Letters to the Editor – Monday, December 6, 2021

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Aloesi Nakosi runs away from an Australian defender during the Dubai Women 7s final. Picture: Martin Sera Lima

Fijiana on song

THE Fijiana 7s side was on song as they remained unbeaten in pool play, and came close to upsetting the Aussie women’s 7s side in the grand finale. The Fijiana and Australia met in consecutive finals in Dubai, and unlike the 22-7 win the previous weekend, the battle on Sunday morning was a close one and I pay tribute to Saiasi Fuli and the young brigade for the efforts shown against Australia. Although we lost 5-15, our girls won accolades and fame for playing their hearts out. The Fijiana beat Ireland 24-19, USA 21-12, Team Great Britain 17-15 and France 17-12. The previous weekend the Fijiana had defeated Ireland 28-12, Canada 28-26 and Team Great Britain 28-5, but lost to Russia 27-19. Hence, one could see a huge improvement from the previous weekend, and I hope we will be able to maintain this momentum, heading to the next leg in Spain in January. A big vinaka vakalevu to the management and the Fijiana! RAJNESH ISHWAR LINGAM Balgovind Rd, Nadawa, Nasinu

New on circuit

OUR national sevens team is on a buildup process. They are a group of new faces on the World rugby sevens circuit. Definitely give the new boys some time to build on composure and international game time to progress. As process leads to progress, vinaka vakalevu team management and to our stunning Fijiana for an eye-catching performance. AREKI DAWAI Maharaj Place, Samabula

Sevens interest

REGARDING international sevens tournaments in which the national men’s team is a participant, do you lose interest in the respective tournaments once Fiji gets eliminated? MOHAMMD IMRAZ JANIF Natabua, Lautoka

Valuable lessons

NOT the result Fijians wanted, but I guess we have to be content with the achievement of the men’s 7s team. The boys finished ninth after losing to France and Spain in pool play. The boys, after the back-to-back losses in pool play, regrouped and bounced back to wallop Argentina in their final pool play. They left it too late, but the fighting spirit and character shown in that battle drew a lot of positive vibes. Fiji then beat Canada and Spain to settle for ninth spot. With 11 debutants on the circuit, the boys took time to settle. However, I’m positive that Saiasi Fuli and the young boys have learnt valuable lessons as we prepare to travel to Spain in January. We need to focus on the following:

  • restarts,
  • communication; and
  • making one-on-one tackles.

Fans must be patient with this new team. Remember we have lost a host of players, our coach and our trainer. From the team management to the players, we have almost made wholesale changes, so results will take time. Other sides on the circuit – the US Eagles, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and France -have retained bulk of their players and team management so they are doing well. Please give our boys more game time, and we should be there. To Fuli and the boys – thank you for your efforts. Safe travels home! Toso Viti toso! RAJNESH ISHWAR LINGAM Balgovind Rd, Nadawa, Nasinu

World Rugby 7s crown

So as they say: “So as you train so shall you fight.” Best for the next tournament. JIOJI O TORONIBAU Navetau, Tunuloa

Unmasked passenger

ON Thursday, December 02, I took a bus from Martintar to Namaka and from Namaka to Nadi Town. In both instances several iTaukei passengers were maskless. Will relevant authorities pay stricter attention, please? Trying to correct such passengers can lead to unnecessary confrontation. It is a sad state of affairs when some passengers remain so disobedient even in the confined space of a bus. So sad. Very troubling. Needlessly arrogant. RONNIE CHANG Martintar, Nadi

Nutrition food fact labels

IT is good to see that so many consumable goods are produced locally and also exported. However, I believe that in Fiji there are no monitoring systems where the locally produced consumable goods are checked to see that the nutrient information on the product labels are actually contained in the product itself. The manufacturing companies will defend their products, but in absence of a neutral monitoring unit the consumers lose out as the products may not adhere to the nutrition facts label. This can amount to false or misleading representation or misleading advertisement. Food labels are a legal requirement and they are important for many reasons. They help consumers make informed choices about the food they buy, help them to store and use it safely and allows people to plan when they will consume it all of which help to reduce food wastage. The food label is an important communication tool that provides consumers with information about a product’s composition, nutritional profile, and quantity of contents so that they can make product comparisons and selections. In Australia they have the FSANZ which sets the food labelling standards in the Food Standards Code. These standards are enforced by the Australian states and territories and, in New Zealand, by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) that does regular checks to verify the accuracy of the food content with the product labels. In Fiji we have the Fijian Competition & Consumer Commission (FCCC) with the backing of a robust legislation protecting the consumers from any unfair trade practice, but would be very interested to hear from FCCC if they have the resources and technologies to verify the issue raised or if there has been any enforcement of such nature. This task can be easily carried out by the Food Science Department of our local universities. SATISH NAKCHED Suva

Time to act

OUR A-G is worried about the 20 cents per litre fuel tax removal as it will result in the $56 million hole in the state revenue. Are you serious to be even stating that in public? This will be the most crucial time for that act to take place. Things should be made right at the right time specially when it’s needed the most. People are struggling so please stop worrying about the revenue loss for time being. We have been getting enough aid from overseas and we are so grateful to them for the timely help. How well aid have been utilised, is another factor. People did not vote for you dear A-G so that you worry about your comfort, rather they expected timely help from you when it’s needed the most. Am sure people are being grateful for the $360 that was dispatched, but those temporally glitters do not mean that shots not be called where it matters the most in the daily livelihood and struggles of our people. State revenue is very important for the functioning of our state, but that 20 cents per litre of fuel is not the only source of state revenue, is it? Don’t you think it’s high time for some change? People want to be heard. The more they will feel they are being heard, the closer they will come. KIRTI PATEL Lautoka

Biggest increase

THE fuel prices are going up significantly. This is one of the biggest increase in recent years. Import duty was increased when the global price went down following a slump in demand due to COVID-19. At that time, we were informed that the consumer will still be paying less. However, it has now spiked up much higher than before. Therefore, the increase in duty on fuel is not justified anymore. Our country is the only one that puts twice the tax on fuel and the poor people have to pay for it. This has broken the backs of the people and they can’t tolerate it any more. A reduction of 20 cpl (cent per litre) will be a very big relief for everyone. If the Government is concerned for the $56 million revenue that this brings then they should get this revenue from other places such as cutting the salaries of the civil servants/government ministers. If the country is in crisis with COVID-19 then why only the poor and vulnerable people are taking the burden of reduced pay/working hours and job loss while civil servants and government ministers have the luxury of normal salaries. They also need to share the burden of this crisis May be it’s time for government ministers and high-level civil servants to take pay cut to reduce government costs and impose some subsidiary on fuel prices. This spike in fuel prices will increase transportation costs and in return increasing process of groceries. MOAIS ALI Labasa

The word omicron

OMICRON sounds like a character from the Transformer series. Whether it’s an autobot or decepticon will depend on its severity on human life. WISE MUAVONO Hedstrom Pl, Balawa, Lautoka

Licence renewal

MY sincere thanks and heartfelt appreciation for the speedy positive streamlining and improvement to renewal of drivers licence for 70-plus year olds. My personal thanks to LTA chairman James Sowane for the swift action taken. My concerned mutual friends and I are truly impressed. Awesome. Well done. Sa malo levu, saka. RONNIE CHANG Martintar, Nadi

Longer matchstick

HERE is a suggestion to the companies that make our matches, have you ever considered making long stemmed matches? It may cost a bit more, but it will be worth it. Just a suggestion. ALLEN LOCKIGNTON Kava Place, Lautoka

Past problems

THE honourable Minister for Infrastructure says “the events of 2006 (coup) were the beginning of rectifying the forces that led to the problems in the past”. Umm … honourable minister any event which removes the supreme law of the land is an act of atrocity. Any illegal event which removes a democratic elected government is an act of treason. Whether it was in Rabuka’s no other way event, Speight’s civil coup or Bainimarama’s clean-up, the punishment for overthrowing a sovereignty is punishable by death or to serve maximum life sentence as George Speight is serving. Please stop buttering your leaders governance, but be realistic, genuine and fair of the past. AREKI DAWAI Maharaj Place, Samabula

Parliamentary debates

I HAD respect for government MPs until the parliamentary debates uncovered them to be merely a mouthpiece for someone else . DAN URAI Lautoka

Why delay

WITH the millions of dollars received from FIFA annually, Fiji Football Association can easily commence a professional league for its affected districts. Why the delay? ASISH VIAY PRASAD Park Rd, Raiwasa

 

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