Letters the Editor – August 18, 2019

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Young boys selling green coconuts in Suva. Picture: JONA KONATACI

Children selling food

I refer to the report (FT 17/8) on children selling food at night to make ends meet. Each time I read about children selling food or bu, I wonder what the parents are doing. Are the parents also out and about selling food and bu? I could be overstepping the mark here but I will ask the question — who are the parents of these children? Sometime ago I was in town around 11pm at Lautokas corner shop. This is a popular place for people to sell food. One thing I noticed was they were mostly women and many usually have children sleeping on the hard sidewalk. After talking to a woman I asked her where her husband was, she fell silent. I wanted to respect her silence and move on but then she blurted out that he was at home drinking kava. We talked some more and she said that it was ok, he worked all day and she was helping out with finances. When I looked at the two children sleeping beside her, she just said that they were used to it. Is life a real struggle now than ever before. It would be good to know but backed with statistics.

Expats’ line

I mused at renown commentator the esteemed Allen Lockington’s “Expats’ line” quip of 17/08/19 about the popular “resigns for personal reasons” line our expatriates put down regarding their sudden departures. Intriguing as it may be, could it be our tropical “heat” being a major factor in their decisions? After all our climate can be humid and dry at most times of the year. Wink. Ben Kush Canberra, Australia

Climate change

The Pacific Islands Forum meeting seems to have brought home the climate change doomsday facing us all and that we must all take this very seriously. In Fiji, I believe, the present Government and our political and civil society leaders are all very much aware and therefore could have certain policies in place to combat this. The banning of free plastic bags by supermarkets and larger outlets was a trailblazer but we need to go one step further. I would urge our leaders to do away with plastic bags completely rather than allowing its use on a user pay basis as this is not a solution. Could we not instead get Government to subsidise the production of paper or cotton bags so that the costs can be absorbed by the supermarkets, market vendors and other outlets as was the case previously with plastic bags. We have abundance of bamboo and wood chips for manufacture of such bags. There are so many other things which can be done. Also, could our parliamentarians drive or hike up the Sabeto hills, right up to the TV and radio tower installations and look down on Nadi. The pollution that they will see will hopefully move them into action. The present road fiasco is also not of much help either as the traffic into and out of Nadi spews its fair share of pollutants. Finally, in regards to the people and companies being allowed to harness solar, I realise that the panels are duty-free but could there be a subsidy on batteries to allow for storage of power as this would make it more attractive to householders and industries. Dorsami Naidu Nadi

Buying Greenland

It’s amazing what I read on the internet. Now according to The New Yorker online, president Donald Trump wants to “buy” Greenland. The only other president who wanted to buy Greenland was after Allied victory, the Truman administration decided that it liked the wartime military bases on Greenland so much that it would offer to buy Greenland for $100 million — or about $1.3 billion in today’s money. Funny nah? Allen Lockington Kava Place, Waiyavi, Lautoka

Viral video

A live video went viral on social media depicting a man evacuating from the building with his plate of food, the pictures taken illustrate the hard reality behind the scenario. This is reality for most household in Fiji who sweat blood and tears to put food on the table considering the very high cost of living. The video and the pictures taken carries a lot of truth and honesty about the man who lived a simple life and worked hard to treat himself a good feed after a hard days job. Bravo to the one who took the video instead of running for his life. Ana Mamatuki Nasinu

Teachers and drugs

Interesting that the Education Ministry is training our school teachers to recognise the signs of drug addiction and abuse. The permanent secretary, Allison Burchell, said teachers had been taught to identify students who were at risk by observing particular signs. With drugs so rampant in society today, who is to say that some of our teachers are not drug users as well? I believe several teachers will recognise the signs during these training sessions. I hope the Education Ministry has our students trained to recognise teachers with signs of drug use, and people who are trained tor recognise it in teachers. Such is our fight against drug use. Simon Hazelman, Rava Estate, Savusavu

 

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