighted Fiji’s progress efforts in tackling two crises at once – the containment of COVID-19 and the devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Harold which made landfall on our shores early this year.
With all these factors and scenarios before us, we have a challenge to stay on containment mode.
That means adhering to social distancing rules. That means enabling our nation to maintain the status quo.
We can only hope that the eventual reopening of borders will place us in a good position to resume the process to kick-start our economy.
At the end of the day though, what matters is what we put into keeping the virus at bay. We have actually shown that it can be done.
We must have the willingness to stay on course though. That means adhering to rules. Let’s stay focused Fiji.
