Repúblika | August 2014

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[In truth, freedom | In veritate libertas]

August 2014 | ISSUE 14 | $4.95VIP

Repúblika MERCHANTS OF METH EXCLUSIVE PICTURES

...and other drugs

10 years after the biggest hard drugs bust in Fiji, the demand for cocaine, meth and opiates in Australia, is bringing the trade closer to home than we had imagined

9 772227 573001

Volume 2 | No 9 | Issue 14

ISSN 2227-5738

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This image shows evidence bags containing the methamphetamine nicknamed ‘ice’ that was found concealed in boxes of chocolate cookies sent from the US at Suva’s General Post Office in June.

Photo courtesy FRCA

FIJI LEADS PACIFIC IN CLIMATE EFFORT Page 21

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PROPAGANDA AND PARANOIA Page 32

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING FIJIAN Page 30

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Vol 2 | No 9 | Issue 14 | July/Aug 2014

COVER

16 | ‘Ice’ and the islands republikamagazine.com

[In truth, freedom | In veritate libertas]

August 2014 | ISSUE 14 | $4.95VIP

In the past 14 years,

Repúblika there has been an in-

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES

...and other drugs

10 years after the biggest hard drugs bust in Fiji, the demand for cocaine, meth and opiates in Australia, is bringing the trade closer to home than we had imagined

FIJI LEADS PACIFIC IN CLIMATE EFFORT Page 21

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PROPOGANDA AND PARANOIA Page 32

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING FIJIAN Page 30

FIJI VOTES

ESSAY

FIJI REVENUE AND CUSTOMS AUTHORITY

ISSN 2227-5738

9 772227 573001

08

This image shows evidence bags containing the methamphetamine nicknamed ‘ice’ that was found concealed in boxes of chocolate cookies sent from the US at Suva’s General Post Office in June.

Photo courtesy FRCA

Volume 2 | No 9 | Issue 14

COVER IMAGE COURTESY FRCA

crease in all manner of hard drugs either making its way into Fiji on its way to Australia or New Zealand, or actually being manufactured inside the country. This year alone, at least 10 cases involving mainly cocaine and methamphetamines have been brought to court. Whereas previously trafficking involved foreigners, there is now an increasing trend of local people who are involved. And this year, on the 10th anniversary of the country’s biggest drugs bust, a methamphetamine lab was discovered in Nadi. Where to from here for Fiji in the Busted Packages of prepared methamphetamine valued at $6m was found concealed battle against hard drugs? inside a large photo frame carried by an Asian national at Nadi airport last year.

MERCHANTS OF METH

DISPATCHES

‘

The term Fijian as a common signifier of identity while arbitrary, was necessary. A nation without a common identity is by definition one not quite at ease with itself, an association of motley individuals.

22 | Media Kelvin Anthony on elections and the media’s role

REGULARS

OPINION

9 | Briefing Six political parties in opposition to FijiFirst

13 | The Rising Ape Alex Elbourne on why remixing annoys him

12 | Pasifika Post Tongan Lord’s Minerva joke takes off

14 | The Green Line Nakita Bingham on the climate change threat

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION

RICARDO MORRIS

26 | The importance of being Fijian Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi explains the sensitivities around national identity

28 | Vanua Levu Catherine Wilson on Vunidogoloa’s climate relocation 32 | West Papua Jope Tarai on the Fiji police force’s paranoia over protest

SALON 37 | Music Awards Elena Baravilala stamps her mark in the industry 40 | Miss World Fiji Charlene Tafuna’i grabs four titles

46 | The Last Word Ashfaaq Khan on extreme political correctness Issue 14 | July/August 2014

facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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editor’snote ricardo@republikamagazine.com

@RicardoMorris

The curse of hard drugs for Fiji On cocaine, the report says the market for it in Oceania has taken off although “the region has a different pattern of use compared with other consumer markets because it has a large body of users (a high prevalence) who use the substance with low frequency, perhaps due to the high price of cocaine.”

The report suggests that some of the cocaine entering Central and Western Europe due to an increase supply originating in Peru, could possibly be targeted at Oceania, “where the market has expanded in recent years and where prices are higher than in Western and Central Europe.” Cocaine seizures in Oceania reached a record of 1.9 tons in 2010, and remained high in 2012, at 1.6 tons, according to the report.

Thankfully, the men and women who serve at the customs and immigration desks at our borders have been working to uncover the crime gangs who use Fiji as a route for their wares.

While they may not detect every shipment of illicit drugs, the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority has been investing in resources and training to ensure its officers are up to the task of safeguarding Fiji’s borders. frca’s manager customs Tevita Tupou is quick to point out that the overall success of intercepting drug consignments largely depends on the personal

MANAGER ADMIN/FINANCE Prethi Vandana

Vol 2 | No 9 | Issue 14 admin@republikamedia.com Publisher & Editor Ricardo Morris ricardo@republikamedia.com WRITER Kelvin Anthony kelvin@republikamedia.com

integrity of his officers. “We’re only as strong as our weakest link,” he concedes, but adds that customs officers are always on the lookout for warning signs among their colleagues indicating a susceptibility to corruption.

Fiji’s problem with hard drugs trafficking needs to be acknowledged and dealt with before it gets out of hand and a problem like in our neighbours Australia and New Zealand.

The result of an increase in migration from Asia over the years, coupled with increased demand from Australia and a growing affluent class in Fiji meant that it was only a matter of time hard drugs would become available on our streets. That has now happened.

But whether the authorities concerned can keep it to manageable levels or whether it will develop into a curse is something that time will tell.

Count down to 17 September And just like that, Fiji is just days away from a new political dispensation: a general election for the first time since 2006 under a new constitution and a new electoral system. To help you understanding the voting system, what’s at stake, the parties’ platforms and who the candidates are, keep a look out for our guide to the 2014 general election out in early September.

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CONTRIBUTORS Fiji Alex Elbourne Ashfaaq Khan Joni Madraiwiwi

We welcome your comments, contributions, corrections, letters or suggestions. Send them to ricardo@republikamedia.com or leave a comment on our social media pages.

Jope Tarai Admin/MARKETING Rosemary Masitabua rosemary@republikamedia.com

Nakita Bingham

Pacific Catherine Wilson

The opinions expressed in Repúblika are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. The editor takes responsibility for all nonattributed editorial content.

Published by Republika Media Limited | 8 Mitchell Street, Peace Embassy Suite A107, Suva | PO Box 11927, Suva, Fiji | Phone: +679 3561467 Mobile: +679 9041215 | Email: info@republikamagazine.com | Printed by Quality Print Limited, Suva | ISSN: 2227-5738 4

| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com

In veritate libertas

F

iji has had to confront its role as a transit point and manufacturing base for hard drugs in the Pacific in the past 14 years, since the discovery of 357kgs of heroin in Suva in October 2000.

Four years after the heroin find, a huge clandestine laboratory was discovered in a warehouse at Laucala Beach Estate, leading to what was at the time the biggest drug raid in the Southern Hemisphere.

In the years since then, and this year in particular, there have been numerous seizures and arrests for trafficking in various quantities of different illicit drugs. A growing trend is also the involvement of locals in the hard drugs trade.

But what is driving the trade and trafficking of these highly addictive substances through and from Fiji?

It appears the high consumption levels in Australia has driven the price of illicit recreational drugs sky-high and – true to economic theory – with good money to be made, there is no shortage of people willing to supply and traffick opiates, cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines (including “ecstasy”), through Fiji and the Pacific to the Land Down Under.

The UN’s World Drug Report 2014 shows that Australians are the biggest recreational drug users in the world.

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

inbox Your letters, feedback and viewpoints

Sex offences rates surpass norms Since publishig my letter in your June edition it has come to light (Fiji Sun, 26 June) that almost 3000 sex offences were reported to police in 2012 when, according to my own research, in 1976 the equivalent figure was 141.

In less than under 40 years the rate of reported sex crime has therefore increased 20-fold when the general population has still not doubled: 600,000 then, 900,000 now.

Recently the Guardian Weekly (6 June) ran an editorial on sexual violence, titled ‘Where rape is the norm’.

Among countries cited were India, Pakistan, and Sudan where rape is not “out of the ordinary”. In war zones, of course, it acknowledged the situation is far worse.

Unlike some such places Fiji is not a country where rape is the ‘norm’ – in the sense of something morally or legally condoned by sections of the community (though other forms of violence against women and children apparently still are). Rather, it is the rate and increasingly grave nature of sex crimes that suggests past statistical norms have been surpassed.

Finally, since the subject is related, if young Sereima Berwick Degei committed suicide, as was officially concluded, the question that needs answering is ‘why?’ Children rarely commit suicide, and for this reason it is essential to understand what drives it. The answer will partly be social not purely psychological.

Dr Christopher Griffin Rakiraki Where do I belong?

I’m utterly disgusted and hurt by the comments the former PM [Qarase] has made.

Nobody ever cares about what we feel, because hey it’s not our land, right?

We’re always told “go back to your country, go back to your land”. Where is my country? Where is my land?

My ancestors’ vulnerability was

TALK BACK TO US Issue 14 | July/August 2014

inbox@republikamagazine.com

preyed on and used, they were told “you’ll have work, you’ll earn good money, this beautiful land is not faraway”.

So they came in their thousands some made it, some didn’t – only to be tortured and enslaved. Then when they were finally reassured everything was going to be okay. They stayed thinking they were accepted, they were loved and that this was their country now, their home. Little did they know...

I don’t know where I belong. I can’t go to India; I’ve never been. I can’t afford the trip plus I don’t even know which part of that vast country my ancestors came from?

Where do I begin to look for my family in the world’s second largest population?

I didn’t ask to be born here but I was always proud to have been! I cheered for the home team, I wore the colours with pride, I paid my debts, I helped and watched the economy grow.

But the ridicule and oppression was always present. “Shhh! don’t talk about land, it’s not yours (even though my parents own freehold property)”, “you’re not typically like the other females of your kind – you have tattoos, you hang out with us and you can pronounce words like development, vegetables and sushi”, “are you sure you’re full bred?”

Who am I, if I don’t know where I belong?

Shyana Ali Suva Praise for Nausori development I would like to praise the Fiji First in the sudden change of Nausori Town.

Being a patriot of the town I am praising them for the development to enhanceme our infrastructure allowing economic improvement. Instead of us going overseas to look for opportunities, let’s just make our country wealthy.Go Fiji First! I’m all for you!

Joeli Koroitokonirewa via republikamagazine.com

CORRECTION In our June 2014 issue (number 13), on page 22, in quoting directly from National Federation Party candidate Seni Nabou we wrongly declared two former leaders of the NFP to be deceased. We quoted Nabou referring to Jai Ram Reddy and Edmund March as the “late” leaders. This is incorrect. The error was discovered earlier in the editing process but subsequently overlooked. The two former politicians are still and alive and well today. We sincerely regret the error and apologise to Jai Ram Reddy and Edmund March for the ridiculous suggestion.

Minerva joke irritates Fijians So I’m assuming they think that the value of that reef [Minerva] is somewhat equivalent to the value of the whole group of the Lau islands, its people and its culture? Rubbish! That proposal should not be considered at all in my opinion.

Simon Asiga Peter via facebook.com/republikamag Minerva belongs to Fiji. Full stop.

John Qiliho via facebook.com/republikamag Is that guy for real? I think he is only joking.

Ben Baka via facebook.com/republikamag How about we make a deal: Tonga becomes part of Fiji.

Yusuf Muhammed Mustafa via facebook.com/republikamag

4Join us on facebook.com/republikamag4Email to inbox@republikamagazine.com 4Follow us on twitter.com/republikamag4Write to PO Box 11927, Suva, Fiji facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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briefing The nation reviewed

APOLOSI QASA MAFI. SEND YOUR POLITICAL CARTOON SKETCHES FOR PUBLICATION TO INBOX@REPUBLIKAMAGAZINE.COM

SKETCH THE NATION

NUMBERS

14

The number of countries that have been confirmed to make up the Multinational Observer Group to observe the September elections.

310

The number of people who have been booked for smoking in prohibited places over the past six months.

$90K

The total worth of marijuana seized by police after raids of marijuana farms in Macuata in a span of two days.

125

The number of children in the care of the Social Welfare Department, most of them abandoned at birth.

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| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com

SEREIMA’S DEATH

DPP rules ‘suicide’ as father calls for files JUST short of seven years after she died, an official verdict was announced by the Director of Public Prosecutions office on 25 June: Sereima Degei’s death was a “tragic case of suicide.”

Repúblika has since 2012 reported on the circumstances surrounding Sereima’s death, which from accounts reported by the extended family she lived with, had been gruesome.

An inquest was ordered last year following Repúblika’s coverage. During the hearing, several men from Sereima’s Nabouciwa village in Tailevu were called to give evidence. A man who was not from Nabouciwa but was living in the village when Sereima died also testified purporting to implicate the others in alleged murder.

Sereima’s father, Emosi Serukasari, told Repúblika he will now try to convince authorities to release the files on his daugther’s death so he is able to

understand the decisions that went into the ruling that Sereima had indeed killed herself in Nabouciwa in September 2007.

But the Fiji Times reported police operations director Rusiate Tudravu as saying the investigation files were confidential and would not be released to the family.

Academic and regular Repúblika correspondent, who has studied sex offences in Fiji since the 1970s, Dr Chris Griffen in a letter to the editor (see previous page) asks: “If young Sereima Berwick Degei committed suicide, as was officially concluded, the question that needs answering is ‘why?’”

“Children rarely commit suicide, and for this reason it is essential to understand what drives it. The answer will partly be social not purely psychological.” n

RICARDO MORRIS Issue 14 | July/August 2014

briefing

The nation reviewed

DEATHS

MILESTONES

Mataca entombed in Sacred Heart crypt Fiji’s first local head of the Catholic Church Archbishop Petero Mataca died on 30 June, a year after he had officially passed the mantle on to his successor Peter Loy Chong.

Mataca had been battling cancer when he passed away at the age of 81.

He was laid to rest in the tomb under the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Suva on 11 July after a requiem mass at which thousands of faithful filled the church and the closed streets outside.

Mataca became the first bishop to be entombed there, continuing a Catholic tradition of buring bishops under the church in which they served.

Mataca was ordained on 10 April 1976.

Archbishop Emeritus Mataca continued the renewal of the church in various ways such as by conducting a survey on “Catholic Family Life in Fiji and Rotuma” (April and October 1987), according to the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1988-1989, the Church held regional assemblies in the West, North, and Central-Eastern divisions to begin preliminary preparations for its first Sakiasi Nawaikama Waqanivavalagi: A former minister in Ratu Mara’s Alliance government after Fiji became independent.

Waqanivavalagi was born on July 19, 1932 in Kadavu and became the youngest member of the legislative council at the age of 31 in 1963. He was also the founding member of the Vatukoula Gold Mine Union as well as FNPF. Waqanivavalagi was also the PSC chairman in his late years until his retirement and was also the chairman of the St John Ambulance Fiji National Council. He passed away at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital and was laid to rest on 5 July 2014.

Peceli Vocea: Fiji’s ambassador to the European Union and the Kingdom of Belgium.

Vocea was serving his second term in office as Fiji’s representative to Issue 14 | July/August 2014

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama on 31 July opened the new Navua Hospital which was made possible by the contribution of $11 million by the Chinese government. The new facility houses 20 beds including the outpatient and inpatient wards and would be able to tend to 150 patients a day.

1

A new public holiday has been gazetted to be effective from 2015.

National Sports Day will be marked for the first time next year on Friday 26 June.

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synod in 1990.

Mataca also ministered during a time of political instability in Fiji where political crises posed new challenges to the Catholic Church’s mission. A strong advocate for social justice and peoples’ development, he recognised the social, cultural and political contexts were the loci of the church’s mission.

Mataca retired on 19 December 2012 at which time he said he wanted to return to his village to fish. n

ROSEMARY MASITABUA

the EU and Belgium, an appointment he held since 2009. He also served as a director on the boards of the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority and Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Board. His funeral was held at the Centenary Church in Suva on 10 July and he was laid to rest at the Suva Cemetery. Vocea is survived by his wife and five children.

Richard Rodan: Former National Basketball representative and son of Athletics Fiji president Joe Rodan, collapsed while training with the British Army in Wales on 9 July.

Rodan, 38, represented the country in the 1999 South Pacific Games in Guam. The former Marist Brothers High School student, who represented the school in athletics and rugby, served the British Army for the past 12 years. Richard is survived by his wife Pearl and three children.

Bondwell Computers Fiji Limited launched Fiji’s first three-dimensional (3D) printer during the Fiji Showcase 2014 on 9 July. The printer retails for $2399. It takes about two hours to print small objects and three to six hours for bigger objects depending on size.

3

The Fiji National Provident Fund has purchased Vodafone Global Enterprises entire 49 per cent stake in Vodafone Fiji Limited (VFL), taking its direct and indirect ownership to 79 per cent.

Vodafone Fiji Limited is now 100 per cent locally owned as of 1 July and FNPF CEO Aisake Taito said the investment was part of FNPF’s move to diversify its investment portfolio.

4

Mindpearl Fiji has won the 2014 European Outsourcing Association (EOA) Awards Offshoring Destination of the Year award following in the footsteps of previous winners South Africa and Morocco. Mindpearl Fiji general manager Mark Mahoney said they were proud of the achievement and thrilled that Fiji was recognised in this way. He paid tribute to staff members for their efforts and commitment. Hosted in London, the annual awards acknowledge destinations and operators that have excelled in servicing the UK and European outsourcing markets.

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facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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briefing

The nation reviewed

#FIJIV TES ELECTIONS 2014

FACEBOOK.COM/FIJIANELECTIONSOFFICE

Provisional voter list released

People line up at a Fijian Elections Office registration tent outside MHCC in Suva in the final few minutes of voter registration before it closed on 4 August.

Preparations for the September general election is picking up after the official confirmation of the date with Acting President and Chief Justice Anthony Gates issuing the writs for election on 4 August.

Several days before, on 30 July, the Fijian Elections Office released the provisional list of voters. The provisional list contains the voter list for each venue and the name of the polling venue each voter is assigned to.

Registered voters can check this information using their voter ID number on the FEO website – www.electionsfiji. gov.fj.

Elections supervisor Mohammed Saneem stressed that on election day – 17 September 2014 – a voter will only be able to vote at the polling station the

person has been assigned to.

The Elections Office used geographic information software from the Department of Lands to assign voters to a polling venue nearest to the residential address provided at the time of registration.

“If you are listed in a polling venue that is no longer convenient for you, we have a simple ‘change of polling station application form’ that needs to be completed and submitted to the nearest FEO office before 6pm on 20 August 2014. This is the reason why we have been urging voters to inform us about any changes in residential address,” Saneem said.

The supervisor said the FEO will continue to update the provisional list on a weekly basis and if a voter has applied

for a change it will confirmed or denied the following week.

As at 30 June about 570,000 people had registered to vote. Within the 1337 polling venues, will be 1987 polling stations.

Voter registrations closed on 4 August, the day the writs for election were issued. n Voters in Fiji can check their registration details and polling venue by sending a text message with the voter’s electronic voter registration number to 545. A return text message will contain the voter’s name and polling venue. The service is free and available for both Vodafone and Digicel users. n The voter lists will also be available for purchase for use for electoral purposes by contacting the FEO.

You don’t have to suffer in silence free and confidential counselling services and legal advice are available at our branches in suva, nadi, Ba, rakiraki and labasa. You can call our hotline 24 hours a day.

‘

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Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)

Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre | 88 Gordon St, Suva | Phone: 3313 300 / 9209 470 (24hrs) | www.fijiwomen.com 8

| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

briefing

The nation reviewed

#FIJIV TES PARTY POLITICS

ON THE RECORD

Six parties stand against FijiFirst

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

“The iTaukei language is a much endangered language and it will take a few decades for it to start to disappear if we don’t take notice and do something about it.”

Fiji National University Professor Subramani in his speech during an education conference in Lautoka on 14 July.

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION

Seven parties are contesting the 2014 general election: the Fiji Labour Party (FLP), the National Federation Party (NFP), Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), People’s Democratic Party (PDP), FijiFirst, Fiji United Freedom Party (FUFP) and One Fiji Party (OFP).

The Fiji Labour Party was among the first parties to register under new rules, opting to keep Mahendhra Pal Chaudhry as their party leader and general secretary, although if his conviction on exchange control violations is upheld in the weeks leading up to the election that will put an end to his political career.

The Labour Party launched its manifesto on 2 August and has confirmed 32 candidates to contest the elections and have said they will announce a further 18 candidates to contest all 50 seats.

SODELPA, the successor to the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua party (SDL), had to find a new name and a new leader, owing to the fact the former party leader Laisenia Qarase could not contest the coming elections because of his conviction of abuse of office. Ro Teimumu Kepa took over the leadership of the party after being asked to lead. The party named 44 candidates on 14 June and have said that they will announce a further list of six candidates at a later date. The party launched its manifesto on 18 July.

The People’s Democratic Party headed by former trade unionist and former Labour Party MP Felix Anthony, has named 13 candidates, although it aims to contest all 50 seats. Their party manifesto was released on 12 July.

The National Federation Party, Fiji’s oldest political party, announced several batches of candidates since the end of May and have so far named 43, although two of its candidates have been disqualified due to recent changes to the electoral rules by the Attorney-General (and FijiFirst general secretary) Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, a move which the NFP and other parties says was an attempt to move the goalposts so close to the election on 17 September.

“The Catholic Church wishes to contribute to building a better Fiji by helping our Catholics make a well-informed political decision based on the scriptures and the teachings of the church.” Catholic Church of Fiji and Rotuma Archbishop Peter Loy Chong quoted in The Fiji Times on 18 July urging Catholics to make informed decisions for the betterment of the country when they vote on 17 September.

Chairman of the Electoral Commission Chen Bunn Young with the writ of elections at Government Buildings after it was signed by Acting President and Chief Justice Anthony Gates on 4 August.

The National Federation Party has its eye on contesting all 50 seats in Parliament and have said they will announce a further seven candidates soon.

FijiFirst, founded by Rear Admiral (Retired) Voreqe Bainimarama, was registered in May by the party general secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. The party announced its first batch of 21 candidates and have said that they will announce a further list of 29 at a later date.

Fiji United Freedom Party was registered in August. The party has yet to announce a candidate list and an official manifesto. The party’s interim president is Jagath Karunaratne.

The OneFiji party was registered in August after initially having its application rejected on the basis of an objection by Sayed-Khaiyum of FijiFirst.

Sayed-Khaiyum had said the party’s name was too similar to its own. But the rejection was later reversed. The party leader is Filimone Vosarogo. The party is set to announce its list of candidates and manifesto mid-August. n

ASHFAAQ KHAN

“Government will never at any time interfere with any religious beliefs as it is clearly protected under the 2013 Constitution.”

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in a speech on 7 July during the commissioning of the new Korovou crematorium.

“Mr (Sayed-)Khaiyum I would like to ask you: you are the general secretary of the party but you are the minister for elections. Isn’t that conflict of interest? You are in charge of elections but you are the general secretary of the FijiFirst. Your interests (are) in the party and you are also supervising the supervisor of elections, I can’t see how that can happen.” Rewa chief Ro Filipe Tuisawau questioning the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at a rally in Nakorovou in Rewa.

“A reason why PDP continues to name its candidates at a slower pace is because we are doing our due diligence as opposed to some parties who have lost candidates.

So far our candidates remain within eligibility criteria.” People’s Democratic Party general secretary Aman Ravindra-Singh in an interview with FBC on 12 August.

“I never had any conversation with him but that number 135 you can find anywhere. I have no idea at all so I cannot say what that number 135 actually means.” sodelpa leader Ro Teimumu Kepa in an interview with fbc on 12 August in regards to Laisenia Qarase’s statement that the first candidate is 135 in reference to a verse in the Quran. facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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The nation reviewed

PICTURE

ASH KHAN

THE BIG

briefing

Fiji Time ... The Government Buildings clock tower has been undergoing renovations, including the removal of the clock’s entire mechanism. It should hopefully be ready to chime again before the opening of the new parliament in September.

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| RepĂşblika | republikamagazine.com

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

facebook.com/republikamag | RepĂşblika |

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Regional current affairs worth noting

news@pasifikapost.com

Tongan noble’s political joke grows legs

By KALAFI MOALA

Lord Ma’afu of Tonga, Minister of Lands, Survey, and Natural Resources, and one of the highest ranking chiefs of the island kingdom, could not have been serious when he told a reporter that he would propose that Tonga give up Minerva Reef in exchange for Fiji’s Lau islands.

He was typically making a political joke, culturally and appropriately funny, especially when his remarks were directed at a Fijian reporter who lives in Tonga.

The Fijian reporter, Iliesa Tora, must have thought he had scored a scoop, by writing a story on Ma’afu’s remarks for his Tonga Daily News, prompting Fijian publications to run it, followed by other media.

In fact the encounter between the Tongan noble and the Fijian reporter could have been better put into a cartoon caricature than a news story.

Sources close to Ma’afu said the remark was not only a political joke but was also believed that it would be off-the-record.

“It was a ‘teaser’, a joke intended not to be taken seriously, because it would be plainly ridiculous to do so,” said the source.

When I first came across the story, my immediate reaction was that the Tongan noble had scored a good one over the Fijian reporter. I chuckled but was also able to understand culturally what was behind Ma’afu’s comments. It was more or less the kind of situation where well, ‘if you ask a stupid question, you will get a stupid answer.’

For one thing, Tonga does not conduct its foreign affairs by telling a reporter what it proposes to do without the Minister of Foreign Affairs knowing about it, let alone the Prime Minister, Parliament or the people of Tonga.

And of course the government of Fiji who would lose a major portion of their country for some uninhabited reef, had the right to at least be approached and given, with strict confidentiality, the proposal before being publicised.

How about the people of Lau? Don’t they have a say in this?

To take this Minerva for Lau tradeoff remark seriously is also an affront on Ma’afu himself. It would make him look like a maverick minister, giving such a remark without going through the proper channels and process. It is very far fetched.

Ma’afu is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced leaders on foreign affairs and diplomatic relations in Tonga.

There is no way he could be serious whatsoever about asking Fiji for Lau in exchange for Minerva.

Ma’afu is also a military man. He understands chains of command and due 12

| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com

brucebalan.com

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pasifikapost

process. He is not an uneducated nostalgic noble that lives in the past and entertain dream-like aspirations, even when his namesake and relative was the paramount chief of Lau at one time.

So for a Fijian reporter to take Ma’afu’s comments so seriously and to even write a news story on it, is simply unprofessional, if not totally naive.

I also note that a couple of Tongan news organisations have picked up on the story and ran it without any analysis, just an expanded version with a lot of inaccurate history about Tonga and the Lau islands.

Ma’afu, who was out of town when this so-called story broke, must be smiling and feeling somewhat comforted that a Fijian reporter fell for his joking remarks. How often in history does one sovereign nation give up rich inhabited islands for an uninhabited reef?

In five months’ time, this current government will be out of office. Tonga will have pretty much a new parliament, a new prime minister, a new cabinet, and you can bet there will be no Minerva for Lau. Fiji’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, who was in Korea could not comment at the time this story brokebut his permanent secretary Amena Yauvoli said, “the ministry would just have to wait for the Tongan government’s proposal.”

Let me suggest that they will be waiting for a very long time, and such a proposal as said in jest by the Tongan minister will not be made.

But political joke aside, the fact is there is some tension in the Tonga-Fiji relationship in regards to who owns Minerva. This is nothing that the Tongan and Fijian leaders could not sit down and discuss in the spirit of diplomacy and the Pacific way.

For one thing, Fiji is not just Tonga’s closest neighbour. It is Tonga’s closest friend. And that goes back for centuries.

There are also many Fijians and Tongans who are related through blood, including

some of the highest ranking chiefs in Fiji, as well as the royal family of Tonga.

Minerva reef consists of two submerged atolls named after a whaling ship Minerva that was wrecked on the reef in 1829.

The source of tension is an issue that needs to be sorted out, the sooner the better.

Tonga has claimed, through royal proclamation, the Minerva reefs, and Fiji had initially agreed to it, until later when Fiji realised that with the 200 mile EEZ proposal, Minerva could actually be within their claim.

On the submission by Tonga on the outer limits of the continental shelf of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2009, the following reference to an ancient claim by the founder of modern Tonga, King George Tupou I was quoted: “The Royal Proclamation issued by His Majesty George Tupou, King of Tonga, on 24 August 1887 claims national jurisdiction by the Kingdom of Tonga over ‘all, islands, rocks, reefs, foreshores and waters lying between the fifteenth and twenty-third and a half degrees of south latitude and between the one hundred and seventy-third and the one hundred and seventy-seventh degrees of west longitude from the Meridian of Greenwich.’

Eighty-five years later in 1972, Tupou’s great, great, grandson, King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV made a royal proclamation that Minerva belongs to Tonga, the two atolls were named Teleki Tokelau (North) and Teleki Tonga (South). Tonga constructed two structures on each of the reefs where beacons were placed.

In 2005, Fiji made a submission to the International Seabed Authority denouncing Tonga’s royal proclamation over the Minerva reefs by King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV in 1972.

Tonga took this as an affront, because it showed political inconsistency with Fiji recognising the royal proclamation in 1972, and again in September of the same year at the South Pacific Forum held in Suva.

The Tongan military has safeguarded the beacons on these underwater reefs for 42 years until now. Tensions between Tonga and Fiji over Minerva flared in 2011, when the beacons on the reefs were removed and the structures damaged allegedly by the Fiji Navy.

His Majesty’s Armed Services were instructed to replace the beacons on Teleki Tokelau and Teleki Tonga, which they did.

n Kalafi Moala is publisher and managing

director of the Taimi Media Network in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. A version of this article was first published on pacificpolitics.com, by the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, Port Vila.

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

OPINION

Please stop with the remixes The Rising Ape with ALEX ELBOURNE

C

atch any form of public transport in Fiji and you will inevitably come across the dreaded song mashups. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. A song you just love starts and just as you’re ready to enjoy it an auto-tuned monotonous voice declares that this is a “DJ Krishan” mashup and suddenly your favourite song has been laid over something else.

I caught a mini-van one day and the Bee Gees’ Alone had been mashed with Makare’s Mai Gaga Voli (i.e. the Isa Tukana song). This person somehow managed to take two fantastic songs and turn it into a steaming pile of something you’d hate to step on.

And what in heavens name is up with the obsession to make every single song in the omniverse a reggae song.

You get a reggae beat, you get a reggae beat and you definitely get a reggae beat!

Good lord, I’m a huge fan of reggae but when a Lucky Dube reggae song has been reggae-ised…man we’ve got problems. So please DJ Krishan, DJ Toa, DJ Henry, DJ Doodooz (no, I’m not making that up) you obviously need new friends because the friends you have now are lying to you when they tell you that you’re so good at mixing music.

Poor misunderstood fat...

Never thought I’d be sharing a link to the Daily Mail but they had an interesting article based on a guy named Dr Michael Mosley who is the creator of something called The Fast Diet. Basically, fat in our diet is bad, bad, bad. It leads to weight gains and heart attacks.

Now, he’s actually come out saying that he was wrong.

In the article he also says this: “So why the sudden change? And what is making us fat? The roots of our current confusion lie in a paper by an American scientist called Ancel Keys in 1953. It covered the increasingly common problem of clogged arteries. Keys included a simIssue 14 | July/August 2014

ple graph comparing fat consumption and deaths from heart disease in men from six different countries. Americans, who ate a lot of fat, were far more likely to have a heart attack than the Japanese, who ate little fat. Case solved. Or was it?

“Other scientists began wondering why Keys chose to focus on just six countries when he had access to data for 22.

If places like France and Germany were included the link between heart disease and fat consumption became much weaker. These were, after all, countries with high fat consumption, but relatively modest rates of heart disease.

“In fact, as a renowned British scientist called John Yudkin pointed out, there was actually a much stronger link between sugar consumption and heart disease. Professor Yudkin argued that sugar was behind the rise in heart disease ravaging the West. He also pointed to another dangerous trend emerging in Fifties Britain: the close relationship between the number of televisions being bought and fatal heart attacks.” [http://dailym.ai/1kwdtwW] As an interesting side note: John Yudkin, the scientist mentioned above tried to warn us years ago about the dangers of sugar as opposed to fat. However, the food industry launched a concerted campaign to discredit his work.

“The British Sugar Bureau put out a press release dismissing Yudkin’s claims as ‘emotional assertions’ and the World Sugar Research Organisation described his book as ‘science fiction’. When Yudkin sued, it printed a mealy-mouthed retraction, concluding: ‘Professor Yudkin recognises that we do not agree with [his] views and accepts that we are entitled to express our disagreement.’ Yudkin was ‘uninvited’ to international conferences. Others he organised were cancelled at the last minute, after pressure from sponsors, including, on one occasion, Coca-Cola. When he did contribute, papers he gave attacking sugar were omitted from publications. The British Nutrition Foundation, one of whose sponsors was Tate & Lyle, never invited anyone from Yudkin’s internationally acclaimed department to sit on its committees.

[http://bit.ly/1eHqlX9] So, in a nutshell, all this time we’ve been told that fats are bad for us. When, in fact they really aren’t. In fact, if you thought about it, the reason why obesity rates are so high is that nowadays sugar is readily available in large quantities when in the past it wasn’t. And all because corporations were trying to protect their bottom line.

And on the subject of corporations…

It’s something I’ve been thinking about for some time and I can’t believe I’m even going to write this. The new name for imperialism in the 21st Century is globalisation. Yes. Just a few years ago I never thought I’d actually think that.

And when I say imperialism I don’t mean countries. I mean the self-appointed rulers of the planet’s corporations.

Before you start accusing me of being some sort of paranoid conspiracy theorist I’m not saying that these corporations control the world and all of us. What I am saying is that they have rigged the system in such a way that the only people who can take full advantage of the system is them.

And this cuts across all borders and all systems of governance. In an autocracy, the ruling class simply forces its regulations on the people. In a liberal democracy, the ruling class distracts the people with bread and circuses and allows them the illusion of freedom.

And notice how when people talk about globalisation they’re really talking about the globalisation of capital. No one ever talks about the globalisation of labour when the truth is, working and middle class people all over the world have more in common with each other than they do with their so-called leaders.

“The public is not to see where power lies, how it shapes policy, and for what ends. Rather, people are to hate and fear one another.” ~ Noam Chomsky R

n Alex Elbourne is the Breakfast Show host on Legend FM. The views expressed are his own facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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OPINION

Ready, set, go extinct The Green Line with NAKITA BINGHAM

S

ince the dawn of humans, curiosity has driven our early ancestors out of dark caves and into a world of light and discovery, to an age where technology and economic growth push society forward.

Innovation occurs at a rate never before seen, and yet the state of the planet’s environment is shocking and disturbing considering our great human “intellect”.

Can such leaps and bounds forward be truly labelled as advancements, when the impressions left by development come at the cost of other species and the world itself?

The human will to survive has permitted civilisations to form and thrive through environmental exploitation.

According to a study published in the journal Science, people are altering the face of the Earth at a rate faster than it can recover.

Lead author at Duke University, Dr Stuart Primm said: “We are on the verge of the sixth extinction.” Speaking to PBS, Primm explained development is destroying critical habitats and the world’s inter-global network has allowed people to move plant and animal species to new places. One major impact of this is these species often become pests, invading and thriving in their new habitat, consequently killing off native species.

In colonial Fiji, the mongoose was introduced by the British to control the rat population in the cane fields. Unfortunately, when brought over from India, the mongoose did more than control the rats. They killed off many snakes and terrestrial bird populations. Subsequently, the introduction of mongoose led to the extinction of the groundnesting endemic Bar-Winged Rail bird.

The result of such rapid human-induced changes in the world has scientists and geologists debating whether the Earth has moved out of the Holo14

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cene epoch and into the age of Anthropocene, “Anthropo” referring to man and “cene” meaning new. Selected experts at the International Union of Geological Science (IUGS) will make recognition of whether we have exited the Holocene epoch and have officially entered the highly debated Anthropocene in 2016.

The Anthropocene is the Age of Man, much as how 252 to 66 million years ago during the Mesozoic era was the age of reptiles, where dinosaurs ruled. Primm’s study found human impact on the planet is causing plant and animal species to go extinct 1000 times faster than the rate before the rise of human civilisation.

Species typically die off at a rate of one in 10 million every year, the Duke University professor noted. Presently, however, they found species are being eradicated at a rate of 100 to 1000 extinctions per million species.

Primm noted: “We can follow species from when we first learned about them to the present and see what fraction of them are dying off. And they’re dying off at a pretty hefty rate. Working out what happened before humans came along is a little more difficult. But the fossil record can tell us a lot about that.”

Elizabeth Kolbert is the author of the book The Sixth Extinction, and like Primm and his colleagues, she thinks the planet is currently in the phase of its sixth mass extinction and humans are the cause.

Speaking to NPR she said: “We are effectively undoing the beauty and the variety and the richness of the world which has taken tens of millions of years to reach ... We’re sort of unravelling that...”

Early in June, geologists from the University of Western Ontario, Patricia Corcoran and Charles Moore, captain of the oceanographic research vessel Alguita discovered new rocks on Big Island in Hawaii, terming the findings “plastiglomerates”.

Plastiglomerates are rocks that have been formed from melted plastic that

fuses together with organic materials such as shell debris, sand etc and in some cases the melted plastic can flow and settle into the cracks of rocks.

This fusion results in a hybrid type rock consisting of natural materials and plastic polymers.

Corcoran and Moore suggest that the plastiglomerates found on the Big Island were made in a campfire but they noted that forest fires and trash fires are also ways they can form.

The fact that plastiglomerates have been discovered on Big Island means that it’s highly likely that they can be found anywhere in the world where trash is burned and turned into molten polymers. The semi-synthetic rocks are an example of human-induced changes on geology.

Paleontologist Jan Zalasiewicz of the University of Leicester says: “Plastics, including plastiglomerates, would be one of the key markers by which people could recognise the beginning of the Anthropocene.”

Pollution will now help define the Anthropocene – the time in Earth’s history where humans alter the face of the Earth by means of manipulating geology, landscapes, biodiversity, oceans, atmosphere, biosphere, and the entire planet.

This power must be used to strengthen the life cycle but instead most people are motivated to exploit the natural wealth and beauty of the Earth for monetary reward.

The current rate at which species are disappearing and habitats are being lost are the result of economics and people doing what they can to survive because their livelihoods depend on it.

If this system does not change, our civilisation does not have a fighting chance. Sustainability is the only way to move forward where humanity can succeed and live without species extinction and the threat of resource depletion R

n Nakita Bingham is a Suva resident and works as an assistant in sustainable marine managed areas. The views expressed here are her own.

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

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15

COVER

Doing the meth 10 years after the biggest hard drugs bust in Fiji, the demand for cocaine, meth and opiates in Australia, is bringing the trade closer to home than we had imagined

By RICARDO MORRIS

U

ntil at least a decade ago, many Fijians lived under the assumption that hard drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin were things far removed from their everyday lives, something they only witnessed in movies. They may have heard about raids on clandestine laboratories in other countries but had never imagined Fiji would soon be making world headlines for the very same thing.

On 9 June 2004, Fiji police and their specialist drug counterparts from New Zealand and Australian swooped on a warehouse at Bulei Road in Laucala Beach Estate after 18 months of surveillance and planning.

There they found “bubbling away” drums of highly toxic chemicals and equipment to produce crystal methamphetamine, known on the street as ‘ice’.

At the time it was the biggest seizure in the Southern Hemisphere and one of biggest busts in the world. About 2.8kg of the final product had been made and 16

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there was enough chemicals found at the site with the potential to produce more than 800kg of crystal methamphetamine at an estimated street value of $1 billion.

It came as shock to the country. The sheer scale of the meth production facilities was clear proof that Fiji had graduated from a mere ‘transit point’ to a base for hard drugs production that would supply the Australian and New Zealand markets – or perhaps further beyond.

A naturalised Fijian citizen, Jason Zhong, 40, considered Fiji’s first Asian crime boss, and his wife Diane Zhong, aka Diane Yuen, real name Yuen Yei Ha, were convicted and jailed in 2005 for the meth production.

By the time the Jason Zhong and his gang were sentenced in July 2005, the harsher sentences had finally come into force, but they escaped with the previous penalties.

Diane, as the director of the front company used to import the lab equipment and chemicals, received a sen-

tence of five years and one month. Her husband was jailed for three years and seven months.

The other four men convicted of manufacturing meth received sentences of three years and three months.

On the day the officers raided the Laucala Beach warehouse in June 2004, at the Lower House of Parliament at Veiuto a bill was introduced to increase the penalties for drug trafficking and production to a fine of one million dollars and/or life imprisonment.

With the Illicit Drugs Control Act 2004, drug traffickers and producers would face stiffer sentences than had previously been available.

On Zhong’s release from prison for the meth production conviction, he quickly returned to his crime trade; this time he also moved in to trafficking women from Asia to Fiji. On 13 December 2012, he was convicted of sexual servitude and put back in jail for 11 years and nine months with a non-parole period of 10 years.

4CONTINUED PAGE 18 Issue 14 | July/August 2014

ALL PHOTOS NZ POLICE ASSOCIATION POLICE NEWS

COVER

Flashback ... Specialist drugs officers from New Zealand get a hose down from National Fire Authority crew after working to remove the chemicals found at a methamphetamine laboratory in Laucala Beach in June 2004. At the time of the bust, it was the biggest meth raid ever in the southern hemisphere and involved multiple agencies from Fiji, New Zealand, Australia as well as Interpol and Asian forces.

Tools of the trade ... Officers in protective gear at the Bulei Road factory in Laucala Beach Estate, top right, in which 44-gallon drums acids and solvents were discovered in a huge warehouse in June 2004. The warehouse contained a huge ventilator unit, bottom right, which was what triggered customs’ officers suspicion when it was shipped through Auckland to Fiji. A Chinese gang had been producing crystal methamphetamine believed to have been intended for export to New Zealand and Australia, above left. The large scale of the operation can be appreciated by the rows of orange hydrogen canisters, top left.

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

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OUT OF THE BOX

IN THE BAG

courtesy FIJI REVENUE AND CUSTOMS AUTHORITY

A shipment of crystal meth was found in June in two boxes sent from the US to two addresses in Fiji.

The meth was concealed in boxes of Choc Pie biscuits and placed among other items such as shoes, towels and bathroom items. The drugs weighing 226.3 grams were discovered after a joint operation between police and customs officers at the international parcels office at Suva’s General Post Office. Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority said the drugs had an estimated street value of $350,000. At least three local men have been charged with unlawful importation of the drugs and are in the preliminary stages of their court case.

4FROM PAGE 16

Four years before the Laucala Beach clan lab was found, the biggest seizure in Fiji was made in 2000 when 357kg heroin was discovered at properties belonging to Hong Kong Chinese nationals.

The heroin had originated in Myanmar and was bound for Australia where the Olympic Games were hosted in Sydney in August that year. Before it could be taken by yacht from Suva, the May 2000 coup took place and disrupted the drug traffickers’ plans.

The mastermind of the trafficking job was Hong Kong man Wong Kanhong, who was 52 at the time. Charged along with him but with less serious charges was Bill Tak San-hao, who was the owner of the then Ming Palace restaurant (now Vineyard).

At the time, the laws governing the possession or manufacture of hard drugs in Fiji – the Dangerous Drugs Act – provided for a maximum sentence of eight years in jail.

Wong was jailed for 12 years in jail (a consecutive sentence was handed down), Justice Daniel Fatiaki pointed out that the trial was only the second hard drugs trafficking case in Fiji since 1978, when a young New Zealand woman travelling on an alias and working 18

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on behalf of the Mr Asia syndicate, was arrested at Nadi after cocaine and marijuana was found in her suitcases.

In that case, Justice Williams who heard the appeal against conviction of a then 22-year-old Christina Doreen Skipper, real name is Susan Horrobin, at the High Court at Lautoka.

Since then nothing had been done by legislators to increase penalties for trafficking.

In his sentencing remarks on 8 February 2002, Justice Fatiaki said: “I accept that the heroin in this case was not intended for local consumption. I also accept that the economy and population of this country has, thus far, spared our people from the human toll and suffering experienced in other more affluent countries with significant numbers of heroin users but there can be no denying that this country has been used and will continue to be used as a ‘staging-post’ or an easy transit point for drug traffickers unless our laws and enforcement agencies are considerably enhanced and strengthened.”

It took another two years for the government to pass improved legislation.

The 2000 heroin raid was a harbinger of things to come for Fiji. So when the 2004 clan lab was uncovered, the public shock was tempered with a dawning realisation that our country had moved

from springboard for hard drugs into Australasia to a staging area for some of the region’s biggest hauls.

Today, just over 10 years after the Laucala Beach clan lab bust, the seizure of methamphetamine, cocaine and other illicit drugs has become a regular occurrence at our borders, with both foreigners and locals implicated in various degrees of involvement in the hard drugs trade.

As if in marking the 10th anniversary of the Laucala raid, on 22 March this year another meth lab was discovered in Nadi in a building just outside the international airport. The discovery was made when customs officers found cocaine in a package sent from Hong Kong to a Nadi address.

With Fiji increasingly being used as a transit point as well as production base, it was inevitable that the drug, which resembles crystals, would eventually make its way onto the streets here.

However, while the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service has been warning of the flow of hard drugs, the Fiji Police Force itself has been giving mixed messages about the infiltration of hard drugs onto Fiji’s streets. At times some senior officers appeared in denial or truly unaware of the presence of meth on Fiji’s streets.

For example while the police force’s Issue 14 | July/August 2014

COVER

HARD DRUGS CASES FROM JANUARY TO JULY 2014

Customs officers found meth concealed in the lining of suitcases at Nadi International Airport in February this year. A 60-year-old American citizen was arrested when 3.8kg of methamphetamines was found in the lining of his luggage. He was stopped after his bags seemed suspiciously heavy. When his bags were X-rayed, extra compartments were shown concealed within the suitcase. Sniffer dogs then confirmed the presence of illicit drugs.

From January to July this year alone, at least 10 cases involving unlawful possession or importation of illicit drugs have been brought to court. director of operations Rusiate Tuidravu told the Fiji Times in March the police could not rule out the presence of narcotics on our streets, another senior officer contradicted this later saying hard drugs were too expensive to be found on the streets.

“With developments come threats, one of which could be the trade of hard drugs and this is why we cannot rule it out,” Tudravu was quoted as saying.

Several months later, also in the Fiji Times, the police force’s Henry Brown said: “There’s no market for that in Fiji, it’s too expensive. We have not caught anyone yet for being in possession of or selling hard drugs on the streets.”

Whatever the police say, you can ask a taxi driver in the know in Suva or Nadi 4CONTINUED PAGE 20 Issue 14 | July/August 2014

n A robbery on 19 January led police to the discovery of about two kilograms of illicit drugs at the suspect’s location. The find emerged following the robbery of the Sunbeam Transport office in Samabula of $80,000. Police investigations led to the suspect where cocaine and methamphetamine were discovered. The suspect has been charged. n Aiden Alec Hurtado, a dual American and Columbian national, was charged in February 2014 after arriving at Nadi allegedly with 20.5kg of cocaine destined for Sydney. Justice Salesi Temo has remanded Hurtado until his trial in February 2016 at which a Spanish interpreter will be present. n Gregory Wilcox Stires, a 60-year-old US citizen, was convicted of bringing 3.8kg of methamphetamine into Nadi concealed in the space between the lining of his suitcase and the outer shell. He had travelled from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, transited through Hong Kong and arrived in Nadi on 2 February 2014. He was jailed in July for nine years and six months. n On 31 January, the Suva Magistrates court remanded a man and his daughter over a charge of being in possession of one kilogram of methamphetamine. Josese Rakuita and his daughter Litia Rakuita have had the case sent to the High Court. n On 22 March, a suspicious package sent from Hong Kong four days earlier tipped customs officers off about the location of a meth lab in Nadi. The alleged lab was located in a building just outside the Nadi airport. n On 25 March 2014, 408 grams of energy supplements in which traces of cocaine and LSD were found, was intercepted in a package at Nadi airport post office from Hong Kong. Police raided the address of Peniasi Sukanakoniferedi, 39, of Sabeto, Nadi, an official of an energy-supplements business. Police allegedly found other illicit substances at his address. Two other packages addressed allegedly to Sukanakoniferedi from Hong Kong were intercepted at Nadi airport on a different day. n On 26 March 2014, cocaine was found in a shipment of kava at Nadi International Airport. The kava had been re-exported back to the local kava deal-

er in Fiji from Hong Kong. A man the shipment was addressed to was taken in for questioning in Suva. n On 4 April 2014, a local man and an Australian national appeared in the Nadi Magistrates Court charged with importation of illicit drugs. Iowane Apisai Draiva, 42-year-old barman of Nadi, a father of two daughters, and Trevor Mervyn Tamblyn, 76, were alleged to have brought the drugs through Nadi airport. They have been remanded in custody while their case has transferred to the High Court. At the time, police were also questioning a 39-year-old taxi driver for his alleged involvement in the case. n On 9 June 2014, two boxes sent from the US to different addresses in Suva were searched at the Suva Post Office international parcels section and drugs seized. Plastic bags of methamphetamine valued at $350,000 were found concealed in two packets of chocolate cookies that were in each carton.

Two brothers and their brother-in-law have been charged with importation of illicit substances. In a joint media statement between Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority and the Fiji Police Force, FRCA chief executive officer said officers from both organisations had kept the suspects under surveillance since April. Rakesh Prasad Charan, 45, of Princes Road in Suva faces four separate charges: importation of illicit drugs, two of unlawful possession of illicit drugs and one of money laundering. Charan’s brother Rajen Prasad faces one count of illegal importation of illicit drugs. A third alleged accomplice, Rajnesh Singh, appeared at Nasinu Magistrates Court charged with unlawful possession of illicit drugs and money laundering. His case has been transferred to the High Court at Suva.

A further suspect, Shalendra Edward Narayan, charged with importation of an illicit drug, applied for bail telling police earlier that he feared for his life.

In court, after he had been denied bail, he said he wanted to be with his family. n On 2 July, 80 grams of methamphetamine was found in the baggage of an Asian national at Nadi airport.

The street value of the drug was estimated at $14,000. Charges were yet to be laid. facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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4FROM PAGE 19

and chances are he would at least have heard of somebody who knows how to get their hands on meth.

The increasing ease with which meth and other hard drugs can be obtained in Fiji today is borne out by the sheer number of cases coming to court.

Indeed from January to July this year alone, at least 10 cases involving unlawful possession or importation of illicit drugs have been brought to court. This number could possibly be higher, since the figure was gleaned from cases that actually were reported in the media.

In many of the cases, multiple suspects are involved, including locals: a sure sign that some drug pushes have moved up from simple marijuana to more sinister drugs.

What is driving Fiji’s drug trade?

Fiji’s problems with hard drugs trafficking can be traced to the growing demand for amphetamines, heroin, cocaine, cannabis and opiods in Australia.

The World Drug Report 2014, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, ranked Australia as having the highest proportion of recreational drug users in the world. Australia has the highest number of ectasyusers in the world, fourth highest for cocaine and seventh for cannabis.

Demand in Australia has driven the price of cocaine to more than us$200,000 a kilogram; in the United States the same amount would sell for between us$30,000 and $100,000 a kilogram depending on purity. The money to be made in Australia is tempting enough for traffickers and their mules to risk traversing the Pacific to get there.

Even the powerful South American drug cartels as looking across the Pacific as the street value of cocaine in the US drops. There is evidence that along with the Asian lords, the South Americans are coming through Fiji. In 2007, a 46-year-old Mexican woman brought into Nadi 2.1kg of cocaine strapped to her body after arriving on a flight through Auckland from Argentina. She was jailed for eight years.

A pending case is that of Aiden Alec Hurtado, a dual American and Columbian national, who was charged in February this year after arriving at Nadi allegedly with 20.5kg of cocaine destined for Sydney. Justice Salesi Temo has remanded Hurtado until his trial in February 2016 at which a Spanish interpreter will be present.

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BORDER SENTRY

In charge ... Tevita Tupou is the general manager customs at Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority.

Tupou says the increase in frequency of drugs seizures is because of the improved capabilities of his officers. Next year, an upgraded Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA World) will be impleted at FRCA aiming to improve its targeting and profile risk management strategy and intelligence capabilities. “At this point, we can confidently say we are on top of (the fight against hard drugs). To further enable us to do that better, the need to collaborate with other agencies is key.” Several MOUs have been signed between FRCA and other agencies to this end.

It’s not just foreigners who are getting caught with hard drugs. In March 2013, the first local person was convicted in a hard drug trafficking case.

Roshni Lata, a Lautoka woman, was arrested after a tip-off in 2010. Police discovered four parcels containing 1990.4 grams of cocaine at Lata’s maid’s house.

In evidence, the maid said Lata would send parcels under her name to Suva on a public bus. Lata was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment in March 2013, with a non-parole period of 16 years.

The battle at the border With the increase in drug trafficking activity, it is clear that these hard drugs are either being smuggled in or are manufactured here. Aside from the police, the main people behind the drive to stop the proliferation of drugs on our streets are the immigration and customs officers who control the border posts.

Every day, these women and men who sometimes may appear grumpy or aloof at the Nadi or Nausori immigration desks, are the people at the frontline of the fight against hard drugs.

To criminal syndicates Fiji may be a ‘soft-target’ as a transit and staging post.

But it is the women and men of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority who are largely responsible for fighting back against them.

In the past eight months alone, frca officers at the borders, working collaboratively with other agencies such as the police K9 unit, have stopped millions of dollars worth of hard drugs from entering or leaving Fiji.

Tevita Tupou, the general manager of customs at the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, knows that with the increasing frequency of drug seizures, his officers have their work cut out for them.

“We must understand that trade volume and traffic volume will continue to go up but our resources will continue to be constrained,” Tupou tells Repúblika. “So the challenge for us is working smarter with the limited resources that we have.”

Because of the nature of the work involved, the integrity of customs and immigration officers and support personnel is vital. “We are only as strong as our weakest link,” says Tupou of the susceptibility of his officers as targets of corruption.

Criminal syndicates have access to vast amounts of money and are able to keep devising new methods and routes and pay off officials to smuggle drugs across the Pacific and to and through Fiji. They may be a few steps ahead of the authorities, but Tupou is quick to give his reassurance that “we are not that far behind.” frca officers must work with the limited resources they have, within the framework of law and a finite budget.

“But for these syndicates they have unlimited resources, funding is not an issue for them and they work outside of the framework of law,” says Tupou. “For enforcement officers that’s what makes our work interesting: the challenge to work within the framework of law with limited resources requires of us to work a whole lot R smarter, doing more with less.”

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

DISPATCH

Adapting to change

Vunidogoloa sets example for the Pacific on climate adaptation efforts

S

till a long way off in many parts of are experiencing its worst impacts. AcBy Joni Catherine Wilson By madraiwiwi the world, climate displacement is cording to the Pacific Climate Change Inter Press Service already a reality in the Pacific Islands, Science Program, the sea level near Fiji where rising seas are contaminating rose by six millimetres per year over the fresh water and agricultural land, and past decade, double the global average. rendering some coastal areas uninhabitable.

During this century, ocean acidification, temperatures and In Fiji, where the survival of 676 communities is now pre- the intensity of rainfall are also predicted to increase. carious, the government is set to establish the region’s first When adaptation measures, such as building seawalls national policy to address the challenges of internal migraand planting mangroves, no longer stem the tide, survival tion as the last option in adaptation. depends on moving the affected population to new land and Home to over 870,000 people in the central South Pacific safer ground. The London School of Economics estimates Ocean, the 300-something volcanic islands that comprise that across the Pacific Islands, home to 10 million people, up this nation include low-lying atolls, and are highly suscepto 1.7 million could be displaced due to climate change by tible to cyclones, floods and earthquakes. Thus Fiji is no 2050. stranger to the devastation wrought by climate change, and Mahendra Kumar, director of the climate change division its national policies hold valuable lessons for all governat the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Coments bracing for climate-induced population movements. operation in the capital, Suva, told IPS that “the Fiji governDuring its recent chairmanship of the Group of 77 nament recognises it has a primary duty and responsibility to tions plus China (G77), Fiji brought the plight of Small provide protection and assistance to people at risk of climate Island Developing States to the international arena, highchange.” lighting the disproportionate nature of the climate crisis.

The guidelines for internal population movements will The Pacific Islands, for instance, are responsible for only 4CONTINUED PAGE 22 0.006 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet they Issue 14 | July/August 2014

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DISPATCH

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION

New high ... Vunidogoloa was relocated to a safe area after sea-level rise began affecting their village on the shores of Natewa Bay in Vanua Levu.

4FROM PAGE 21

become an addendum to the national climate change policy, introduced in 2012. They will be aligned with the broader policy’s principles of community ownership, involvement and consent, equitable benefits for all, including disadvantaged social groups, and the mainstreaming of climate change issues into national planning and budgeting.

The new “relocation procedure is to be followed in all cases when communities seek the assistance of the government,” Kumar clarified.

The preference of many Pacific Islanders is to relocate within their own country. More than 80 percent of land in Fiji is under customary ownership and has been for generations. Land is the main source of livelihoods, food, social security and ancestral identity for clans and extended families.

Melanesian society places great importance on community self-reliance with solutions to local challenges historically driven by traditional leaders.

This has determined people’s survival for generations and is one reason why, today, many refute the term ‘climate refugee’.

But that doesn’t diminish the socio22

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economic repercussions of, or financial resources needed, for physically moving large numbers of people, housing and infrastructure.

Vunidogoloa: An exercise in inclusive adaptation Now in its final draft, the climate policy was first informed by the move and reconstruction of the Vunidogoloa village on Vanua Levu, one of Fiji’s two main islands, back in January.

Living by the edge of Natewa Bay, as the people of Vunidogoloa had for generations, became untenable when the encroaching sea breached seawall barriers daily, flooding homes, while saltwater degraded the soil and destroyed crops like taro and sweet potato.

While villagers had watched the gradual encroachment of the sea over a period of years, the ultimate loss of their traditional ancestral land and homes, they say, was distressing.

The move, which took a total of three years, began in 2010, before the relocation policy was conceived in 2013.

However, since then the experiences of both the government and local residents have been incorporated.

“We are happy in our new village,” Suluwegi, a villager from Vunidogoloa, told IPS. “The houses are good and we are able to grow new crops for food.” The Ministry of Agriculture provided the new community with pineapple plants and technical support to promote new farming livelihoods.

The Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management led the multi-sector process of moving 150 people and building 30 new houses, with each costing approximately $10,000 – a $310,000 project.

Suluwegi said that villagers actively participated in the decision about where the new settlement would be situated. Plans for relocation only went ahead after the community had given consent. Fortunately, customary land owned by the community was available about two kilometres away on higher ground, which was quickly identified as the preferred new site.

“There were no land issues or disputes, which made our work much easier,” George Dregaso of the National Disaster Management Office told IPS, hinting that the acquisition of addiIssue 14 | July/August 2014

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION

DISPATCH

Changing with time ... Villagers of Vunidogoloa in Natewa Bay, Vanua Levu during the opening of their re-located village in January.

tional customary land could have involved long, complex negotiations and substantial compensation to host landowners.

Various ministries and authorities responsible for local government, agriculture, water, fisheries, forests and labour contributed funding and resources for the provision of basic services and new livelihoods.

New water tanks and a solar power system were installed in the community. Villagers received assistance in re-establishing agriculture, including plants, breeding livestock and farming materials, as well as new ponds for fish farming as an income-generating initiative.

Government funds covered 75 per cent of costs associated with the relocation of Vunidogoloa, which totalled close to $978,000. The remainder represented the value of the timber that the community contributed to the project.

While the villagers of Vunidogoloa were fortunate enough to find refuge close to their old home, others who are impacted by climate change might not be so lucky.

Globally there is a critical lack of policies and laws to address the plight Issue 14 | July/August 2014

of climate migrants, either within states or across national borders. For instance, people internationally displaced due to climate extremes are not recognised under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention.

But last year international lawyers, climate change experts and UN representatives devised the Peninsula Principles on climate displacement within states as an initial guiding framework for policy and lawmakers, based on current international law.

Many of those principles, such as community participation and consent, provision of affordable housing, land solutions, basic services and economic opportunities to those affected, have been observed in Vunidogoloa.

Kumar emphasised, however, that formal discussions about the legislative implications of Fiji’s relocation policy are yet to occur.

“We are taking this one step at a time,” he said. “The policy will need to be considered by all stakeholders, including relevant ministries, before it can be considered by cabinet. Cabinet’s decision and response to recommendations will be key to determining what

the next steps will be.”

Fiji’s current climate change policy is supported by existing laws and a new constitution established last year, which recognises that all Fijians, irrespective of ethnicity or status, have equal rights to housing, public services, health and economic participation.

However, all Pacific Island states face challenges in fully implementing government policies due to limited technical, human resource and financial capacities. According to Kumar, further work on solutions to issues of land availability and sustainable funding ahead of future relocation projects will be needed as the policy draft enters its final stages.

The learning process for all concerned continues, with the government still to undertake post-relocation monitoring and evaluation at Vunidogoloa in order to address any long term or unR foreseen impacts. n Catherine Wilson is an independent journalist, writer and correspondent reporting on development, politics, global and socioeconomic issues and culture from Melanesia and the Pacific Islands for IPS global news agency. facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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Issue 14 | July/August 2014

• Under pre-trial detention or sentence of imprisonment

• Due to serious illness or infirmity, the person is unable to travel from his or her place of living to his or her assigned Polling Station

• Living outside of Fiji or will be outside of Fiji on Polling Day

A voter who is currently on the 2014 voters register and who meets one of the criteria listed below:

WHO CAN APPLY?

Applications must be received by the Supervisor of Elections at the address listed below no later than 6 p.m on 27 August 2014.

WHEN TO APPLY

• Application Form available at your nearest Voter Information Centre or visit www.electionsfiji.gov.fj

• Applications can be made by completing the Postal Vote form

HOW TO APPLY

The decision of the Electoral Commission will be final.

• If an application is declined we will advise you within 48 hours where practicable. Within 1 day of being advised that your application is being rejected, you may appeal the decision to the Electoral Commission.

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR APPLICATION?

FIJIAN ELECTIONS OFFICE

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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Government Buildings, Suva or • Scan and email it to : postalvote.feo@gmail.com

Send or deliver completed and • signed 59 -63 Upper High to Street, application one Toorak of the or following addresses: • Mail to: P.O. Box 2528, Government Suva or • 59 -63 Upper Buildings, High Street, Toorak • Scan andor email it to : postalvote.feo@gmail.com • Mail to: P.O. Box 2528,

following addresses:

Send orTO deliver completed and WHERE SEND COMPLETED signed application to one of the APPLICATION FORMS?

APPLICATION FORMS?

Nausori

Provincial Administrator’s Office, Beach Provincial Administrator’s Office Road District GroundOffice Floor, Namuka House District Office, Waiyevo Provincial Administrator’s Office Provincial Administrator’s Office District Office

Seaqaqa Labasa Taveuni Savusavu

Nabouwalu

Seaqaqa

District Office, Waiyevo Office, Vunisea Provincial Administrator’s Government Station Provincial Administrator’s Office

Provincial Administrator’s Office, Beach District Office Road Provincial Administrator’s Office, Cokova Ground Floor, Namuka House Crescent, Vaileka

Provincial Administrator’s Office Provincial Administrator’s Office, Vunisea Government District Office,Station Koronubu House

Westfield Births, Deaths and Marriages Provincial (inside Administrator’s Office, Cokova Registry) Vaileka Crescent,

Nadi International Airport (Inside District Office, Koronubu House International Check-In Area) District Level 1, Office Rajendra Prasad Foodtown Building,

Social WelfareService Office, Centre Korovou Town Government (Old Fiji Visitors Bureau) Nadi International Airport (Inside Ground Floor,Check-In Hermon Area) Plaza (inside International Government Service Centre) Level 1, Rajendra Prasad Foodtown Building, Provincial Administrator’s Office,and Navua Westfield (inside Births, Deaths Marriages Town Registry) Social Welfare Office, Korovou Town Provincial Administrator’s Office

Provincial Administrator’s Office, Navua 59 - 63 Upper High Street, Toorak Town

Location

Ground Floor, Hermon Plaza (inside Government Service Centre)

Nabouwalu Levuka

Savusavu

Taveuni Kadavu

Rakiraki Labasa

Tavua Levuka

Sigatoka Kadavu Ba

Rakiraki

Tavua Lautoka

Nadi Ba

Korovou Sigatoka

Nadi Nausori Lautoka Navua

Korovou Suva

Navua Suva

Voter Info Centre

Government Service Centre (Old Fiji Visitors Bureau)

Suva

Suva

Location

59 - 63 Upper High Street, Toorak

Voter Info Centre

VOTER INFORMATION CENTRE

VOTER INFORMATION CENTRE

twitter.com/ElectionsFiji

facebook.com/Fijianelectionsoffice

www.electionsfiji.gov.fj

twitter.com/ElectionsFiji

facebook.com/Fijianelectionsoffice

Fijian Elections Office | 59 – 63 High Street, Toorak | P. O. Box 2528, Govt Bldgs, SUVA| Phone: +679 331 6225 | Fax: +679 331 6026

www.electionsfiji.gov.fj

Fijian Elections Office | 59 – 63 High Street, Toorak | P. O. Box 2528, Govt Bldgs, SUVA| Phone: +679 331 6225 | Fax: +679 331 6026

I’m voting because I’m Fijian I’m voting because I’m Fijian

her assigned polling station due to work commitments on Polling Day

may not be able to attend their • Will be away from his orthe her Polling Station during usual place ofof residence hours Polling. and in a place not convenient to his or •her Willassigned be away polling from hisstation or her due to work commitments usual place of residence andon in Polling Day a place not convenient to his or

• Because of a person’s religious • Under pre-trial detention or beliefs or membership of a sentence of imprisonment religious order, he or she is precluded attending a • Because of afrom person’s religious polling or the person beliefs station or membership of a may not be able to attend religious order, he or shetheir is Polling Station during the precluded from attending a of Polling. pollinghours station or the person

by the Supervisor of Elections at the address listed below no later WHERE TO SEND COMPLETED than 6 p.m on 27 August 2014.

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A 105, 8 MITCHELL ST, SUVA P.O. BOX 9555, NAKASI, FIJI ISLANDS FAX (679) 341 2658 MOB: (679) 918 2521 / 9421110 pacifictours_rentalcarz@hotmail.com

| RepĂşblika | republikamagazine.com

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

#FIJIV TES

On the job ... Journalists and photographers covering the launch of the National Federation Party’s manifesto in Suva on 21 July.

The media’s role in covering elections

By KELVIN ANTHONY Staff Writer

T

he Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS) brought together 14 Pacific island journalists from seven different countries to build their capacity to report critically on the elections and respond to leverage the profile of elections reporting in the region by investing in a ‘Elections Reporting Workshop’ training from 1619 June in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The training was facilitated by a seasoned journalist at Radio New Zealand International (RNZI), Megan Whelan, who has covered national elections in three Pacific islands countries: Kiribati, Vanuatu, and Samoa. Whelan has also covered three New Zealand genIssue 14 | July/August 2014

eral election and is now a senior content producer at The Wireless – RNZI’s youth-focused website on elections coverage.

Also guest speaker at the training was veteran Pacific journalist and now the public affairs and media manager of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), Johnson Honimae. Honimae previously worked at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat based in Suva from mid-2006 to December 2012.

As a young media worker from Fiji who attended the workshop, representing Repúblika – never voted nor reported the elections – the initiative by PACMAS was timely and an interesting one given the impact an election has on the lives of ordinary people and the significant role the media has to play in it.

The role of the media prior to, during and post elections cannot be emphasised enough. In the Pacific, it is crucial for media practitioners to be well informed about the rules and regulations that govern the electoral processes of their countries.

The media’s job in covering elections under the principles of accuracy, balance and fairness is fundamental to good governance and sustainable democracy. It is sometimes said that political literacy in the Pacific is fairly weak i.e. people are generally disconnected from politics. Thus the media needs to guarantee that it holds politicians to account and in return be accountable to the people.

Elections belong to the people and it is the media’s role to make voters recognise this truth. facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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PINA

thewireless.co.NZ

#FIJIV TES

Veteran journos ... Johnson Honimae, left, and Megan Whelan talked about their experiences of election reporting and how to do it right.

Fiji, Tonga and the Solomon Islands are scheduled to have their political high point this year. While, Fiji and Tonga have locked-in their polling dates for 17 September and 27 November respectively, the Solomon Islands is yet to decide on a date.

For Fiji, 2014 is the biggest year for democracy as the country makes a transition from a military-led regime to a people’s administration after almost eight years. Like other Pacific island countries, Fiji has a new generation of journalists filling up newsrooms and writing and reporting on important issues and events that affect every aspect of Fijian society.

Repúblika spoke to Whelan and Honimae to explain their experiences on the important role of the media in covering elections, the challenges of election reporting, and whether the Pacific was creating quality journalists who could report critically on elections so that voters are able to make informed decisions when choosing people into power.

Repúblika: Elections are hard.

They are not easy to cover. What is the media’s role when covering elections?

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Whelan: Elections are hard. There’s a lot to know, and a lot to try and cover.

It’s hard, often, to separate issues from personality and to get to the bottom of what voters are interested in, not just what politicians want to talk about. And getting information from politicians and government agencies can be tough; transparency isn’t always great. It’s the media’s role to provide information to voters to help them make decisions.

That means covering issues, the people involved, and the process of the election – the campaign, how to vote, how votes will be counted, all of those things.

Honimae: Media has a very important role before, during and after any election. The media must explain the processes for registration of voters, how and where to vote, what the people’s rights in the constitution are, and the election act of the countries. They need the information to vote correctly.

Also the media need to explain what the political parties stand for. The media must question the political parties or independent candidates on their policies and especially how are they going to fund these plans when they get into power. If they cannot answer these types

of questions, let the people know.

Repúblika: Do Pacific countries have journalists who can critically report on elections issues? And what is your opinion of the media environment in Pacific countries, particularly Fiji?

Whelan: There are absolutely journalists in the Pacific who can and do report critically on elections. Like everywhere, it’s hard for Pacific journalists to get the training and knowledge to be able to do it well and journalists seem to leave the profession early, so there aren’t many people around who can remember the last 10 elections, for example. And they’re operating in a situation where media freedom and the role of the media aren’t always well understood or appreciated, so it’s even more difficult.

Honimae: Unfortunately, there are very few or no journalists in the region who specialise in reporting on elections. There are the political reporters in the bigger news organisations like in Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Other than that you have the general reporting on the election when it comes around and leave at that. If we have specialist reporters for the elections they can do follow ups on the promises made by candidates Issue 14 | July/August 2014

AMY WEST

#FIJIV TES

Nobody gets away ... The Fijian Elections Office has a voter registration area set up near the entrance of the immigration departure checkpoint at Nadi International Airport.

or political parties during their campaigns and make sure they deliver or tell people that the candidates have made false promises and so when the election comes around next time, decide whether to vote for them or not. The media environment in the region varies from very free in countries like Australia, New Zealand, PNG, and Samoa to others like Fiji, which the government says is free but when you speak to some journalists from that country off the record, the story is different from what the authorities say. I feel sorry for the journalists operating in such a country. They may not be openly protesting but they leave the profession and join public relations companies instead. It is sad.

Repúblika: If journalists in the Pacific or Fiji don’t do their jobs and hold politicians accountable then how can it become a problem? Please explain.

Whelan: We live in democracies and the relationship between a voter and politician is a very important one. Politics seems removed to a lot of people but it is not. The roads that we drive on, the water that we drink, and the food that we eat and how much we have to pay for it – all those things come from politics. It can seem very far removed from a lot of people’s lives and it is part of our job and part of the politicians’ jobs to explain why those things are important and how they are relevant to people. It is even more important in an election year because the decisions are made by the people in power and the voters are the ones who chose those people. My dad taught me, rightly or wrongly, but if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain and that has always Issue 14 | July/August 2014

stuck with me – the people who vote are the people who have the power.

Honimae: If the media does not hold politicians accountable you are giving them the license to continue do what they are doing. The media might as well join them. Not all politicians are corrupt so the media should do great stories on those who are clean and explain how they do so when people read the stories they should expect the same from their corrupt politicians.

Repúblika: Political literacy in the Pacific is very weak. People seem to be very disconnected from politics.

Whelan: It’s often hard to explain to people why politics is important to them. To some people, politics is the big men, sitting in the capital, drinking and arguing. It’s part of the media’s job to explain – and we don’t always do it well – that politics is the water they are drinking, and the dire state of the road they are driving on, and how easy it is to go to a doctor. It’s who represents them internationally, and what they’ll say. Often, we get caught up in the infighting, and the personalities and we forget that for a lot of people, that’s not actually very interesting and so they have turned off politics. And that’s not great in an election year.

Honimae: I think it’s because the media is not doing enough to inform people especially in the rural areas. The people in the urban centres have some understanding but those in the rural areas could not be bothered because either the media does not reach them or they just could not be bothered because they do not see any services in their areas. There is no road, wharf, market or

even Panadol in the rural health centre.

Repúblika: Can you explain what is meant by ‘elections belong to the people’?

Whelan: It is really important for the media and politicians to remember the people with the power are the people with the vote. You can see it in countries across the world where popular uprisings have started. You know you can look at what has happened in the US over the last 10-15 years as youth voter turnout has started to increase and the difference it has made to the issues that have been discussed and the candidates that have been elected. You can see there is real power if people actually take the power of their vote. I think a lot of time we take voting as a chore and it’s a right and a heavy responsibility at the same time. We spend a lot of time talking about the mechanics of elections and talking about the process or behind the scenes things that politicians do and forget the very real impact a vote can have.

Honimae: People elect politicians in power so that the politicians enact legislations that improve the livelihood of their people. Nothing more, nothing less. Politicians are not elected to become banks dishing out funds for development. This only encourages corruption. Politicians are meant to legislate and not become bank managers. The media has a great responsibility in holding all people in positions of authority accountable for their actions however R small or big. n Kelvin Anthony was sponsored by PACMAS to attend the elections reporting workshop in Honiara. facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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ESSAY

The importance of

being Fijian

By Joni madraiwiwi Special to Repúblika

O

ne of the deserved plaudits for the present government and the Prime Minister Rear Admiral (ret’d) Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama in particular, is the adoption of the term ‘Fijian’ as a common signifier of identity for the citizens of Fiji. It has been accompanied by a great deal of angst in the Taukei community. Many consider it a usurpation of a description that has been associated with the indigenous people of these islands since first contact with European explorers in the 17th century. The attendant sense of proprietorship and profound emotion is easily understandable in that context. At the same time, it has obliged us as a nation to reflect more deeply about the vexed issue of a national identity and the inconclusive discourse around it since independence over four decades ago.

For the Taukei, what has compounded their grievance is the arbitrary manner in which the issue was determined.

There was neither consultation nor discussion. It was mooted one day and decreed the next, leaving a considerable number of Taukei and non-Taukei 30

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alike nonplussed, perplexed and hurting in varying degrees. While it is not the way to build consensus and cohesion, the history of this controversial subject probably allowed no other outcome. Since independence the Taukei and their leaders have veered between hostility and ambivalence in this regard.

It stemmed in part from insecurities caused by their minority status from about the 1940s into the early 1990s.

There was also a reluctance to share the appellation for fear it would detract from their unique status. In addition, begrudgment lingered about the place of non-Taukei in this country, linked to the perennial question of whether ‘outsiders’ could ever be accepted within the fold. Alternative names such as ‘Fiji Islander’, ‘Vitian’ and ‘Fijianese’ failed to find favour for various reasons, chief among them either their unwieldiness or their crassness.

The argument for a common identity is unassailable. It is central to the matter of citizenship and the concept of a united people with a single destiny and purpose: the wellbeing and betterment of the nation as a whole. It is to be distinguished from ethnicity in multicultural societies, where the case for a unifying reference is more compelling

for that reason. From that perspective, ‘Fijian’ is a perfect, perhaps the only obvious, choice. The rationale is straightforward. As Fiji is the name of our country, its citizens are by definition ’Fijians’.

What reason can there be for an alternative when the people of every other State are known respectively by extensions of their countries’ names?

To reserve the description for the Taukei, and devise another to include everyone would be absurd. Yet that was precisely what used to happen until the proverbial Gordian knot was cut and the dilemma ‘sorted’. We were all identified by ethnicity in-country and called Fijians when abroad, because foreigners cared little about our fondness for ethnic compartments. Moreover, it was too complicated for us to explain the saga it entailed. To add another layer of confusion, the indigenous community referred to themselves as ‘Taukei’ (i.e. owner) or ‘Kai Viti’ in their own language. Most importantly, the distinction between terms implied a secondclass status for non-Taukei that was marginalising and therefore inappropriate for all concerned.

However, this discourse needs to take account of Taukei perspectives if our nation is to be at peace with itself.

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

ESSAY

For well over three centuries they have become accustomed to the recognition bestowed them by others. That is what the world knew them as and how they saw themselves in relation to nonTaukei. Now that is no more. However, legislative fiat does not remove the feelings, attachment and history associated with the term “Fijian”. Expecting the Taukei to turn off their emotions like one does a tap misconceives human nature. It is a process that requires time and adjustment. For in a very real sense, Taukei believe they have foregone what is almost akin to a right. A right conferred by usage and practice.

So it should come as no surprise when the more fervent among them accuse others, who would assume the label, of identity theft.

In return for sharing this identity, some reciprocal gesture is sought of others for whom Fiji is now home. According special status for, as well as allocating resources to, the Taukei language (together with dialects) and their development is one such means. Or a deeper appreciation and understanding of their place as the original inhabitants of these islands or first people. How does this accord with a “common and equal citizenry” enshrined in the new Constitution?

Equality of opportunity and status for all of us does not preclude the recognition of this critical element of Taukei identity which is implicitly affirmed in the preamble of the Constitution. Language is perhaps more important than land in the sense that it combines with ethnicity to define identity. While the Taukei like other indigenous peoples are said to have a connection with the land, the spirit of a people lies more deeply in the spoken and written word.

It is because they both define and give form to that relationship together with the repository of knowledge, wisdom and folklore the Taukei possess.

Recognition of the status of the Taukei is part of being ‘Fijian’ because they are the indigenous people of this country, they own most of the land and they have been generous enough to make it available to other communities who are at home here. Above all, it is the emphasis on the wellbeing of the extended family, clan or group rather than the individual common throughIssue 14 | July/August 2014

out Oceania that Taukei give to the meaning of being Fijian. The equally significant contribution of other peoples in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the nation is also recognised. Their stories are also part of what we are. However, the present focus is on the Taukei in seeking to come to terms with their bemusement bordering on resentment in seeing this outcome come to pass.

There is also an echo among the other communities of this sentiment. Some do not wish to be called Fijians because they have no desire to be categorised as other than what they have become accustomed to. In their estimation, it diminishes them and is dismissive of their real origins. These arguments, from different sides of the debate, have some validity inasmuch as the initiative to provide a common identity for us all is contrived. It imposes a solution rather than allowing the process to develop organically from within our society.

Yet in the light of entrenched attitudes and the ‘round and round the mulberry bush’ experience we have encountered until recently, it is not certain that would have happened by itself.

Nation building in itself is a challenging task. It is more complicated in a multicultural and multiethnic country where unity and a common identity cannot be assumed and must be constructed. Our country has wrestled with this issue for well over four decades since independence. The debate has meandered backwards and forwards with inconclusive results. For a greater part of this period, the Taukei had an informal veto in this discourse. The more vocal and strident among them dominated the nay side of the argument, and that was sufficient to sway the more quiescent majority. It was also inextricably linked to Taukei fears about Indo-Fijian domination that prevailed up until the first decade of this century. Sentiments often invoked by Taukei leaders and politicians, not only for ulterior purposes but from a genuine sense, however misplaced, of protecting the interests of the Taukei as they saw them.

What changed the equation was most obviously the advent of Commodore Bainimarama (as he then was) to power in December 2006 and his advo-

cacy of a common and equal citizenry.

But perhaps more importantly, there had been an undetected shift of seismic proportions in the general disposition of the Taukei at large. Bainimarama was pushing against if not an open door, one that was sufficiently ajar and conducive to change. This may be partly attributed to the aftermath of the 1987 coups and its tragic consequences for our country.

Tens of thousands of people left, most of them Indo-Fijians. This phenomenon altered the ethnic mix of our population decisively and in the last census conducted in 2007, the Taukei comprised 58 per cent of the population. This factor together with higher levels of education and a more prominent Taukei middle class has engendered a more relaxed and less defensive posture towards multiculturalism and inter-ethnic relations.

The most striking illustration of this: the remarkable consensus around the new electoral system which would have been fanciful as late as a decade ago.

Given those considerations, the decision to impose the term Fijian as a common signifier of identity while arbitrary, was necessary. A nation without a common identity is by definition one not quite at ease with itself, an association of motley individuals. Going forward, some space will need to be created for indigenous affirmation in the manner proposed. As the Taukei portion of the population increases, those emotions will need to be met. However at the same time, it is unarguable that the country had been without a national identity for far too long and the situation required resolution, if all our people were to have a symbolic sense of belonging. Its tangible importance lies in the powerful assertion of inclusion it confers on everyone, where no one is excluded or considered the ‘other’. For the indigenous Taukei community, where the wellbeing of the group is inculcated from birth, sharing the term Fijian with everyone else ought to be celebrated as an extension of that principle and a blessing for the rich diversity other communities have in turn brought with them to make our country the wonderfully complex mosaic that it is.

R n Joni Madraiwiwi is a traditional leader, lawyer and a former Vice President of Fiji (2005-6). facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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WEST PAPUA

By JOPE TARAI

O

n 4 March 2014 as part of a public lecture series, the government of Indonesia in conjunction with Fiji’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation sponsored a public lecture at the University of the South Pacific’s Japan-Pacific ICT Centre at Laucala Campus.

It was to be composed of former West Papua activists Franz Albert Joku and Nicholas Simion Messet. There is emphasis on the word “former” because there was a time when these two “former freedom fighters” were actually activists for West Papua freedom. However, now they had come sponsored by the Indonesian government.

In 2000, Joku and Messet were actually members of the Papuan Presidium Council, and were part of the Nauru delegation to the 31st Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Kiribati. Back then they were begging and seeking support from the Pacific governments for West Papuan independence from Indonesia.

Now, they came with Indonesia, well away from the message of West Papuan independence. In spite of the blatantly fickle representation that was to be expected at the panel, students were showing interest and were keen to attend in numbers.

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The interrogation and intimidation Like all other panel discussions on campus, students are always encouraged to attend and participate in these lectures. In fact an advertisements were published in the newspapers indicating that the lecture was to be open to all members of the public.

Student interest groups gathered to discuss the plight of our Melanesian brothers and sisters in West Papua. It was in organising one of these student meetings that officers from the Fiji Police Force’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) contacted me.

On the morning of the panel, through a student representative, I was told: “You might not be allowed to attend the public lecture tonight, according to CID. They would like to meet with you after lunch.”

The student representative was as bewildered as I was. Why CID had become overly concerned with student meetings? For one, CID’s access to and within university campus is unprecedented and unnecessary because student meetings are not illegal. In addition to this, CID referred to the student meetings in a manner that seemed to depict criminal intent. USP security deliberated on behalf of CID and I was given five points on a piece of paper that wasn’t signed or officially designated.

The demands basically instructed interested students to refrain from expressing their opposition to the atroci-

JOPE TARAI

Propaganda and paranoia Demand notice ... The conditions in the unsigned and undesignated note given to USP students before the Indonesia-sponsored panel discussion on West Papua in March 2014.

ties that continue in West Papua. These officers’ approach was nothing short of demeaning. If there was a concern, it would have been best to approach students well before the event and not have people interrogated and given such ludicrous demands.

The demands resemble the assumption that students did not deserve to express their views and inquire for themselves through the process of academic freedom and expression.

The second demand was extremely unnecessary in basically dictating what people were not to wear. Out of all the conditions, the fourth demand about not bringing “weapons or objects that could be used as a missile” into the auditorium, was the focus of many of my questions during the interrogation. I highlighted the fact that students were being painted in a bad light, as if students of the Pacific region were nefarious characters that were hell bent on nothing but violence.

The systematic exaggeration in Issue 14 | July/August 2014

WEST PAPUA

which student meetings were being blown out of proportion by the authorities leads one to question the credibility of the intelligence-gathering and briefing capabilities made evident in this case. Clearly, concise and accurate information was fundamentally lacking, because the only weapons critical thinking students of the Pacific have are their pen, paper and free thought.

If at any point authorities view such attributes as dangerous enough to warrant interrogation and intimidation, then any citizen’s free thought and liberty is in grave danger.

I was even more shocked when I was instructed that questions posed during the question-and-answer session were not to be too “critical or protesting”.

Instantly, I asked what that meant.

The room was silent.

From the silence, I assumed that those delivering the demands, lacked understanding of what they had demanded or they had come to the realisation of how absurd and redundant the whole exercise was.

To this day, I still wonder how questions without critical curiosity and investigation are supposed to sound

like. Clearly, being given guidelines of how questions are to be posed is bordering dangerously on a state that is over reaching its mandate, in so far as a citizen’s free thought and liberty is concerned. The University of the South Pacific has always been a central location for student movements, groups and most definitely discussions of all kinds. These discussions are crucial in shaping and harnessing critical thinkers, well-reasoned actors and ultimately independent Pacific leaders.

As a benefit, these discussions are a form of investment not only for one Pacific country but for the region as a whole. Where else should discussions of matters of regional concern that have a direct link to the so-called “Pacific Way” or even more so, “Melanesian Way”, take place? Such interventions consistently inhibit and deter the space for Pacific students to investigate and freely debate issues of not only national and regional concern but for universal freedom and justice.

Propaganda on the panel On the day of the panel discussion, USP security officers conducted bag

and attire checks at the entry points to the venue. Bag checks were for possible weapons (we were led to assume), while attire checks were in line with the CID demand not to wear protest T-shirts.

The absurdity of these checks speaks volumes of the intended intimidation to curtail free and open expression on the subject of discussion. Students trickled in but it was obvious that interest in the event had waned, even before it had begun.

The panel was monotonous with each speaker painting a markedly different and somewhat pseudo-realistic picture of West Papua. While amplifying their praises for Indonesia, the former activists would continue to look warily from time to time over at the Indonesian officials seated in the front row, as if to gauge, if they had said too much or too little.

During the panel, we were exposed to superficial proclamations of change and a “new” and “better” West Papua under Indonesia. The long presentations by each of the panellists were followed by one of the most lacklustre questionand-answer sessions I have ever seen.

4CONTINUED PAGE 34

Converted freedom fighters ... Franz Albert Joku and Nicholas Simion Messet, two former West Papuan independence activists who now work for the Indonesian government, during joint Fiji-Indonesia discussion panel at USP on 4 March 2014. At the podium is the University of West Papua ViceChancellor Dr Suriel Mofu.

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

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MONICA WAQANISAU

How Fiji’s Criminal Investigations Department intimidated students over their support for a free West Papua

WEST PAPUA

4FROM PAGE 33

Students were so disconnected that it took a while for them to ask questions.

Security personnel were located at the entry and exit points, which made the atmosphere in the room all the more tense and intimidating.

Responses by the panellists were either incoherent or circumnavigated answers and conveniently avoided the elephant in the room – the documented atrocities over many years against West Papuans. The issue of extensive human rights violations and abuse of countless West Papuans were averted time and time again.

This was evidenced as Joku proclaimed that the number one issue worth addressing in Indonesia was corruption and that was a priority above all else.

With an almost deeply mistaken self-assumed Indonesian identity, Joku proclaimed: “The human rights issue is no longer the main priority for the Indonesian government. Corruption is Indonesia’s number one evil.”

Joku’s announcement was made with an almost choreographed set of hand gestures, emphasised with a fictitious tone of conviction. When asked why foreign journalists were being denied entry into West Papua, Messet retorted that “these journalists” had a tendency to exaggerate the realities on the ground. However, the irony remains that if conditions in West Papua had improved as they claimed, then why weren’t foreign journalists being allowed to document these improvements themselves. The acting skills of these two former activists was mesmerising yet dishonourable.

Scolding the youth Apart from the blatantly obvious propaganda exercise, the younger people in the audience were being targeted with a specific criticism. The younger generation were scolded for being well endowed with certain attributes attained as an inadvertent, albeit effective, consequence of globalisation.

“The problem with your generation is that all you do is you text each other, instantly and see things on computers, while we had to write letters to each other and wait three months for a response 34

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With an almost deeply mistaken self-assumed Indonesian identity, Joku proclaimed: “The human rights issue is no longer the main priority for the Indonesian government.

Corruption is Indonesia’s number one evil.” and only to receive it to find out that the person had died,” Messet chided.

Such a statement implied that these former freedom fighters disliked the wave of globalisation and the information and technological access it had brought with it. It seemed they abhorred the younger generation for being technologically savvy with mobile phones and the instant access to information via social media. This access to information has allowed the West Papuan cause for freedom to be shared with many people within a matter of seconds. In plain sight, injustice anywhere is now seen everywhere and the abuses in West Papua are not immune to this access and sharing of information.

Calling for West Papuan exiles to return?

Messet then addressed Vanuatu’s ambassador to Fiji Nikenike Vurobaravu, who was in the audience, to encourage certain exiled West Papuans in Vanuatu to return home. Messet said: “Mr High Commissioner, can you tell them please come home.”

Of course being a seasoned and experienced diplomat, Nikenike did not openly respond during the panel but maintained a cool and calm stature in the audience.

However, his response came with his immediate departure at the end of the panel, which saw him not even joining the other officials present at the refreshments table.

Not long after we were engaged in a conversation in the car park. He simply said: “There is a reason why people are in exile. When you have people holding their guts, what are you going to do?”

Nikenike’s comment about “holding

their guts” was in reference to several killings of West Papuan independence leaders in which their stomachs were slashed open, leaving them to endure a prolonged and painful death.

When the panel discussion ended, it was crystal clear that it was a skilfully planned attempt at conveying a sense of historical amnesia, seeking to dissuade the Pacific from supporting West Papuan freedom.

Continued intimidation On Friday 13 June, at little after 7pm I received a phone call from an uncle who was frantically explaining how a CID officer had visited my home earlier that afternoon looking for me. The reason for the visit remained vague. However I knew that they were going to make an effort to establish contact within the next 48 hours.

It wasn’t until the next evening that I was finally able to make contact with a CID officer on the phone. I was asked if I knew of a petition for West Papuan freedom, which was to be presented to the Indonesian embassy earlier on Friday. He explained they had been briefed and a picture was circulated of a person they had concluded was the leader of the Fiji movement for a free West Papua and that the person in the picture was expected to deliver a petition to the Indonesian embassy at Ra Marama House on Gordon Street.

Upon delivering the petition an officer posted at the location was to have arrested that person.

“Why didn’t you turn up and where is the petition?” the officer asked me.

In having to deal with the authorities it is fairly evident that responding openly and honestly is the best approach because like all other regional issues, the West Papuan cause for freedom is not hidden and is not something that can be hidden through lies.

I responded by saying that I wasn’t aware of a specific petition meant for the embassy, however there were many petitions available online and organised by various groups who all stand for the same cause of freedom. In addition to this, petitions are a representation of the freedom of expression of people on a specific matter. This is a fundamental right of all Fijians, which like all other rights, according to the self-appointed Bainimarama government, is protected Issue 14 | July/August 2014

WEST PAPUA

within the 2013 Constitution of the Republic of Fiji.

Therefore, it would appear embarrassing and contradictory if state authorities were to arrest Fijians for expressing their Melanesian concern for the killings and abuse of West Papuans.

The questions continued with me having to reveal my travelling plans for the following week. My response was simple: “I will be working. I will be busy in Suva, Fiji.”

As the conversation ensued, I asked why my location was so important to them. The officer paused, then said: “The President of Indonesia will be in Nadi next week. It would be wise for you not to make any trips to Nadi.”

It was obvious they were anticipating protests and were hoping to intimidate and clamp down on any possible expression of concern for West Papua.

The long conversation eventually became cordial as I explained to him there was nothing hidden about the cause for freedom of West Papuans and information on it was widely available online. An hour or so after that conversation, the CID officer called again and asked about a video posted on Youtube by Repúblika in March featuring the release of Seru Serevi’s song for West Papuan freedom, Rise Morning Star.

(4See the Youtube video here: bit.ly/1oEm941 ) I explained that I was at the song release, an event that was also reported in the media. At this point I emphasised again that there was nothing secretive or sinister about the cause for West Papua and suggested the alarmist response that was resulting in arrest threats and deliberate intimidation be reconsidered. The officer became quiet.

I insisted that an open discussion on the matter was better than issuing arrest threats based on very poor intelligence information. Arrests would have been embarrassing since the briefing information gathered was highly inaccurate.

Firstly, there isn’t an outright leader of the West Papua freedom movement in Fiji because as far as I understand it there isn’t one beyond the Facebook group discussions. Secondly, expression of opposition isn’t illegal and neither is the presenting or sharing of petitions.

Gone are the days of having to wait on collective informal gatherings to rally and mobilise people. Nowadays indiIssue 14 | July/August 2014

It is clear that the briefs utilised by the relevant authorities were deliberately exaggerated to necessitate intimidation and arrest threats. viduals are able to mobilise opinions even without having to meet or know one another. Such is the enabling power of information technology, which is harnessed and honed by social media users. I began to wonder how or from whom the information used misleadingly in the CID briefing was sourced.

The exaggeration and misleading insights permeating both these instances is concerning for the credibility and integrity of the authorities involved.

What do these incidents mean?

Indonesia’s chequebook diplomacy Indonesia’s deep pockets coupled with Fiji’s political vulnerability have allowed Indonesia to buy out Fiji’s Melanesian empathy. The close relationship between the two countries is seen from assistance provided for the upcoming general election, the Fiji police and the cultural exchange programmes that seem to persist on an almost regular basis with overzealous media coverage.

As a consequence of this “un-Melanesian” relationship, Indonesia has successfully strangled the Fijian conscience and ultimately continues to weaken the collective Melanesian voice of reason.

Freedom of expression and speech The movement and free speech of Fijians, which has already been curtailed since the establishment of the militarybacked regime, is compounded by Indonesian interests. It seems paradoxical when the interim administration continues to tout, the “protection” of the rights of Fijians, in the heavily exalted constitution and yet its relationship with Indonesia effectively weakens that protection, thereby undermining the course and transition to a parliamentary democracy and free, fair and open elections.

Poor information and intelligence gathering It is clear that the briefs utilised by the relevant authorities were deliberately exaggerated to necessitate intimidation and arrest threats. It reached a point where I realised that the officers involved knew the truth behind the matter, but they had to persist because it was a “bread and butter” issue for them. They needed to answer to the demands coming from the upper echelons of power therefore pressure was on them to “do something”. Those within the upper echelons knew of the close assistance and relationship that Indonesia had already forged with the powers that be, hence the domino effect of having to “do something” eventually propagated itself at the expense of their own integrity and professionalism.

West Papuan freedom Despite these two unnecessary incidents, the cause for West Papuan freedom in my view is gaining momentum. With the proliferation of information many more people around the world are being exposed to vivid images and videos of the gruesome abuses that continue in West Papua.

These two incidents are a reminder of Indonesia’s nervousness and fear of Melanesian solidarity. It is also an indicator of the strength the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) holds and the possibilities it can bring about as a sub-regional group.

As a Fijian, I realise that my country has its fair share of struggles and that our own issues have effectively weakened the greater regional push for justice and freedom of our own brothers and sisters in West Papua. As a Melanesian, my conscience never lets me forget the timeless words of my favourite Melanesian philosopher, Bernard Narokobi, when he said the “Melanesian Voice is meant to be a force for truth. It is meant to give witness to the truth... It is aimed at the good, the beautiful and the just... It is conceived deliberately as a positive, creative and a constructive force.” The truth shall always prevail and it is within this cry, one hopes, that Fiji, Melanesia and the Pacific as a great region, will finally stand for what is just and right for West Papua.

R n Jope Tarai is a graduate student and researcher at the University of the South Pacific at Laucala Campus. facebook.com/republikamag | Repúblika |

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Issue 14 | July/August 2014

salon Cultural stimulus for the curious mind

ELENA BARAVILALA

Stamping her mark

Elena Baravilala scooped the top award of best composition and best music video at the Fiji Performing Rights Association Music Awards.

FACEBOOK.COM/ELENA.BARAVILALA

RepĂşblika

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Repúblika | salon

July/August 2014

Making of a new queen E

FIJI PERFORMING RIGHTS ASSOCIATION/CIMO PHOTOGRAPHY

lena Baravilala scooped two awards at the Fiji Performing Rights Association Music Awards on 27 July. She took the award for best composition for her song titled Tinaqu and best music video for the song Viti.

“Just so very humbled grateful and blessed ...speechless really for scooping two awards...” Baravilala, pictured right, wrote in a Facebook status the day after the awards.

She also thanked the many people who have helped her over the years and those who helped record her work.

Vude queen Laisa Vulakoro, pictured left, told Salon, Elena was reaping the rewards for all her hard work since she came on to the public stage.

“Elena deserves the win. She is such a gifted young lady and very hard working.

“She has stayed true to her music and a style that’s unique. She is not afraid to explore her talent. That’s how she has come up with her own style and it has worked for her. The proof are the two awards.

“I’ve watched her grow as a song writer, performer, singer, grow from strength to strength. She has perservered and now she’s reaping her reward! I congratulate her and I’m so proud of her!”

She made her debut television appearance as a finalist on the Vodafone Make It Count show in 2008.

PHOTOS RICARDO MORRIS

FPRA MUSIC AWARDS 2014 Best Composition Elena Baravilala

Best Music Video Elena Baravilala

Best New Artist Viliame Cokanauto (Kula Kei Uluivuya)

Most Popular Song Viliame Cokanauto

Best English Song Peni Morrison Best Hindi Song Manjeet Milan Best iTaukei Song Kitione Vunisasari

Most Outstanding Song Etonia Lote Snr Best Recording Engineer Manu Railoa Outstanding Service to Fijian Music Tom Mawi republikamagazine.com

International Achievement Rosiloa (pictured above) Hall Of Fame Inductees Ratu Isireli Racule Mr Percy Bucknell Mr Eremasi Tamanisau Snr Sir Joshua Rabukawaqa Dr Manoa Masi Mr Ovini Baleinamau Ratu Manu Korovulavula Mr Waisea Vatuwaqa Mr Timoci Gucake Mr Sakuisa Bulicokocoko

FPRA Music Awards return after 15 years

Etonia Lote Snr recieves his award for most outstanding song from CFL manging director William Parkinson.

Manu Railoa with his sound engineering award.

PHOTOS RICARDO MORRIS

Manjeet Milan receives his best Hindi son award from Shanti Dut editor Nilam Kumar.

Viliame Cokanauto of Kula Kei Uluivuya receives the best new artist award from Laisa Vulakoro.

Viliame Cokanauto also took the most popular song award. He is seen here with Westpac general manager Andrew Hughes, right, and sustainability manager Eseta Nadakuitavuki.

Kitione Vunisasari won best iTaukei song.

A

wards to recognise Fiji’s musicians and composers were revived by the Fiji Performing Rights Association in July, after a lapse of 15 years, at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.

The previous music awards - called the Vakalutuivoce Awards - were held in 1999. It covered work produced up to 1998.

Because of the long gap, FPRA decided to accept for consideration all work produced from 1999 to 2003 for the ‘outstanding service to Fijian music award’ which went to Tom Mawi.

Most outstanding song went to the man behind Voqa ni Delai Dokidoki, Etonia Lote Snr. Popular new group Kula Kei Uluivuya, the people who brought us Eitou Dou ‘Ania, picked up two awards with Viliame Cokanauto being named best new artist and receiving the award for most popular song.

Ten people who have contributed to Fiji’s music development over the years were also inducted to the Hall of Fame.

Each year 10 people will be inducted.

The international achievement award went to Rosiloa.

Knox performed with awardee and renowned jazz musician Tom Mawi.

republikamagazine.com

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Repúblika | salon

July/August 2014

MISS WORLD FIJI

COURTESY FACEBOOK.COM/MISSWORLDFIJI

Top of the catwalk ... Miss World Fiji, Charlene Tafuna’i, centre, with first runner-up Asena Rokotuiwai, right, and second runner-up Vasiti Radekedeke.

FACING PAGE: The winning trio with the ‘A Team’ after the event at the Pearl South Pacific Resort in Pacific Harbour, top. Centre left, Tafuna’i poses for official photographer Jason Chute during the beach beauty competition on Tavarua. Centre right, Tafuna’i and fellow finalists at Kila World adventure park in the lead up to the finals, bottom.

Charlene Tafuna’i is our best hope yet M

iss Charlene Tafuna’i wascrowned Miss World Fiji 2014 at the glamorous final judging event held at the Pearl South Pacific Resort on 26 July.

Chosen from the nine other finalists in a competition that one judge said was “a truly difficult decision because of the high standard of all the contestants,” the 20-year-old student from Nadi, will now represent Fiji at the international Miss World Pageant to be held in London in November.

Organiser and local partner Truman Bradley said the journey was far from over for Tafuna’i.

“We will do all that we can to help

her prepare for the world title. We want her to win, both for herself and for Fiji,” said Bradley.

Judging the event were Lanny Zenga, director of Scouting One Management, one of the world’s top boutique model agencies in New York; Natalie Marletta, general manager, The Pearl South Pacific and Tappoo’s executive director, Kaushal Tappoo.

Winning First Princess and Second Princess were Asena Rokotuiwai and Vasiti Radekedeke respectively. Other prizes were awarded before the final crowning took place, based on judging that took place during the 16 weeks of the competition. These went to Teresia republikamagazine.com

Weeks, who took home the Miss Photogenic award and Asena Rokotuiwai who received the Top Model award. Tafuna’i took the three remaining awards for Beach Beauty, People’s Choice and Best Dressed.

Charlene Tafuna’i shares her thoughts with SALON on her preparations for Miss World and the experiences she’s had so far.

Has your preparations for Miss World finals started?

The preparations have started at full steam and the intensity is only going to increase. We are working on a Beauty

What about your studies? How is that going?

My studies have been going well and that’s thanks to FNU and the entire School of Aviation team at Namaka campus. They have been so supportive of the entire process and allowed me some flexibility. This has definitely given me a chance to practice time management skills, in fact the Monday after crowning I was scheduled to sit an exam, so it was quite a hectic weekend.

What do your school mates think of you?

They’ve been great. My classmates and I are a tight knit group and because we are very close that we have become a defacto family. They were so supportive during the competition, and like a family we try and be there for each other in whatever way we can.

Usually, people associate beauty pageants with just the “beauty” aspect.

However, you are studying aircraft engineering so what do you have to say about women’s abilities?

I’ve always been surrounded and inspired by strong women, and this new role is no different. There is no question that women have made important contributions to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. That being said Miss World allows a platform for issues like these to get addressed. The Beauty With A Purpose charity arm has raised over $200 million dollars for causes around the world, and that is the most integral part of the organisation.

I am in a male-dominated field, so I am not shielded from the fact that gender discrimination is a reality. The late Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai once said ‘The higher you go, the fewer women there are’.That’s our

reality and it’s organisations like Miss World that can raise awareness and hopefully one day our realities change.

What made you want to study aircraft engineering?

I grew up in Nadi, surrounded by the aviation industry, my mum is a purser with Fiji Airways and my dad works for Air Terminal Services so I guess it was in my blood. It’s always been a part of my life, and I’ve developed a real passion for it. I find it absolutely fascinating and it’s a really exciting time in the industry with all the technological changes happening.

Plus you can never have too many Flying Fijians (or Fijians that help with the flying).

What motivated you to join Miss World Fiji?

I had always been interested in auditioning for Miss Fiji, but I never really made a proper plan. The day of the audition I was convinced to give it a try in my flip flops and not a stitch of makeup.

My biggest motivation were my little sisters. I hope to make them proud and make them realise that their voices need to be heard. I wanted to show them that there is this new emerging wealth of opportunities out there just waiting to be seized and explored. I wanted to illustrate to them and every other kid in Fiji that, and I’m paraphrasing the beautiful Lupita Nyang’o here, that no matter where you come from your dreams are valid.

What do your family think of your achievement?

My family is incredible. They were really excited during the whole experience and before crowning they told me that they were proud of me whatever happens which was the greatest feeling.

My parents have been my number one supporters, they bend over backward to help me in whatever way they can. I am so fortunate to be their daughter.

How you are getting on with life in general after being crowned Miss World Fiji?

Life is more busy now and there has been such a wave of support from everywhere. I am so grateful for all the love and well wishes from everyone, and I will work very hard to make Fiji proud. republikamagazine.com

MISSOLOGY.INFO / MISSWORLDFANATIC

with a Purpose project and trying to put together a really special piece and what we are trying to focus on is making sure that I am not only physically, but also mentally and holistically prepared to be in front of a global audience of one billion people and competing against some of the most intelligent, beautiful woman from all over the world. And it will be a huge challenge but I am in great hands - Andhy Blake and Lara Chung and the entire team at F1 and Miss World Fiji have been working so hard to help me prepare and we are all hoping to make Fiji proud.

IN PERSON

Nadi girl to carry flag CHARLENE Sulueti Tafuna’i is a 20-year-old who lives at Votualevu in Nadi. An aircraft maintanence engineering student, Tafuna’i will represent Fiji at the Miss World finals in London in December.

After her crowning, the 20-year-old Samoan with maternal links to Taveuni told the Fiji Times the public support had been outstanding.

“I owe them this crown,” told the Fiji Times.

“The support has been overwhelming and so encouraging. My friends on Facebook, my family who have stood by me through all this - I thank you all.

“I thank the organisers for this opportunity and I pray that I will represent Fiji proudly at the Miss World international pageant in London.”

But it was back to classes at the Fiji National University’s School of Aviation the day after the crowning. For now, Tufana’i’s top focus is on her engineering studies before starting on her ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ project and other Miss World preparations. n

You can vote for the Miss World People’s Choice Award at www.facebook.com/pageantology

Repúblika | salon

July/August 2014

CREATIVE NEW ZEALAND

PAGE 42

Kamali awarded writer’s residency P

acific poet, writer and musician Daren Kamali will undertake a three-month writer’s residency at the University of Iowa from August to November 2014.

Offered in partnership with Creative New Zealand, the residency allows a New Zealand writer to live and work at the University of Iowa in the United States and participate in its International Writing Program.

The first Pacific writer from New Zealand to be awarded the Creative New Zealand/University of Iowa residency, Auckland-based Kamali will use the opportunity to write a collection of Pacific poems to complete his third book Ink Fish Writes Again.

“As an ambassador of contemporary New Zealand Pacific literature I am honoured and excited to bring a different element to the International Writing Program,” says Kamali.

“The residency will give me the space and time to further develop ideas and complete another manuscript. I am also looking forward to connecting with other writers and networks, and sharing

my Pacific knowledge and stories.”

Born in Fiji, Kamali is of Fijian, Wallis and Futuna and Scottish heritage, and moved to New Zealand in 1992.

Kamali’s work is inspired by the Pacific Ocean, particularly drawing on his upbringing in Fiji and New Zealand. Kamali performs his work, fusing chants, melodies, rhymes, spoken word, rap and harmonies in Fijian/Pan-Pacific style.

“We are thrilled that Daren is the first Pacific writer to undertake this residency,” says Creative New Zealand Arts Council Pacific representative Caren Rangi.

“Daren’s unique style of expressing his poetry combined with his Pacific heritage makes him a wonderful voice for New Zealand and the Pacific. We are very proud of him, and look forward to seeing how this experience further inspires and influences his work.”

Kamali has a Bachelor degree in Creative Writing from the Manukau Institute of Technology. He published his first book Tales, Poems and Songs from the Underwater World in 2011. He worked on his second book Squid Out republikamagazine.com

of Water (2014) while the resident writer of the 2012 Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writers’ Residency at the University of Hawai’i. He is the cofounder of the South Auckland Poets Collective and Niu Navigations. He has also been a teacher and mentor to many Pacific writers and artists.

The University of Iowa’s International Writing Program brings together writers from around the world to join the lively literary community on campus.

The annual residency offered by Creative New Zealand and the University is open to both emerging and established writers. Creative New Zealand supports the selected writer’s airfares, accommodation and living expenses for this opportunity. Kamali will travel to Iowa in late August.

Previous recipients of the Residency include: Craig Cliff, Gordon McLauchlan, Vivienne Plumb, James Norcliffe, Penelope Todd, Brian Falkner, Kathy White, David Hill, Lynley Hood and Jeffrey Paparoa Holman. n

CREATIVE NEW ZEALAND

Situated metres from the beautiful beach on Sunset Strip in Sigatoka, the resort offers sweeping sea views all around. The resort has spacious villas named and decorated in tribute to the ships that shaped Fiji’s history. Crow’s Nest offers a variety of accommodation, including self-contained rooms. The seagoing theme extends to the pool, a binnacle and brass-bedecked museum of bluewater relics from Fiji’s old whalers and sailors.

Tel: 650 0230 Fax: 652 0354 Email: crowsnest@connect.com.fj

www.crowsnestresortfiji.com

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Issue 14 | July/August 2014

facebook.com/republikamag | RepĂşblika |

45

thelastword Comment is free*

By ASHFAAQ HASAN KHAN

T

his year political correctness finally went mad. Really mad.

People got angry with the whole kerosene and water comment by Ratu Timoci Vesikula with the Media Industry Development Authority (MIDA), the media watchdog sniffing around and barking. Political correctness got hardcore.

Berating people for revealing private prejudices in public, for picking on someone less than their own size, for making outof-order gags, PC became so central to the nation’s conversation with itself that I just had to write about it.

To be honest, I found it all quite exciting. A tussle is always fun and it seems as though this tussle, this argy-bargy, about how we treat each other, the terms that we use, how we acknowledge (or don’t) the differences between us, is one that is of the moment and, for this moment, up for grabs.

In this day and age, at the height of Bainimaramaism (the antonym being Frankism) being politically correct – being “sound” – is all-important to anyone young, and not in a position of power.

Political correctness is very serious. It doesn’t do jokes. It agrees political motions, usually after hours of grim huffing.

And it came wrapped in a peculiarly Fijian social anxiety. As a politically correct person, what you really don’t want to do was offend anyone, especially those who had it tougher than you.

46

| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com

We now have to be so careful of what we say. My grandfather used to say that there is a fine line between right and wrong and the measure of a man (person … ahem!) came from where he (she) drew the line. What seriously grinds my gears is that we are being swindled into a society in which politicians have taken the role of ideology police.

How free am I to speak my mind?

How free are you to make your own

conclusions on a presented idea? These are some questions that we need to ask ourselves. I understand words have the power to majorly hurt people’s sentiments but a good critic is an essential part of self-actualisation. Think about it.

The whole world can think that you are a presumptuous pr**k without you ever knowing it until someone comes out and says it to your face.

We could argue all day about the definition of political correctness but I have tried to summaries the impact it is having on us as a society: 1) Doing the reverse of what common sense would suggest;

2) Inconveniencing the innocent while making life easier for the wrong do-er; 3) Not telling the truth in case it offends; 4) Changing the language where you perceive it may offend; 5) Doing exactly the opposite of what you preach; 6) What you do has the effect of making the problem you were trying to cure far worse; and, 7) Doing ridiculous things just for a political reason.

The PC brigade would obviously have other terms for these but let us stick to the practical effects of their actions, not their perceived ones: “Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.” (Chet Beates, definition of Political Correctness used in Son of a Gun : The Life and Times of a Lifer Brat (2007), p. 209. Attributed to a student at Texas A&M University pre-2006) Why on earth should we decimate our heritage just to satisfy the ideology police of the PC brigade? It again smacks of the rewriting of history that takes place in all oppressive and totalitarian societies. I thought we were supposed to R be a free society with free speech.

n Ashfaaq Khan is a freelance writer and a

filmmaker. He likes to write political satire and make films that are entertaining and educational.

He is married with one child.

Issue 14 | July/August 2014

*But facts are sacred. ~ CP Scott

How free am I to speak my mind?

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