Challenges of the Lautoka pool
I read the editorial penned by our editor-in-chief titled ‘Challenges of the Lautoka pool’ (FT 22/04) and I agree with him that hopes are high this swimming pool does not end up like a backyard pool.
It’s sad to note that the much anticipated pool will not be hosting international or local competitions due to fund mismanagement by the previous administration. Hence, the international pool has
been reduced to a domestic one. While the pool is expected to be completed by November, other facilities like washrooms have also been reduced. Aptly summed up, “We are staring at what appears to be a ridiculous situation.” RAJNESH ISHWAR LINGAM Nadawa, Nasinu
Moral police
Moral and Civic Education (MCE) has been a subject in our schools for a few years now. When it was introduced many of us were skeptical of the concept. As the subject continues being taught to our children, the immoral and uncivil behaviour of our children also continues growing. Our churches, mandir, masjid and other houses of worship are doing next to nothing about it apart from the routine vunau (sermon). On the street, grown men and women drive around cars with obscene artwork and writings, visible to little children who wonder what they mean, often end up asking their mothers. Social media is rife with expletive-ridden tirades by people who probably don’t understand their existence on this planet. We need a moral police arm, something like the feared Mobile Unit. We need someone to be able to go around ripping off obscene stickers and dragging people around for displaying their immoral art. Maybe spray paint over the rubbish written on the cars. We need to act immediately. My talatala may show my children the path to heaven, but driving back home through hell with kids reading filth renders the vunau useless. No amount of MCE or vunau can rid our society of its ills if we can’t address the problem with force. I’ll be top cop given a chance, and beat the intestines and its content out of rubbish people who are making our country a filthy and immoral place. Vacava, turaga COMPOL and Minister? China has such a body. Why can’t we? Donald Singh Suva
Sukha’s letters
Please keep writing in The Fiji Times – LTE. Your frank opinions on politics, debates on current issues makes this column lively. Unfortunately it did not go well for some of our readers and writers. Reading this daily newspaper for ages I have read critical comments in a nutshell by many writers like you for the benefit of all. You are a direct shooter who raises issues of concern for urgent attention. After all The Fiji Times editor-in-chief finally decides which letters are worthy of publication, or else he will be questioned. Expressing your opinion freely in the media is the way to media freedom. Best wishes and keep writing. Tahir Ali Hamilton, New Zealand
Talking about nurses
Nurses don’t need horizontal violence, they need exponential pay raises. Nurses are more than caregivers; they’re emotional anchors. Spend six months in rehab after a major surgery then you will get a better appreciation of their work. Thank a nurse, advocate for fair working conditions, or volunteer at a hospital to find out what they go through. Despite long hours and demanding situations, their compassion shines through. They juggle countless tasks but always treat each patient as a whole person. Show gratitude and ensure they can continue to be beacons of comfort for all. The median annual wage for registered nurses (with a four-year nursing degree) in the United States is $86,070 ($F195,977) as of May 2023, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Surely, Fijian nurses can be paid at least half of what parliamentarians get. Praneet Singh Sacramento, CA
Teachers’ exodus
I refer to the sentiments expressed by Rajnesh Lingam in his letter titled “Pay rise for nurses” in your LTE column (FT 22/04) where he mentioned about his teacher-friends migrating to New Zealand and Australia. Fiji has lost hundreds, if not thousands of teachers recently, yet we are still unable to develop long-term ways to keep them on board. Loyal members have been informed by our unionists that they have been submitting requests for salary raises and several other benefits, such as Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA). I firmly feel that the current approach is ineffective because, while we keep submitting proposals and waiting for something to show up in the upcoming budget, the Fiji Nurses Association has been able to successfully negotiate pay increases and retention allowances well in advance of the budget’s submission or announcement. Fantastic work, FNA! The lucrative pay packages and the opportunity to gain permanent residency are the main motivating factors for teachers migrating overseas. Mr Lingam hit the nail on the head when he remarked: “We can’t match the packages offered by Australia and New Zealand”. It’s like trying to compete in a limbo contest with a bar set on the moon! If Fiji’s Coalition Government wants to keep its teachers from flying the coop, they might want to consider sweetening the pot with a pay raise. After all, a happy teacher makes a happy classroom! DINESH KUMAR Ba
Typical politics
When the general secretary of the SODELPA Viliame Takayawa declared that the coalition is intact and reassured Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka that the party’s management board would support the Coalition Government until the next general election (FT 20/04), this to me is typical politics, especially taking into consideration what was transpiring lately. Just lately before the SODELPA AGM on April 20, the SODELPA management board had been threatening the Coalition Government by telling their party leader Viliame Gavoka to give up the Education portfolio so Aseri Radrodro could be reinstated. (FT 17/ 04). Now that the SODELPA AGM has been conducted and Mr Radrodro has now been selected to be the new party leader, I wonder whether Mr Takayawa and his management board would remain faithful to their support for the coalition. Let us wait and see. Kositatino Tikomaibolatagane Vuninokonoko Rd, Navua
New leader
Sometimes, in my humble opinion, the Government’s solution to a problem is much worse than the actual problem itself. Just about 16 months of the Coalition Government’s reign, the SODELPA, after some internal political conflicts, has displaced its former leader, Viliame Gavoka. What people do for the struggle of power, is madness. True power is the power to empower others and to rule ourselves, is the ultimate power. It becomes uninteresting, when we change our intention from winning, to “learning about ourselves”. For at the root of every power struggle, is unmet needs. All governments suffer a recurring problem and that is, power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts, but that it is magnetic to corruptible. Samu Silatolu Nakasi
India and Modi
A letter published in The Sunday Times edition on the criticism of India and the Prime Minister Modi appeared to be a copy and paste job of anti-India propaganda of the Western countries and its media who simply can not digest the rise of India. BHARAT MORRIS Gold Coast, Australia
Pay rise
It’s all well and good that our nurses are receiving a pay rise most likely in the hope that they do not leave our shores, however, we may have the horse before the cart! It would be wise to make sure all the medical equipment is working well first in all of our hospitals so that our better paid nurses can earn their keep and with efficiency! Noleen Billings Savusavu
Privilege and giants
It is a privilege to play in Super Rugby competitions but it does become brutal when playing against giants such as the Hurricanes who were brutal in defence and punching holes in the defensive lines of our Fijian Drua side. The opposite can be said of our Fijian Drua Women team who kept us on our toes before unleashing victory. All in all, good games of Super Rugby which pinpointed areas of improvement if we are to become giants in this competition. Floyd Robinson Micronesia
Why 3?
I asked someone in Labasa Town yesterday why there are three administrators in Labasa. I was told since we got a three party government, we have three administrators, one from each party. I was told there are three more administrators at Savusavu! Sukha Singh Labasa
Wrong beginning
To bring an end to the cheque system would make sense if we had connectivity throughout Fiji! It’s always the vulnerable who are affected in our forced attempts to keep up with the Joneses! Maybe we are starting from the wrong beginning? Noleen Billings Savusavu
Cheque phase-out
I totally agree with Richard Rueben that cheques should not be phased out. I am 64 years old, am quite educated, also computer literate, but I simply cannot remember my passwords, and writing them down is not recommended, and very easy to remember passwords are also not recommended. Therefore, I am screwed, as will tens of thousands of other people. I have been logged out about nine times already. I suggest that the people who want to abolish cheques look at other well advanced countries still using cheques like US and India, used by mostly also the older people, and those who are not educated or do not have computers or smart phones are still using cheques. Also a UN spokesman has recommended that a good study be done before such implementation of no cheques so we know how many people it will affect, to loss of business, employment, and also loss of any means to generally live. I guess to get cash out of the bank you will need internet access.
I think the Government should have a nationwide referendum on this issue before it is implemented, and if it is forcefully implemented, the older people should get free eye and retinal scans, face scan and other means to help log themselves into the system without all those password requirements – these are the top of the range safety gear, better than passwords. But who will pay for the smart phone the desktops, the laptops, the scanning equipment etc. I hope the banks are willing to fork out extra money for the scans and the smart phones! If it is forcefully implemented, I wonder if we can do a class action against this, like many things happening in advanced countries? After all, if it affects my life, I should have some way to take action! Dinesh Jamnadas Sugar Ave, Lautoka
Disgraceful rubbish
I sadly agree with Julie Sutherland. There is no serious enforcement of the Litter Act in Savusavu. Commercial cafes and restaurants place their rubbish in plastic bags, or stuff their food rubbish into the overflowing pedestrian bins along the footpath. And residents have been placing their rubbish in plastic bags on the footpath and roadside for years, thereby feeding our numerous stray dogs.
I believe that one of the major causes of unbinned domestic rubbish is the fact that many residents are tenants and not property owners, and therefore have no interest in buying a proper bin.
The Ministry of Local Government in tandem with the Department of Environment and town councils should make it compulsory for all landlords to provide a bin for every household within their premises. The cost of the bin can be charged by the landlord to the tenant as part of their bond, and reimbursed when they vacate, if the bin is still there and in good order. Aren Nunnink Hooper St, Savusavu
Public convenience
The Sigatoka Town market public convenience often utilised by bus passengers traveling through Queens Road is disgustingly unhygienic and malodorous. Shame on you Sigatoka Town Council. Wise Muavono Balawa, Lautoka
