LETTERS TO THE EDITOR – letters@fijitimes.com.fj
Rest in peace
I WAS shocked to read online that the president of the Methodist Church in Fiji, Dr Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu had passed away at the CWM Hospital after a short illness.
Of all the different church leaders in Fiji, the late president of the Methodist Church is one that I admired for his spirituality and health consciousness which would radically change the church under his reign.
There are people that we read about, watch on television and we feel spiritually connected to although we have never personally met, and to me Dr Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu falls in this category.
It is really sad that God would call someone so soon, who had big plans to move the Methodist Church forward, but He is still in control and we always pray, “let your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven”.
My sincere condolences to the family and the Methodist Church of Fiji and I pray that we will be faithful in His service to the end, until that great reunion day, when Christ comes to take His people home.
SAVENACA VAKALIWALIWA
Nasinu
MSAF response
THE Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF) would like to respond to Gurdial Singh’s letter (FT 11/02) titled Boat Registration.
MSAF has noted your concerns.
Surveying and registration of vessels is conducted to ensure vessels are seaworthy and fit for purpose.
The survey process is stringent as various tests are carried out for the initial survey (stability calculations, swamp test and sea trial) and that the required lifesaving appliances (e.g lifejackets, flares, signalling mirrors) and other relevant equipment are onboard the vessel.
Six monthly surveys are then conducted thereafter except for fishing vessels where an annual survey is conducted.
A vessel will only be registered if it has been proven sea-worthy after the initial survey.
MSAF would like to remind small craft vessel owners and operators that if they have their vessels surveyed, registered, and obtain their Coasting Trade Licence before March 5, 2014, the combined fees will only cost $138.75 in total.
This was effective from October 25, 2013, and was publicised by MSAF in the media.
After the gazetted Maritime Transport Decree 2013 and the Ship Registration Decree 2013 comes into effect on the March, 5, 2014, the fees will revert to the normal cost of $432.25.
MSAF encourages all small craft vessel owners to take advantage of this period of reduced fees.
MSAF is currently reviewing its awareness materials and intends to produce and distribute materials that are more relevant to water and boat safety.
Maritime safety should not only be the responsibility of MSAF but of each and every individual that owns or operates a vessel or that heavily relies on small craft as a means of transportation. Vessel owners and operators need to ensure the safety of their passengers.
Passengers need to ensure that the vessels that they board have the required life saving appliances.
Prevention is certainly better than cure.
Neale Slack
CEO, MSAF
Minimum wage
WE thank the board for working out the minimum hourly wage rate.
Thank you team. We are fortunate enough to receive few dollars more for ourselves .
We all are crying and comparing Fiji with the developed countries. As some one has already stated that we are more fortunate than some other countries.
Some of us even get $2000 plus per week. If you approach them for their views they will expect an increment too.
No one is satisfied. We have to move on.
We are living on the land of honey. You sweat you get.
Manju Pillay
Lautoka
Asthma attacks
ASTHMA is a NCD which many people fail to understand fully its impact on people living with it.
Especially at workplaces bosses think asthmatic people make up stories to be absent since there is little difference seen in their health physically. Therefore it is taken as a lame excuse.
The fact is that one moment you will see a very healthy energetic person going around doing his or her duties and the next moment that same person can suffer an asthma attack and an immediate change will occur in seconds that will transform that healthy energetic person into a very ill one.
This condition is related to respiratory system and is marked as a high emergency case in all hospitals in Fiji.
As soon as an asthmatic patient enters the hospital he or she is granted emergency service ahead of all other patients awaiting treatment. So we can see by this that it is really a very serious condition which can happen to anyone any at any given time and age.
Asthma is characterised by recurrent episodes of wheezing, shortness of breath chest tightness, and coughing.
Sputum may be produced from the lung by coughing but it’s often hard to bring up.
During recovery from an attack it may appear pus like due to high levels of white blood cells called eosinophils.
Symptoms are usually worse at night and in the early morning or in response to exercise or cold air.
There may be many remedies apart from medical treatment but it may not work with everyone.
Any other way of treating it apart from medical treatment should not be adopted as it could worsen it or any other medical condition that you may have.
Paul Baskaran Nair
Saru Back Rd, Lautoka
Photocopying fees
REMEMBER when we were told that education in Fiji was free?
Schools were given some money to supplement their day to day activities.
Then we heard from some schools that the money wasn’t enough and thus they charged building fees and other fees.
Then the Bainimarama government upped the amount by a huge amount.
Now we read that some schools are charging photocopying fees.
Before I get to the gist of what I want to say, I want to ask how much photocopying does a child do in a month
The cost of a ream of paper is around $7 to $10 depending on the quality of the paper. One ream has 500 sheets of paper. Does a child do that many copies?
But the gist of my point is, each time government puts in place a requirement, school executives find ways around it to make a bit more money. All I can say is these people are scoundrels because of their ability to circumvent requirements to suit their wants.
Allen Lockington
Mulomulo
Amputation cases
A RECENT survey revealed an all time high amputation cases reaching 936 cases.
This indisputably raises a question not only to the crippling health habits of Fijians but the dilapidating condition of our health system.
Only in Fiji a diabetic patient is amputated. Elsewhere in the world, especially in the developed nations, remedy is sought to save the patient rather than chopping off parts of the body that is already ailing.
I for one feel scared going to the public hospitals knowing well what wrong they may do to my healthy body. Isn’t there any other way out rather than amputation?
I have friends and families overseas who are severely down with diabetes and over decades battling it, without their leg or hand being amputated.
While we too need to eat healthy and control the NCDs, a sense of responsibility also lies with the Health Ministry to oversee that patients are given due care rather than their body parts being cut off.
It’s way too long for Fiji’s reliance on amputation as the only remedy of the problem.
I urge all those concerned to take greatest care for we wouldn’t want our loved one being amputated.
Manpreet Kaur
Ba
QUICK VIEWS
Bus tickets
IT is an offence not to demand your ticket from public transports operators but it does not make drivers wrong when they themselves don’t give you your ticket. Beat that!
AREKI DAWAI
Namadi Heights
ID card
Thank you Epeli Naua (FT12/2) for your clarification which is much appreciated. Keep up the efficient service.
Nardeo Mishra
Suva
Walk the talk
IT’S sad to hear about the passing away of Dr Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu. I admired his passion and determination to get his message across to the masses and he was one of the few who “walked the talk”. Dr Waqairatu, you will be sadly missed – by believers and non-believers alike.
NICK RODRIQUEZ
Nasinu
All for free
FREE education, free bus fares and free food vouchers and yet some parents are still not satisfied. With the promise by the director of education on FT 11/02 that he will solve their problem, the ministry has to brace itself for the influx of unsatisfied parents and guardians. That is exactly what most people want nowadays. To get things free and a promise of help. Good on you director.
PITA SOROAQALI
Suva
A joke
Schapelle Corby, the biggest Australian joke!.
Nishant Singh
Sydney
Win or lose
MY beloved 7s team lost to South Africa due to individual play. Win or lose, they will always have my support. That is what I call patriotism. How about you ?
Wise Muavono
Lautoka
Great vision
Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu has left behind an amazing legacy and a great vision for the church. Let’s hope that his successor will continue what he has started and see revival come to the church as Mr Waqairatu had envisioned. Rest in peace talatala.
Samuela Savu
Canberra, Australia
Young soul
MAY your soul rest in peace and parents please be vigilant on the road? Another young life lost.
Namish Prasad
Nausori
YOUR SAY: Fiji 7s redemption
Repeated errors
WHY can’t our boys understand the basic rule that high tackles are not allowed in any form of rugby.
As soon as you touch the shoulder/neck area of an opponent you are bound to be sin-binned.
Saving a try with a high-tackle and copping a yellow card at the same time in a critical moment won’t get us anywhere.
When we watch other teams play their tackling is completely different to what our boys have adopted.
They tackle their opponent waist and legs and that tackle is clean and a successful one.
A player copped three yellow cards for similar offence during Wellington Sevens yet most fans are happy with the performance.
Because of our dirty tackles the referees are always on the lookout when they referee Fiji’s games and we say the ref is biased.
Play good clean rugby and you will soon find that the ref is on your side.
Let’s not blame the coach or the referee, it’s the players who need to upgrade themselves in line with the rules of the game and play accordingly. Players should bring about continuous improvement among them and learn not to repeat the errors.
This paradigm doesn’t seem to exist within our sevens team.
Come on boys!
Shiu Goundar
Christchurch, NZ
Support Ben and boys
JUST a word of thanks to Ben Ryan and the boys for the hard yards that they put into their performance on the rugby field. At Last Vegas Fiji was crowned the the Bowl champion.
At Wellington over the week-end, Fiji reached the Cup semi-final, winning all their pool matches including taking the scalp of New Zealand in that pulsating pool match.
For this season NZ and Fiji have played against each other three times now with Fiji winning two times.
This is a very young team that Ryan is developing so to all you diehard Fiji rugby fans out there let us support Ryan and the boys all the way.
Waisea Navuruvuru
Nadi Airport
Search for playmaker
A humble request to Mr Ryan when he scouts for more players to look at playmakers who can be at their best on both feet.
We miss Ryder and Nabuliwaqa who graced the field with their deceptive feet and left the opposition guessing .
Go Fiji Go always
Shalwyn Prasad
Laucala Beach Estate
Fiji played well
WE played the game well but the weather was not on our side.
We played the game well, but the ball was too slippery.
We played the game well, but there were just too many yellow cards.
We played the game well, but we could not convert our tries.
We played the game well, only our boys lacked experience.
We played the game well, but our captain was injured.
We played the game well but the referee seemed to be biased.
I’m telling you we played the game well, that’s why we managed to at least beat the All Blacks.
Avineel Kumar
Nadi
Exterminate them
I heard the Ministry of Health advising the public to clean the back yards and destroy all the mosquito breeding grounds immediately.
I believe the advice comes in the wake of alarming dengue cases surfacing in Fiji recently, which I think, all must heed. We can definitely control mosquitoes and the disease spread by them through non-stop concerted efforts from all quarters.
But this will not help total eradication of the problem at hand unless the boundaries under the municipal and rural authorities are rid of breeding grounds and sprayed from time to time every year. A writer quite rightly said in this newspaper that these days mosquitoes are much stronger than our repellants and coils.
No wonder their population is not going down. Now we need to change our approach and strategy and finish the enemies so that we stay on the planet peacefully without losing blood and lives.
Suresh Chand
Nadi
