Croz Walsh's Blog -- New Zealand and Fiji: How Much Fairer They Could Be

History is Made at the Jittu Estate
While history is made every day, a special history was made on Thursday. It only directly affected a few people but it changed their lives, and showed what can be done, and what will be done in future to the benefit of far more people, when government, a city council, and local and overseas non-government organizations work together, and in this respect it signalled a new direction, a new commitment — and a political will that had been lacking before.
I won't anticipate the PM's speech at the opening of the Lagilagi project in Jittu Estate, Suva, but some background may further show why it was significant. I researched urban squatting in the mid 1970s and Jittu was one of a dozen or so settlements I studied in the Greater Suva Urban Area. Fr Kevin Barr, among others, will know far more about more recent developments.
If my memory serves me right, the Jittu brothers emigrated to Canada in the 1960s, leaving a manager to collect rent from the &…

Marketing  FijiI have a suggestion to all sporting bodies, business delegations, religious delegations, and other groups going overseas.
How about taking a few cartons of Fiji water to quench your thirst with. No doubt there will be photo sessions that will go on to the Internet and the world wide web.

And if you are holding a bottle in your hand, you will be doing some marketing while you do your own thing.

How about the Fiji 7s team, can they use Fiji water to quench their thirst and of course the pictures will be televised all over the world.

And remember the slogan - the best water in the world!

No Longer Crime Free
There has been a rise in car thefts in Lautoka. I don't know about the other centres but the feeling is that  all the car thieves have converged in Lautoka.  Anyway, I wonder what it is that makes Lautoka such a lucrative place for this activity? I remember in the not to distant past, Lautoka had a thriving car theft racket. Somehow, something is not ringing right. But…

Commodore J. V. Bainimarama, CF(Mil), OSt.J, MSD, jssc, psc
Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics, Public Service, Peoples Charter for Change and Progress, Information, iTaukei Affairs, Sugar Industry and Lands and Mineral Resources

2014 NATIONAL BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENT

FRA Complex Fri. 8th Nov, 2013 SUVA 10.00 Hours

Cabinet ministers; Your Excellencies; Members of the Diplomatic Corps; Distinguished Guests; My fellow Fijians:
It is my task today as your Prime Minister and Minister for Finance to present to you the 2014 budget.
Next year will go down in our history as the year that Fiji first embraced genuine parliamentary democracy and set a new constitutional course towards a brighter future for every Fijian. It will mark the culmination of my Government’s efforts to put in place changes that will yield long-term benefits for Fiji and all Fijians.
We have a new Constitution to guide us, one that will allow Fiji to prosper as…