the jet volume 4 number 7

For daily updates click www.thejetnewspaper.com tomorrow’s news todayIssue: 35 MAY 25, 2012 PRICE: 50 CENTS VIP

Wings of HopeAir Pacific partners with FRIEND to provide scholarships to students

By RANBEER SINGHof FRIEND

Tuvu, Lautoka, Fiji Is-lands. Fiji’s national carrier, Air Pacific under its auspices of Wings of Hope program has generously contributed towards FRIEND’s SAHARA educational assistance pro-gram, donating seventy thou-sand dollars, taking the total financial contribution towards the project this year to one hundred thousand dollars.

Last month, Air Pacific’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Dave Pflieger handed a cheque of thirty thousand dollars to FRIEND Founder and Direc-tor Sashi Kiran for its educa-tional program.

FRIEND management was pleasantly surprised when the airline offered additional $70,000 towards the scholar-ship scheme. The CEO and his team visited FRIEND to han-dover the additional cheque in the presence of school head teachers from neighbouring beneficiary schools. FRIEND expressed its sincere most gratitude to Air Pacific Lim-ited for their concern and care shown towards the children of Fiji through its Wings of Hope program.

“The additional dona-tion of $70,000 by the airline shows confidence in the ac-countability and credibility of FRIEND which exists to serve the underserved, assist-ing them to step out of pov-erty,” said Kiran.

“Since the beginning of

this year our outreach teams have seen desperation among families seeking support towards education of their children after the devastation caused by the floods.

“The initial $30,000 has supported children go back to school relieving their parents and guardians from a heavy burden. This enormous ges-ture would assist many more children around the country including the Northern Divi-sion to benefit from our schol-arship program.

“On behalf of the children of Fiji a big vinaka vakalevu to the visitors to our shores for contributing their change to the children of Fiji and a huge dhanyvaad to the Air Pacific management for having faith in FRIEND and donating the amount through FRIEND to the children of Fiji.

“We look forward to an ongoing partnership between Air Pacific and the SAHARA scholarship in years to come to support the education of our future leaders,” Kiran added.

At the cheque presentation ceremony at FRIEND Head Office, Air Pacific Manag-ing Director and CEO Dave Pflieger commended the NGO for its outstanding work in the community.

“That’s why we’re mak-ing an additional donation to FRIEND to continue its scholarship programs for children from flood-affected communities and those who need it the most,” he told staff and the board of FRIEND, and representatives of Ravi-

ravi Sangam and Drasa Sec-ondary schools.

“As we said last month, it’s an honour and a privi-lege for the employees of Air

Pacific to be able to assist in such a cause. I must thank Air Pacific staff and airline customers for their contribu-tions to the Wings of Hope

charity chest. It really is the compassion and generosity of our customers that has made this contribution possible.”

The Air Pacific team ac-

companied by FRIEND treasurer and board member Philip Gock also toured both Raviravi Sangam and Drasa Secondary Schools.

Students of Raviravi Sangam School take a picture with Air Pacific MD and CEO David Pflieger Jr and headteacher Angili Devi Ratnam. INSET:

FRIEND director Sashi Kiran with Mr Pflieger. Photos: FRIEND.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 2

OPPORTUNITIES

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

“Fiji - the way the world should be”“ Being the hub of the Pacific, Fiji has everything that a spectacular tropical paradise has to offer - from private island resort accommodations, top class restaurants to white sandy beaches, inbound tours, jet boat rides, hot air balloon rides, mountain trekking, inland tours, eco tourism, sky diving, helicopter rides, cruise trips, scuba diving, massage and beauty parlours, vibrant night life and a lot more than any other

destination in the world offers ”

THE JET is Fiji’s first community newspaper published monthlyby SHAMBU ADVERTISING from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.PUBLISHER : SHALENDRA PRASAD Cell: 9232073PHONE OFFICE : (679) 6264424 / 6708188 FAX : (679) 6728353EMAIL : [email protected] : [email protected]

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LAYOUT BY SHALENDRA PRASAD. PRINTED BY MAX MARKETING LTD.

COMMUNITY NOTICE BOARDPACIFIC COUNSELLING AND SOCIAL SERVICES provides private, confidential

counselling on depression, family/marital, stress, grief, abuse, suicidal thoughts, STI’s, drugs, alcohol & be-havior lifestyle changes. Opens 8am – 3pm, Monday – Friday. Call us on 6708169 Located at Nadi old hospital

road.

ROTARY CLUB OF NADI is currently on a membership drive to increase members who represent all sections of the community. Nadi Rotar-ians meet every Wednesday at Sitar Restaurant in Martintar

at 6.30pm. Interested people can call club treasurer Krupesh Patel

on 6700478

SOROPTIMIST INTER-NATIONAL is a vibrant, dynamic organisation for today’s professional and busi-ness women, working through projects to promote equality, development and peace. We are seeking members to join our club. Interested ladies can call SI Nadi president Irene

Chand on 9921090

FIJIAN WRITERS ASSO-CIATION which has been recently established to form the first ever formal body rep-resenting writers, poets, jour-nalists and everyone who has a passion for writing is seek-ing new members. Interested people can contact Professor

Subramani via email:- [email protected]

Mother’s day at the Golden Age HomeSunday 13th of May

marked mother’s day and the mother’s at the Golden Age Home were not forgot-ten. Two families from Mel-bourne Australia, Rotary Club of Lautoka , Art of Liv-ing of Lautoka together with the Board of Visitors made special efforts in making the mother’s day memorable for the mother’s at the Home in Natabua, Lautoka.

To mark this special day the residents at home were treated with morning tea sponsored by Vinita Khan and Kamlesh Singh of Mel-bourne Australia who do-nated AUD $160.00 towards this occasion. The President of Rotary Club of Lautoka, Rick Eyre with other Rotar-ians personally handed over gift packs to all mothers and the members of Art of Living, Lautoka gifted the father’s at the Home as well. The home was also decorated by mem-bers of Rotary Club and the

By RAJNEESH LATAof The Golden Age Home

Board of Visitors.The residents were over-

whelmed by the love, com-panionship and the special treatment they received. This occasion also brought back to them some old memories as most mothers could not hold back their tears as the formal-ities began.

Last month on Saturday 7th April the Board of Visi-tors also treated the residents for Easter with Easter tea. The Board of Visitors to-gether with the Management celebrates all special occa-sions with the residents. The management also celebrates the birthdays collectively on a monthly basis for all resi-dents. This small act of kind-ness goes a long way in mak-ing the residents feel special and wanted.

The Home has many over-seas based friends who keep sending varieties of things for the residents. One such organization is Sydney Ma-hila Mandal. They have sent 6 Boxed LARGE Jig Saw puzzles, 4 LARGE Jig Saw

puzzles, 1 Boxed Checkers game, 6 DVD’S, 7 Packets playing cards, 4 pack puzzle cube, 20 Women’s warm shoes, 1 Men’s warm shoes, 9 Women’s Nighties, 4 Men’s Pajamas, 16 pairs of Women’s Socks, 20 pairs Men’s socks, 3 Leggings, 2 Shirts, 6 T/ Shirts, 3 Beanies, 1 Scarf, 2

Towels, 15 Ladies underwear; 3 Men’s underwear; 6 Combs and 3 Hair clips for the resi-dents.

The Board of Visitors has recently engaged services of a Volunteer worker to provide the much needed companion-ship and engaging the resi-dents into various activities.

Rotary Club of Lautoka president Rick Eyre with residents of the home. BELOW: Donors with residents during moth-

ers day. Photos: RAJNEESH CHARAN.

Bollywood cashes in on foreign subsidies, cut production cost

Countries offer discounts on filming in their land to promote tourism, attract more foreign tourist

You might have been mesmerised by Prague after watching it in Bollywood flick Rockstar or by the bylanes of Berlin in Don 2. Most tourism boards are increasingly pitching for loca-tions to producers and directors in India by offering subsidies, which can bear almost 40 per cent cost of a film.

“These incentives range from tax rebate, free stays, visa fa-cilitation, and in certain cases, they even bear the cost of pro-duction. Cashing on the foreign government subsidies, produc-tion houses are now trying to film in exotic locales and in some cases, even alter the script to avail of this,” says Karan Aro-ra, co-founder and chief executive, High Ground Enterprise, which deals in film production and does consultancy work with foreign governments on these issues.

Eros International has already scheduled the shooting of its two films in Fiji. The Fiji government recently announced it would offer 47 per cent of the production cost for films being shot there. “3G, staring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan, has already gone on floor. It’s a psychological thriller that re-volves around the 3G spectrum scandal,” said an official from Eros.

Tourism boards of many countries, such as Switzerland and UK, have offered benefits but the trend has taken off in a big way now. Aditya Chopra’s Ek Tha Tiger, starring Salman Khan, will be shot in five different countries, including Ireland and South Africa, while Housefull 2 was shot in Thailand and Imran Khan starrer Ek Main Aur Ek Tu was shot in the USA.

According to industry officials, Don 2, which was filmed in Germany, got subsidy between Rs 20-25 crore from the Ger-man government, Ra.One got a subsidy of Rs 30 crore and Desi Boyz got about Rs 5 crore as subsidy from the UK government.

Trade analysts agree it works out cheaper to take the cast and crew to foreign locations. The entire film is completed in a single schedule.

Most countries offer tax sops in the form of VAT refund, 10-20 per cent, depending on the location and the amount of bud-get spent on the location. South Africa gives 30 per cent and Australia offers about 40 per cent, with additional incentives from individual states like Queensland. The French govern-ment has set up Film France to attract international film shoots and it offers incentives such as refund of VAT on shoots by foreign film crews. New Zealand inked a co-production treaty with India in June 2011 in an attempt to gain from the Bolly-wood market, after realising the benefits derived from various Bollywood films shot there.

Further, Spain and India are close to signing an agreement that would facilitate and promote co-productions. “We offer up to 20 per cent rebate to filmmakers on their payments, to both individuals and companies,” said Radka Neumannova, India director of Czech Tourism, as she stresses on the need to make the Czech Republic visible through Bollywood films.

All this is a small price to pay for the huge benefits that ac-crue from it. Countries are realising what films can do as they showcase their locations as per the script, which in turn lead to tourist inflow in those countries.

After Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, the influx of Indian tour-ists to Spain increased to 32 per cent. “To turn this into an ad-vantage, to increase the number of tourists and to keep the des-tinations’ name alive through continuous promotion, depends on many other factors. It is a great way to promote the country as movies are the most important form of entertainment in In-dia. It strikes a chord with the movie buffs depending on how the location is featured in the movie,” Rakesh Jariwala, partner and segment champion (film entertainment), Ernst & Young.

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LOCAL NEWS

Former Nadi resident continues to help studentsBy RINIKA PRAKASH

From left are Jitend (President of Korovuto College/ PrimarySchool), Pusp Raj (SFA Rep), Sanjesh (Principal), Hem Raj (SFA Rep), Gyan Chand Prasad (SFA Rep).

Former Nadi resident Dr Kamlesh Sharma who is also a trustee of the Sugar Festi-val Association has donated $10,000.00 to assist victims of the recent floods.

While this is not the first time the Canberra based phi-lanthropist has assisted the lo-cal community with his gen-erosity, the major focus for this visionary man remains with the development of edu-cation.

Sugar Festival Association administrator Anita Raj told The Jet that they have com-menced with the assistance work already.

“We have already donated the school uniforms to fifty-

three flood affected students of Korovuto College and Pri-mary schools based in Nadi,” Mrs Raj informed.

She said the cost for the uniforms was around one thousand dollars.

“The Association is now in the process of distributing food packs and more particu-larly non perishable items to Lautoka and Nadi areas.

“Our heartfelt thanks to Dr Kamlesh Sharma for assisting the people of Fiji via Sugar Festival Association,” Mrs Raj concluded.

Meanwhile the 51st Sugar Festival will be held at Lauto-ka’s Churchill Park from July 21-28 and major sponsors are yet to be announced.

Rotarians Ajay Raniga and Krupesh Patel seen distributing flood relief items to a flood victim in Nadi. The two had also suffered badly during the recent floods with major losses

to their properties but that did not deter them from reaching out to those in need.Rotary Club assists

By RINIKA PRAKASHThe Rotary club of Nadi

organized a flood relief cam-paign in which they assisted hundreds of people affected by the recent floods in Nadi.

The club had distributed five hundred food parcels worth sixty dollars each, five hundred boxes of water, and close to fifty mattresses to those in need.

“Ten emergency kits were given to families who had lost everything in the flood. Each kit was worth $1000,” in-formed Sanjit Patel, president of the Rotary Club of Nadi.

Mr Patel said the club had worked closely with DIS-MAC during the distribution of rations. The areas covered were Sabeto, Nawaka, Na-vakai, Nakurakura and Qele-loa.

“Donations were received from the New Zealand Rotary Clubs, and various organi-zations. The Bank of South

Pacific (BSP) had donated $5000.”

Mr Patel also thanked ev-eryone who donated during these hard times and those who had helped out with the flood relief distribution.

“At the moment our main focus now is school children. We are providing lunch par-cels to Nadi Muslim School students.”

The club is also working on an educational assistance program whereby families

will be able to identify and sponsor a needy child for their complete educational

needs from primary to tertiary level depending on the prog-ress of the child.

Sanjit Patel

ANZ opens first water

proof branchANZ has reopened its branch

in Nadi which was com-pletely destroyed in the March floods. The state-of-the-art ‘waterproof design’ branch, underlines ANZ’s commitment to providing convenient banking ser-vices to its customers.

Head of Retail Banking Fiji, Graham Meecham, said: “ANZ is optimistic about recovery prospects in the Western division.”

“The town of Nadi is a criti-cal hub as the gateway to Fiji and the focal point of onshore and offshore re-sorts and other major busi-nesses, so it was important to ensure that our branch was quickly reopened so that customers weren’t in-convenienced by travelling to our Namaka branch.”

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AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMA’AT FIJI MONTHLY FEATURE

World Muslim Leader advises President Obama

16 Gressenhall RoadSouth elds, LondonSW18 5QL, UK

President Barack ObamaPresident of the United States of AmericaThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington D.C.

8 March 2012

Dear Mr President,

In light of the perturbing state of affairs developing in the world, I felt that it was necessary for me to write to you, as you are the Presi-dent of the United States of America, a country which is a world superpower, and thus you hold the authority

to make decisions which will affect the future of your na-tion and the world at large.

There is currently great agitation and restlessness in the world. Small-scale wars have broken out in certain areas. Unfortunately, the su-perpowers have not been as successful as was anticipated in their efforts to establish peace in these con ict-hit regions. Globally, we nd that almost every country is engaged in activities to ei-ther support, or oppose other countries; however, the re-quirements of justice are not being ful lled. It is with re-gret that if we now observe the current circumstances of the world, we nd that the foundation for another world war has already been laid.

As so many countries,

both large and small, have nuclear weapons, grudg-es and hostilities are in-creasing between nations.

In such a predicament, the Third World War looms almost certainly before us. Such a war would surely in-volve atomic warfare; and therefore, we are witnessing the world head towards a ter-rifying destruction. If a path of equity and justice had been followed after the Second World War, we would not be witnessing the current state of the world today whereby it has become engulfed in the ames of war once again.

As we are all aware, the main causes that led to the Second World War were the failure of League of Na-tions and the economic crisis, which began in 1932. Today, leading economists state that there are numerous parallels between the current economic crisis and that of 1932. We observe that political and eco-nomic problems have once again led to wars between smaller nations, and to inter-nal discord and discontent-ment becoming rife within these countries. This will ul-timately result in certain pow-ers emerging to the helm of government, who will lead us to a world war. If in the small-er countries con icts cannot be resolved through politics or diplomacy, it will lead to new blocs and groupings to form in the world. This will be the precursor for the outbreak of a Third World War. Hence, I believe that now, rather than focusing on the progress of the world, it is more impor-tant and indeed essential, that we urgently increase our ef-forts to save the world from this destruction. There is an urgent need for mankind to recognise its One God, Who is our Creator, as this is the only guarantor for the surviv-al of humanity; otherwise, the world will continue to rapidly head towards self-destruction.

My request to you, and indeed to all world leaders, is that instead of using force to suppress other nations, use diplomacy, dialogue and wis-dom. The major powers of the world, such as the United States, should play their role towards establishing peace. They should not use the acts of smaller countries as a pre-text to disturb world harmony. Currently, nuclear arms are not only possessed by the United States and other major powers; rather, even relative-ly smaller countries now pos-sess such weapons of mass destruction, where those who are in power are often trigger-happy leaders who act with-out thought or consideration. Thus, it is my humble request to you to strive to your ut-most to prevent the major and minor powers from erupt-ing into a Third World War. There should be no doubt in our minds that if we fail in this task then the effects and aftermath of such a war will not be limited to only the poor countries of Asia, Europe and the Americas; rather, our fu-ture generations will have to bear the horri c consequenc-es of our actions and children everywhere in the world will be born disabled or deformed. They will never forgive their elders who led the world to a global catastrophe. In-stead of being concerned for only our vested interests, we should consider our coming generations and strive to cre-ate a brighter future for them. May God the Exalted enable you, and all world leaders, to comprehend this message.

Yours Sincerely,Mirza Masroor AhmadKhalifatul Masih VHead of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Com-munity

Humanity First stamps it’s mark in FijiHumanity First is a chari-

table organisation regis-tered in 34 countries across 6 continents. Over 93% of donated funds are spent directly on aid projects.

Humanity First NZ in con-junction with Majlis Khud-damul Ahmadiyya Fiji, the Youth wing of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community pro-vided cooked foods, 120 mat-tressess, 30 grocery packs 1.2tons of clothing, 1000 ex-ercise books and stationer-ies to the ood victims and assistance to the members of the community who were devastated by the recent ood that hit the Western Region.

The President of the Ma-jlis Khuddamul Ahmadi-yya Fiji Mr Ashfaaq Ah- mad Khan said in his stat-ment that they visited the DISMAC of ce in Nadi and enquired about the peo-ple who needed food and other items urgently and

where no other NGO’s had reached yet for assistance. The MKA Fiji was advised to visit Qina settlement, K o ro m a k a w a , K e re b u l a and Nawaka settlement in Nadi. The MKA Fiji with the help of “Lajna Imaillah” (ladies section) went house to house meeting with the affected ladies and provided them help and support. The Khuddam and Atfal (Children) also made house visits and spent time listening to the ordeals of the ood striken families and expressed their sym-pathies and offered advice and assistance as necessary.

MKA Fiji and Human-ty First (NZ) believes that ‘Service to Mankind is Service to God’ and it hopes to continue with its efforts in helping, supporting and providing relief in what-ever way it can to the disas-ter stricken people of Fiji.

Religious Education Class

For more than one hundred years the Ahmadiyya Mus-lim community has been leading a peaceful revival of Is-lam. From the time it was founded in India in 1889 it has enjoyed an unrivalled record for peace and for its efforts to build cohesive societies. A community that stands for educa-tion, integration and interfaith peace. We believe that Islam, which was established over 1,400 years ago by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), is a uni-versal religion of peace, with a simple but perfect message for mankind to develop and maintain a living relationship with a living God and to live in perfect harmony with all.

Since the founder’s demise in 1908 we have been led by a series of Caliphs or spiritual leaders, the present being His Holiness Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad; this form of global leadership is another distinctive feature of this community.

He continues to relay the message of peace to the cor-ners of the earth, a message that has been re ected in action by the community through humanitarian ef-forts by men, women and the youth of the community.

In fact the members of the community willingly give time and money for relief work even in the remote parts of the globe, to help those in need regardless of creed or colour. In essence “Love for All, Hatred for None” is the unique banner upheld by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and a message that we believe is-the basis for lasting peace.

Introduction to Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

The Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Fiji conducted their quarterly Tarbiyyati Class at the Aqsa Mosque Nadi, Nasir Mosque Labasa and Fazle Umar Mosque Suva from the 7th to the 11th of May 2012. The young boys classi ed as the Atfalul Ahmadiyya together with the members of the Khuddamul Ahmadiyya took part in these blessed days of learning the Holy Quran, emphasizing on the correct pronunciation of the Holy Verses and re ect-

ing on the History of early Islam and Ahmadiyyat.

A total of 30 members took part in the workshop at dif-ferent centres Fiji-wide. The classes were conducted by the Missionaries of the Ahmadi-yya Muslim Commuity in their respective regions in the west, north and central. The students also engaged them-selves in sports like soccer and cricket daily. The classes was organised to instill spritu-al, moral, social and cultural values in members.

www.alislam.org

Log on to Our International

Website

Email Address: amj [email protected]

Ph: 3382221 Fax: 3370471

Layout By: Munauwar Khan

Humanity First volunteers getting ready for distribution of essential ood relief items at Aqsa Mosque in Nadi after the devastating oods recently.



LOCAL NEWS

Major boost for Sangam Foundation

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation chairman Lionel Yee hands over a cheque of $40,000 to Sangam Foundation members. From left are TISI Sangam secretary general Damend

Gounder, TISI Sangam national president Sadasivan Naicker, Sangam Foundation chair-man Praveen Bala, Sangam executive officer Jagannath Sami and foundation vice-chair-

man Wella Pillay. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

The Sangam Foundation has received a major boost in its efforts to reach out to those in need following a donation of $40,000 from the Vodafone ATH Foundation last month.

According to TISI Sangam secretary general Damend Gounder, the Sangam Founda-tion was formed in 2007 with a clear objective of assisting members of the community and students in need of support to enhance their livelihoods.

“Sangam Foundation was formed to give a better life to those in need,” Mr Gounder said during the handing-over function at Tanoa International Hotel.

Mr Gounder said since its inception, the Sangam Founda-tion has embarked into various community and self develop-ment programs such as helping students and providing relief assistance to people affected by natural disasters.

“Earlier this year we have seen the establishment of our first nursery in Nadi with an aim to support food security

to the greater community by supplying seedlings to schools and farmers. This will ensure a good supply of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables for the community,” Mr Gounder added.

He said although the San-gam Foundation is an offshoot of TISI Sangam which was formed in 1936 to safeguard and promote the interest and culture of the South Indians whose ancestors first arrived in the country under the Girmit system in 1903, the foundation has clear objectives of serving the community for the better-ment of everyone without any hidden agendas and is therefore available to assist every com-munity in the country.

“Members of the foundation have made a pledge to donate $10 a month for the next ten-years and we are also getting a lot of support from members who have migrated and want to give something back to the country of their birth,” Mr Gounder added.

“During the recent floods, we provided 1000 grocery

packs which reached to almost 4000 people and in the second phase we reached out to 1000 students with educational assis-tance such as bags and books in affected areas.

“Under our food sustain-ability program, we have al-most 50,000 seedlings ready for distribution to schools and identified farmers and the time-ly donation from the Vodafone ATH Foundation will enable us to carry on with the good work without any hindrances.”

Vodafone ATH Foundation chairman Lioneel Yee while handing over the cheque of $40,000 commended the San-gam Foundation for reaching out to those in need.

“We are not just writing a cheque to you but creating a new partnership which will en-hance the livelihoods of thou-sands of people,” Mr Yee said.

He said the Vodafone ATH Foundation will continue to support such initiatives in the future and is looking forward to a long-term partnership with organizations such as the San-gam Foundation.

Bank of Baroda staff make a differenceA group of staff from Bank of Bar-

oda Suva were recently in Nadi to distribute flood relief items in Nadi.

The staff took an early morning ride from Suva to Nadi to assist families which were unable to get rations from other agencies.

“Baroda staff brought hundred parcels of food and clothing which were given out to those in need,” said Mr Prem Singh who volunteered to go around with the donors.

Baroda staff with some of the victims in Qeleloa, Nadi. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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LOCAL NEWS

Following a public call for tenders Nadraki Weather, in partnership with inde-pendent consultants Mr Atu Kaloumaira and Mr Bikenibeu Paeniu, have been selected to undertake this review. The review commenced on 14th May and will conclude on 18th June, 2012 with a report presented to the Fijian Government.

The review process will consider past reviews of FMS as well as looking at present and future needs for weather and climate services, and provide the Fijian Government with recommendations for an optimal organisational structural path for the dual provisions of weather and climate services in Fiji in to the future. This review will also consider FMS’s current regional responsi-bilities, and will incorpo-rate the views of all stake-holders both locally and around the region.

In this context, the consul-tants welcome construc-tive input from the pub-lic, and invite citizens, residents businesses and investors in Fiji, with an interest in weather servic-es here, to provide written submissions if they wish. Submissions can be sent to the consultants by email to [email protected] or by regular mail to FMS Review, PO Box 19231, Suva.

Submissions must reach the consultants before 10th June, 2012 to be consid-ered as part of the review.

Weather office under Govt radar

By MINFOBy RINIKA PRAKASH

By VISHVA HINDU PARISHAD (Fiji)

By RITESH SHARMASavunawai Neighbourhood

Votualevu residents take matters in their own handsSavunawai Stage 1 Vo-

tualevu Nadi Neighborhood Committee has its general aim of helping people and caring for them.

Various community works has been taken by the com-mittee in conjunction with Savunawai Novjyoti Rama-yan Kirtan Mandali.

Community Care such as helping people with food items, giving cash to needy, erecting neighborhood watch

signs and helping each other is part of the initiatives.

In recent floods the com-mittee and one of our member Mr. Raj Prasad, the Manager of Solomon Airlines with as-sistance from Humdard In-corporation assisted approxi-mately 1,500 flood victims with food items.

Furthermore, in Savu-nawai the Driu & Koroitama-na street tar-sealed roads were filled with gravels by the Sa-vunawai Care Committee to protect damages to vehicles.

The committee has on sev-

eral occasions requested the Nadi Town Councils support and assistance in maintaining the roads, drains and solution for stray dogs but is still wait-ing to get a response from them.

At the moment critical positions of drains are col-lapsing and in risk of getting further damaged.

We specially thank our members Bhan Prakash, Vi-kash Sharma, Raj Prasad, Sharnil Dutt, Vipin and S. N. Sharma for their continued support and hard work.

Residents filling up the potholes with gravel. Photo: RAJ PRASAD.

Sirens to be installed in NadiAn early warning siren

system will soon be installed in Nadi to warn people well before any flood or tsunami occurs.

Commissioner Western Commander Joeli Cawaki (pictured) said that this was part of the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan for Nadi.

Commander Cawaki in-

formed that both Vodafone and Digicel platforms will be used to trigger the alarm for this siren during natural di-sasters.

“We live in a world of technology and that’s why we have these two big companies on board to help us to send out alerts of flood or tsunami warnings,” said Cawaki dur-ing a meeting with various stakeholders in Nadi.

“The benefit of the siren will be that people will be well informed before a flood happens.”

Commander Cawaki also mentioned that in the March floods, the water levels rose during the night and people did not have any prior warn-ing.

“Having a siren would mean fewer damages and fewer casualties.”

According to Vinesh Ku-mar, project manager of Nadi River Basin Integrated Wa-ter Resource Management project, two sirens will be installed, that is one at Sikit-uru Village in Narewa and the other at a suitable location in Nadi Town.

“The sirens are being cur-rently tested in New Zealand and should be in the country soon,” Mr Kumar said.

Shree Sanatan Dharm Auckland Sabha helps flood victims

A generous sum of $7,025 was received by Vishva Hin-du Parishad (Fiji) from Shree Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha Auckland 2008 Incor-porated from New Zealand through their President Pun-dit Sunil Sharma on April 30.

The sum was handed over personally to the President of VHP (Fiji) Jay Dayal and his other members in Ba.

The donation came at a

time when VHP (Fiji) was planning to assist mainly school children that are in need of food and other forms of assistance. The sum will also be used to assist flood stricken families in other dis-tricts.

Pundit Sunil Sharma, President of the Auckland based Hindu organization, said that he was very pleased with the noble and commend-able efforts of VHP (Fiji) and thought to be a part of the extensive relief work being

carried out. He also pledged future support to VHP (Fiji) through both financial and other means.

So far, VHP (Fiji) has as-sisted more than 2,000 people during the flood with 1,000 school children and fed up to 8,000 people and also had a free medical camp on Satur-day, April 21 in Ba.

It is now working with farmers to assist with their farming needs so they have a sustainable income. VHP (Fiji) has written to aid donors

for its intended farm rehabili-tation project funding which

aims to help over a thousand farmers.

VHP Fiji president Jay Dayal, third from left, receives the timely donation from Auckland Sanatan.



MANA ISLAND RESORT & SPA

MANA Island Resort and Spa turns 40 Mana Island Resort & Spa

located in the Mamanuca Group has come a long way from its humble beginning in 1972.

Managing director Take-hiro Nishida said in so many ways, Mana Island Resort and Spa was an icon of the posi-tive changes that have taken place in Fiji in the last four decades.

"Initially we had a plan-ning of around a 100 job op-eration, now we have 300 em-ployees and we would be one of the biggest employers for landowning unit in the Ma-manuca region," Mr Nishida said during the official open-ing of their new state-of-the-

art conference centre earlier this month.

"In the last 40 years we have done many develop-ments in ensuring the services and quality of our product that has increased our market share in our tourism sector and thus contributing a great deal to the economy of Fiji."

Apart from its success in the tourist market, the resort has also become a pioneer in marine conservation.

The four-star resort has become a turtle sanctuary and holds daily programs of coral replanting for its guests. Min-ister for Local Government, Urban Development, Hous-ing and Environment Colonel

Samuela Saumatua also paid tribute to the resort's achieve-ments.

Col. Saumatua said the re-sort had gone through a lot of developments and improve-ments for the past 40 years.

"Mana Island Resort had developed and improved a lot in terms of its operations, ac-commodation capacity, provi-sion of service and most im-portantly revenue generation.

"All these were done amongst the clawing fin-gers of political turmoil and economic downturn which brought about financial diffi-culties to the business entities in the tourism industry," said Col. Saumatua.

Tui Lawa Ratu Sevanaia Vatunitu, Colonel Samuela Saumatua and Mr Takehiro Nishida officially open the new conference centre. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

The management of Mana Island Resort & Spa is the lat-est donors towards the Prime Minister's Flood Relief ap-peal.

The company made a do-nation of $10,000 towards the flood appeal following the opening of their brand new convention centre at the is-land resort on Friday, May 4.

The money was handed

Resort assists flood victimsBy SHALENDRA PRASAD over to the minister of local

government, housing and en-vironment Colonel Samuela Saumatua who was the chief guest at the opening of the new convention centre.

Colonel Saumatua saluted the management of the island resort for their commitments towards the economy and their efforts in trying to bring relief to the recent flood vic-tims.

Mana Island Resort direc-tor of business development

Hiroshi Matsumoto said the money donated was raised by the management and staff of the resort and contributions were also made by guests who wanted to assist the flood vic-tims in their own little way.

"We have also been in-volved in donating goods and clothes to the flood victims in partnership with the Foun-dation for Rural Integrated Enterprise N Development (FRIEND)," Mr Matsumoto informed.

The management of Mana Island handover a $10,000 cheque to Colonel Samuela Sau-matua for the PM’s flood appeal.

Adam and Darin share a light moment during the function.

Mana Island entertainers kept guests busy with their great performances.

Government salutes Mana IslandBy RINIKA PRAKASH

The Tourism Industry is vital for our economy’s sur-vival and sustainability says the Minister for Housing, Ur-ban Development and Coun-try Planning, Colonel Samu-ela Saumatua.

While opening the new state-of-the-art Conference Centre in Mana Island Resort and Spa earlier this month, Colonel Saumatua said our tourism industry had gone through some trying times in the past three decades.

“Some had fallen on the way; however some had strived through the tests of times. I must mention today that one of those hotels that had survived this test is Mana Island Resort and Spa.”

“These are the ones that should be commended for the courage and determination to rise up, tap away the dusts of the past, set new goals, look

forward and take those hard steps towards their goals.”

Colonel Saumatua added words of encouragement say-ing that “the danger is not in the fall but in the failure to rise and make things right and strive for the better.”

“Furthermore, MIRS had developed and improved a lot in terms of its operations, ac-commodation capacity, provi-sion of service and most im-portantly revenue generation. All these were done amongst the clawing fingers of po-litical turmoil and economic downturn which brought

about financial difficulties to the business entities in the Tourism Industry.”

“For the past 40 years, MIRS had gone through sev-eral changes in management, who had all contributed to what we see today of Mana,” Colonel Saumatua added.

“At this juncture, I must convey a very special “Vi-naka Vakalevu” to the Japa-nese Management and staff who have left their country behind to work in Fiji and had contributed immensely to the development of MIRS, the Tourism Industry and ulti-mately to the national econo-my as a whole.”

“All those that had en-dured the test of times for the past decades had survived and prospered and on this day and time, we are about to witness a milestone in the prosperity of MIRS which is subsequently the fruit of its hard working management and staff.”

The management and staff of Mana Island pose for a group photo.

Interior of the new conference centre. Young guests after taking part in the Meke.

10



LOCAL NEWS

QUALITY, RELEVANCE, SUSTAINABILITY

LAUTOKA CAMPUS

CAREGIVING FUNDAMENTALS

The USP Lautoka Campus is pleased to announce its second offering of the training course, Caregiving Fundamentals for 2012.

If you are interested in Caregiving as a homecare worker, or as a family caregiver, or pursuing a career in Caregiving, then this course is for you. This course provides you with necessary skills required in Caregiving.

Successful students will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.

DAY CLUSTER: 4 JUNE TO 9 JULY

Duration: 5 weeks; Time: 8.30am – 4.30pm; Venue: Caregiving Training Building

EVENING CLUSTER: 4 JUNE TO 30 JULY

Duration: 8 weeks; Time: 5pm – 8pm; Venue: Caregiving Training Building

Fees: $900 (Cash, installments, Cheque or can be assisted by FNPF)

Minimum admission requirements: Must be 18 years and over; FJC pass in English or has English proficiency.

Application forms are available from the USP Lautoka Campus, Western House, Vidilo Street, Lautoka. Submit the application with a copy of birth certificate and two (2) passport photos.

Further information contact: Hasmukh Lal or Teresa Ali, tel: 666 6800; fax: 6667133 or email: [email protected] or [email protected]

QUALITY, RELEVANCE, SUSTAINABILITY

LAUTOKA CAMPUS

ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

To those of you who wish to improve and broaden your understanding of IT and prepare yourself for the IT-related job market, this course is for you. This course will build up your confidence in the hands on and practical skills that will provide you competitive edge.

The course consists of six modules - Fundamentals of IT, Word Processing, Electronic Spreadsheet, Internet & Email, Database Management, and Information Systems & Networking.

At the completion of the ACIT, you will be able to obtain cross credits to IS121, a compulsory course for further (higher) USP programmes in Information System.

This course is also suitable for working people who want to develop IT skills at the workplace. You can enrol in either day or evening cluster based on your preference and commitments.

Day Cluster Evening Cluster

Date: 21 May to 27 July 2012 Date: 21 May to 27 July 2012

Time: 10am to 1pm Time: 5pm to 8pm

Duration: 10 weeks Duration: 10 weeks

Day: Monday to Friday Day: Monday to Friday

Fee: $950 (cash, installments, cheque or can be assisted through FNPF)

Venue: USP Lautoka Campus

Application Forms available at the USP Lautoka Campus office.

For enquiries contact: Hasmukh Lal or Daya Nand, tel: 666 6800 or email: [email protected] OR [email protected]

The Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni visited the Mothers Club of J.P. Bayly Kindergarten at Nawaicoba, Nadi District on Wednesday May 16.

The Club comprises of 17 women who are part of the bee farming project.

Minister Luveni said she was impressed by the wom-en's group initiatives who have now ventured into other areas of income -generating projects.

"When I visit women I always encourage them to go into bee-keeping, sewing, poultry and other income-generating projects but here I see that women are taking the initiative themselves to do such activities," Dr Luveni

Nadi women excel in Bee Farming

By MINFO said.The group consists of both

i-taukei and Fijian women who have gone through bee-keeping training on how to build boxes, harvest honey and take care of the hives.

The group leader of the club, Mrs Sheela Charan said the project is a viable one that anyone can start.

"I received assistance from the agriculture department and the ministry of women here in the western division in terms of training, capacity building, monitoring and ad-vice,” Mrs Charan said.

The group initially started off with 10 bee hives and are now into 20 boxes of bee hives. Honey extracted from the hives are bottled and sold at $6 and $15 to communities and individuals.

Mrs Charan said the recent bad weather and the floods

affected their project as most the bee hives were destroyed in the rain.

"We invest the money back into the project through the purchase of wax, frames, box materials."

Dr Luveni said Govern-

ment is taking women de-velopment seriously in terms of providing avenues and capacity building to generate income.

"The Prime Minister has advised all ministries to visit project sites and meet with

the people so that we know of the progress and have evi-dence of what was done. It also strengthens links with the people and encourages them to start off with income generating projects,” Dr Lu-veni said.

Bee farmers seen with Dr Jiko Luveni during her visit to Nadi this month.

USP marks World Press

Freedom Day

Media freedom keeps societies and economies vibrant, en-ergetic, and healthy. When the free flow of news and information is cut off, indi-viduals suffer. Societies suf-fer. Economies suffer.

These were the comments made by the U.S. Ambassa-dor to Fiji, Her Excellency Ms Frankie A. Reed, during the World Press Freedom Day celebrations at the Uni-versity of the South Pacific in Suva on 4 May, 2012.

The annual event, which is celebrated worldwide on 3 May, promotes free access to information for every citizen and celebrates the principles of press freedom.

Ambassador Reed was wel-comed to the Laucala Cam-pus by the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Learning, Teaching and Student Services), Professor Susan Kelly.

Speaking to journalism students of the University including staff and other guests, the Ambassador stated that in-formation is power.

“Few people can make a living, hold their governments ac-countable, and educate their children without a healthy supply of free-flowing infor-mation. Citizens need ac-curate, timely, independent news they can trust. So do businesses and markets and governments,” she added.

While journalistic freedom and freedom of expression en-hance the abilities of gov-ernments and countries to enjoy economic prosperity and strength, Ambassador Reed said, the exchange of ideas is also the foundation for accountable governance.

BBC Blood Drive attracts many donors

By RINIKA PRAKASHThe recent blood drive organized by Bhika Bhai & Company in association

with the Western Blood Bank at the RB’s Jet Point in Martintar attracted many donors.

One such donor was Sigma Security administration staff Roneel Chand who takes a keen interest in community initiatives as such.

“I like donating blood as it helps save lives,” Chand offered.“I missed out on the last blood drive in Nadi but made a point to donate this

time after seeing the article on The Jet website,” said Chand who has already donated blood five times and wishes to continue in the future as well.

“It was good to see a lot of people coming down to give blood despite the recent floods,” said Sister Muniamma Sami of the Western Blood Bank.

A total of 35 pints of blood was collected. After this successful drive, Bhikha Bhai and Company Limited thanked everyone who supported them in this drive as they plan to organize a blood drive every four months.

A spokesperson of the company thanked everyone for their support. “We live in a small society and it is only right that we give back to the society

with such initiatives,” said Viraaj Lad, a director of the company.

Sister Muniamma Sami assists Roneel Chand during the blood drive at RB’s Jet

Point. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



E-Z-GO CARTS LAUNCHING

Golf New

Full Golf Cart Maintenance

Golf Buggy Full Care

Custom Carts

Cart Leasing

Cart Hire

Accessories & Kits

Fleet Management

Turf Equipment &Spare Parts

GROUP FIJIPH:679- 6700955 ,Fax (679) 6702398 ,Mobile (679) 9990953

E-Z-GO golf carts hits our shoresBy EMOSI LASAQA

J.Kevi Group in conjunc-tion with Augusta Golf Cars is thrilled to announce, De-narau Golf and Racquet Club as the recent recipients of a beautiful fleet of E-Z-GO golf carts in Fiji.

And the company Chief Executive Officer Raymond Georgiou said they have a long term view for Fiji.

“We are not going any-where, we are going to be around for a long time to come and I hope that over the many years we will come to contact with those people run-ning resorts and golf courses and use the type of products we sell,” he said.

Augusta Golf Cars Pty Ltd is the Exclusive Master Distributor of all E-Z-GO, CUSHMAN and BAD-BOY products for Australia and the Pacific Islands with the J. Kevi Group in Fiji being the local agents.

Denarau Golf and Racquet Club took delivery of the new vehicles recently being one of the only resorts in the Pacific region to have a fleet of E-Z-GO ‘Inferno Red’ RXV’s.

Augusta Golf Cars sent a fleet of 65 vehicles to the

Islands premier resort to be used on the 18-hole Interna-tional golf course.

Mr Georgiou said the elec-tric E-Z-GO RXV’s include features such as: a 48 volt AC motor, an ergonomically designed console with inte-grated cup, ball and tee hold-ers, as well as permanent tow bars.

“Our opposition in Fiji has had their own way for too long and it’s about time we give them a good go. With the joint force of well estab-lished J. Kevi Group and the resources we are investing in Fiji, we hope we will over-time become a premier brand and a dominant force in Fiji,” Mr Georgiou said confidently.

“The E-Z-GO/CUSH-MAN is made up of at least 30 different products we have the vehicle to satisfy differ-ent needs or even better we can custom-build a product to suit your individual needs. We basically move from be-ing a fleet golf cart to a niche specialty golf cart operators so we invite everyone of you that have requirement to con-tact the J. Kevi Group and we hope that we can suit your requirement,” says Mr Geor-giou.

Starwood Group shares a great relationship with E-Z-GO Carts

Sheraton Fiji general manager Shane Cunning delivers his official address. Photos: EMOSI LASAQA.

His Excellency Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, the president of the Republic of Fiji Islands enjoys his ride on a E-Z-GO RXV Cart during the Nadi Chamber of Commerce & Industry organised charity golf tournament at the Denarau Golf & Rac-

quet Club in aid of Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama’s flood relief appeal. Photo: EMOSI LASAQA.

The relationship be-tween E-Z-GO Carts and the Starwood Group, par-ticularly the Denarau Golf and Racquet Club has been a healthy one for the past ten-years or even more says Sheraton Fiji general man-ager Shane Cunning.

Speaking as the chief guest at the launching of the E-Z-GO Carts at the Denarau Golf and Racquet Club recently, Mr Cunning recalled the strong relation-ship the Starwood Group has had with the distribu-tors of the renowned golf carts – Augusta Golf Cars PTY Limited.

“We have had the plea-sure of using almost two or three generations of golf carts and each one of them have actually proven to be the work horses that our golf management want to use due to many good rea-sons.”

“I know in Australia, the Augusta Golf Cars compa-ny and E-Z-GO Carts are the ones everyone wants to work with and I see Ray-mond (CEO of Augusta Golf Cars) here almost four times in a year with his after sales calls and he certainly walks the talk when it comes to the golf carts and telling us how to go about the servicing and also training of our people on how to handle the carts,” Mr Cunning added.

He said J. Kevi and Augusta Golf Cars have formed a strategic alliance with the Starwood Group and the Denarau Golf and Racquet Club and they wish to continue the good relationship for many years to come.

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

From left are Bob Speed, Raymond Georgiou and Shane Cunning.

J. Kevi Group director Kevi Reddy shares a light moment with Sheraton Fiji general man-ager Shane Cunning.

12



E-Z-GO CARTS LAUNCHING

Golf New

Full Golf Cart Maintenance

Golf Buggy Full Care

Custom Carts

Cart Leasing

Cart Hire

Accessories & Kits

Fleet Management

Turf Equipment &Spare Parts

GROUP FIJIPH:679- 6700955 ,Fax (679) 6702398 ,Mobile (679) 9990953

By SHALENDRA PRASADreporting from Denarau Golf & Racquet Club

Reddy is ready to serveThey say work is for peo-

ple who don’t play golf but one of Nadi’s leading busi-nessman Narendra Reddy likes to mix work and golf to-gether to ultimately give cus-tomers the best service and

products on the course.Reddy who owns J. Kevi

Group has been a pioneer in distributing quality golf carts to golf courses and resorts all over Fiji for the past twenty-one-years now.

“E-Z-GO is the best prod-uct of its type and is made in USA and we are proud to be

the exclusive local distribu-tors of Augusta Golf Cars PTY Limited,” Mr Reddy said.

According to Mr Reddy, his company is now distrib-uting other lines of golf carts from Augusta Golf Cars such as Cushman and Bad Boy.

“Each model has its own

uniqueness and is built to satisfy the individual needs of the customers,” Mr Reddy adds.

While addressing guests at the official launch of the new generation E-Z-GO carts in Fiji, Mr Reddy said his com-pany provides the greatest products and services for golf

carts and utility carts around golf courses, resorts and is-land properties.

“We are very confident that there will be no rooms for complaints from our val-ued customers and we will be fully geared for all back-up service.”

“A lot of you already know

about Cushman products and it is a pleasure to inform that the Cushman line is back in the country.”

Mr Reddy also acknowl-edged the support of Mr Shane Cunning, the general manager of Sheraton Fiji and various valued customers around the island.

Narendra Reddy and Raymond Georgiou present a token of appreciation to Sheraton Fiji general manager Shane Cun-ning.

Sharing a light moment during the function from left are Natwar Patel, Kevi Reddy, Joape and Shane

Cunning.

Man of the moment...J. Kevi Group managing director Narendra Reddy stands with the fleet of Augusta Golf Cars line of carts during the official launching at Denarau Golf & Racquet Club recently. Photos: EMOSI LASAQA.



TASTE BUDS

By BRENDON COFFEYExecutive Chef

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa

For reservations and information on Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa, please visit www.sofitel.com

A Lobster tale...Who doesn’t like lobster? Other than those of course

who may suffer from a food related allergy.

Lobster really is the food of kings and the king of foods and has held this esteemed position across a number of centuries.

There is notable culinary evidence that highlights lob-sters were no strangers to the lavish banquet tables of the ancient Romans and their Greek cousins.

History also shows that this seafood “delicacy” was al-ways highly esteemed by the British and Europeans over time however this was not so much the case by American colonists and was often re-garded as peasant food. The Americans eventually caught up and enjoyed a resurgence of demand in the 19th century which still holds true today thanks in part to the popular Maine or Atlantic lobster.

So is it lobster or crayfish?Lobster, crayfish, crawfish,

rock lobster, painted lobster, spiny crayfish……..would the real lobster please stand up!

Spiny lobster also known as rock lobster is the most common variety of lobster found in the waters of Austra-lia and New Zealand and are often referred to as crayfish.

The term crayfish is actually more common to fresh water varieties and is derived from the term crawfish.

The spiny lobster is one member of a larger family of approximately 60 various species of lobster.

Another member of this royal family is the “Panyli-rus Versicolor” or more com-monly known in Fiji as the “Painted lobster”. The name ‘painted’ derived from the or-nate pale greenish blue shell with its light shades of pink and the black and white rac-ing stripes that almost look like they have been delicately painted free hand across its back. These are the lobsters that you can often find on roadside stalls, often and un-fortunately, basking in the hot sun.

Found in the tropical wa-ters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, the painted lobster can easily grow to an im-pressive 40 cm in length and live for 50-years or more. I remember reading an article about lobsters in which the article speaks about the lifes-pan of lobsters and points out that, “as best scientists can tell, lobsters age very grace-fully show no formidable signs of aging, retain good ap-petite, no change in metabo-lism, strong reproductive urge and ability and no decline in strength or health” ….and as I happen to have celebrated my birthday this past week I am of the thinking how similar I am to a lobster!

As much as I may enjoy eating lobster, I also enjoy cooking with it. It is a ver-

satile meat with a unique sweetness and flavour and of course is revered as a delicacy to most palates and budgets. It is a regal product that re-quires little preparation and is best served in its simplest form. However, to be suc-cessful in cooking lobster you must first start with the very best product. In cooking there is one rule above all oth-ers and that is you must start with the best produce you can possibly get. It is simple but non negotiable. You cannot have the driving experience of a Porsche with a car made with parts from a Datsun. You cannot make inferior product superior again and herein lays my dilemma and why lobster

features very rarely on my menus.

For the most part I de-cline the lobster that is often brought to the resort for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it is usually far from fresh. Ideally I would like to buy lobster that is still live but understand most lobster here is harvested by spearing so I know this is not probable. I do suggest though that the lob-ster could be better handled for optimum quality when it is caught. Secondly I quite often choose not to deal with suppliers who do not wish to have an understanding of cur-rent regulation and a mind for sustainability. Equally I en-courage all Chefs, restaurants

and hotels to refuse lobster that is under size or is laden with roe. It is disheartening when sorting through a tub of lobster or even crabs for that matter where it is obvious that the supply could damage the future of these delicate culi-nary resources.

So what do I look for when selecting and handling lobster to keep it at its best.

• Find the freshest possible lobster preferably straight from the water.

• The lobster should look fresh with a slight sheen to it and all legs should be at-tached.

• Turn the lobster on its back and check that the tail meat is creamy white. There

should be no traces of bleed-ing or blackness in the meat.

• The lobster should have a fresh sea aroma. If the lobster is not fresh it will have an ammonia smell to it.

The best way to keep the lobster is to remove the tail from the body as soon as pos-sible after it has been caught. Wash the tail in salted cold water with a squeeze of lem-on. Dry on absorbent paper and keep thoroughly chilled or on ice until you want to use it later that day.

When I do happen to come across some premium first class lobster then I like to make the most of it and this we did recently with one of our famed wine maker din-ners at our popular signature V Restaurant.

In conjunction with Victo-ria wines we were privileged to host Mr Clive Westin, Managing Director of Ne-gotiant Wines New Zealand. Clive brought with him a line up of premium wines from the Nautilus Estate out of Marlborough NZ.

One of the stars of the night was the Nautilus Chardon-nay which we matched with a beautiful terrine of painted lobster, green pea mousse and tempura prawn. This very el-egant wine matched perfectly with this royal member of the lobster family.

A more simple but just as elegant way to enjoy is this lobster roll. And if you are going to be this indulgent you might as well go all the way and pick up a bottle of Nauti-lus Chardonnay from Victoria wines. Enjoy!

Island Lobster Roll with Spiced Salsa

Makes two rolls

Ingredients Unit Roll Roll or wrap of your choice 2 eaOlive oil spread 40 grLobster meat (cooked) 300 grLettuce cos or ice berg Small bunchRoquette or watercress Small bunchCucumber sliced very thin 6-8Lemon or lime juice 2-3 tspTabasco A few drops to tasteMayonnaise ¼ cupSeasoning To taste Salsa Tomato (blanched, peeled and seeded) 2 medium sizeChilli oil 15 – 20 mlLemon or lime juice 3-4 tspSeasoning To tasteRoquette or watercress to garnish

Salsa • Evenly dice the tomatoes and place in a bowl. • Dress with the lemon juice and chilli oil. • Season lightly with a little sea salt and black pepper

Lobster roll • Split your roll length ways and lightly butter with the spread • Season your mayonnaise with the lemon juice and Tabasco. • Wash and dry the lettuce and lightly mix with roquette or cress. • Dice the lobster and gently dress with the seasoned mayonnaise • Arrange the cucumber, salad and dressed lobster carefully in your roll. • Serve with a spoon full of salsa and garnish with a little more roquette or cress. • Serve with a nice glass of chilled Nautilus Chardonnay.

14



BUSINESS NEWS

From Nothing to Everything

No father, no elite education, no family wealth and no old schoolboy network to

help me in life, except Mother’s blessings and also the British sense of tolerance and fair play. As a result, an ordinary

immigrant like me could realise his ambi-tions and become an asset for his family and adopted country. This is the story of Dr Rami Ranger - a Greenford business-

man’s rise to success.By JASMINE MARSHof Ealing Gazette

A SUCCESSFUL entrepreneur who set up his first business in a shed with only £2 has been awarded by the Queen for a record-breaking fourth year running.

Dr Rami Ranger, director of Greenford food shipping com-pany Sun Mark, clinched the Queen's Award for Enterprise recently.

The prize, announced on Her Majesty's birthday, celebrates top UK businesses.

Sun Mark, based in Long Drive since 2001, is the only busi-ness to have won the title for four consecutive years.

Originally from Punjab, north India, Mr Ranger, 64, battled his way to the top from poor beginnings in a refugee camp before finding a home and success in the UK. And he met the Queen in person in 2005 when he picked up his MBE medal for services to British business.

“I am very fortunate that I came to this country,” he said. “When I came I had very little, I had nothing and now I have everything. It is thanks to the British sense of tolerance and fair play, an immigrant like me can realise his ambition and become an asset to his family and his country.”

He was born in July 1947, two months after the assassina-tion of his father, who bravely opposed the division of India between Muslims and Hindus. At the age of 24, Mr Ranger emigrated to the UK with his mother and seven siblings, to study law at university. But due to lack of financial support, he was forced to quit his studies, and began working in a fast-food restaurant for six years.

He began as a chef but the determined youth quickly worked his way up to district manager. And even in those early days, the businessman said he realised smiling and being polite to customers helped increase sales - an attitude which has served him well ever since.

“If everything was given to me on a plate even I would not improve and my business would not improve,” he said.

He then bought a newsagent's shop, until eventually setting up his first business, Sea Air and Land Forwarding, in 1987. His biggest venture Sun Mark soon followed in 1995.

The company trades household products popular in Western supermarkets, including British brands like Unilever, McVi-ties, and Mars, to developing countries such as Nigeria and Vietnam.

The climb to the top began in his garden shed with only £2 shipping electrical goods. He then approached international companies like Cadbury and Heinz which led to an empire with a turnover of £109 million a year.

When asked about what makes his award-winning business so successful, he said: “Our company is based on principles. In my life I would rather lose money then lose a customer. I can make money back again but I can’t get the customer back.”

These principles are a strong work ethic, empathy for oth-ers and commitment. He says his clients are loyal because he practises these every day.

Sun Mark jumped seven places to 25th in this year’s Sun-day Times Profit Track 100 and was ranked 50th in this year’s Investec Hot 100 of leading British businesses.

Mr Ranger lives with his wife of 36 years in Northwood, Harrow, and has three daughters and two grandchildren.

When speaking of his family he said: “I couldn’t do it with-out the help and support of my wife, family and staff, although Chanel handbags have given me a headache over the years.”

Son-in-law Sunny Ahuja will take over the company when Mr Ranger retires to keep it in the family name.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II greeting Dr. Rami Ranger MBE, Chairman of Sun Mark Ltd., and winner of the Queens Award for Enterprise 2009 & 2010 in International Trade at the Buckingham Palace, London.

16



HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE

The Ministry of Health is steadfast in its commitment to reducing the incidence of dia-betes and other non-communi-cable diseases in the country.

Minister for Health, Dr Neil Sharma made these comments at the official opening of the Western Dialysis Centre locat-ed at the Zen Min Low Medi-cal Centre in Nadi this month.

Dr Sharma said the Western Dialysis Centre would bring relief to those suffering from kidney failures in the West because they would not have to travel to Suva anymore for dialysis.

He said the percentage of Fiji’s population suffering from kidney diseases as a re-sult of Diabetes was worrying.

“We note a substantial inci-dence of Diabetes in our midst. 16 percent of the population now has diabetes, over all di-vides of ethnicity and culture. The end stage of diabetes mellitus includes eye, heart, kidney and limb damage,” Dr Sharma said.

The Health Ministry is also working on having a facility for kidney transplantation in Fiji which would bring more relief to patients of renal dis-ease.

“Short term dialysis prior to renal transplants is one option for our Fiji citizens. Shortly, we will have facility for renal transplantation in Fiji through joint venture-ship being for-malized. Long term renal di-alysis is the other option when renal transplant is not an op-tion.

“Government of Fiji through Ministry of Health is

Dialysis Centre brings relief to west patients

propecting the option of ge-neric Erythropoietin (A hor-mone produced by the kidney that promotes the formation of red blood cells in the bone marrow) and post renal trans-plant medicine for patients fol-lowing kidney transplants,” Dr Sharma added.

The $400,000 Western Di-alysis Centre has been set up by the Smith family of Musket Cove and Doctor Zen Low of Zen’s Medical Centre as well as ANZ Bank, which provided financial support to buy equip-ment. Dr Sharma added that former citizens abroad and tourists would also benefit hugely from the facility when they come to Fiji for a holiday.

“A lot of our former citi-zens abroad especially from the West will be comforted to know of this set up. They will probably consider a vacation to Fiji along with others who may wish to travel to our beau-tiful islands. They would have a holiday and at the same time, a facility in the West for dialy-sis,” he said.

Dr Sharma highlighted that the Western Dialysis Centre is in operation with the hope of providing life support to the people of Fiji.

The centre is also trying to set up a charity trust fund to help those patients that cannot afford dialysis or have to do lesser dialysis than required of them.

A dialysis charge per ses-sion is $250 with injection cost amounting to $80.

Thirteen patients are on di-alysis at the Western Dialysis Centre.

Tourism veteran Dick Smith is flanked by Minister for Health Dr Neil Sharma, ANZ CEO Norman Wilson, WDC nurse Babita Anjali, Dr Zen Low and centre manager Nizbat Warid during the opening. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation launches Dr SMSDr SMS is a noble project

of mHealth under the Voda-fone Fiji Foundation mobile for good program. Dr SMS will enable our customers to register with Dr SMS so that they can communicate with the Doctors in regards to their health and wellbeing.

Vodafone ATH Fiji Foun-dation trustee, Mr Divik Deo said the launch of DR SMS is a ground breaking pro-gramme for a leading corpo-rate philanthropy like ours in Fiji. Social responsibility is everyone’s responsibility, be it state, corporate or indi-viduals, however, developing community solutions to ad-dress health and social issues can only be identified from our grassroots’ and charity organizations. The reason to share our giving experience is to enable other corporate to give where it matters most and with maximum impact and replicator effects said Mr

Deo.Dr SMS project aims to

provide comprehensive in-formation on health-related resources via short message service *979# with an aim to develop data repository in 14 provinces in Fiji. The facility also has an aim to reach wider population in a timely; speed-ily manner to improve health in turn saving lives by taking proactive approach to health. Currently, Doctor to patient ratio in Fiji is 1:1600. This illustrates that it is practically impossible for all individuals to see a doctor on time when need arises. This facility al-lows our doctors to advise more people on health related crisis to address unmet medi-cal needs and humanitarian crisis. Currently, DR SMS platform has the potential to reach 5m consultations per annum.

One of the key factors in achieving inclusive growth is ensuring inclusiveness in healthcare. mHealth could be

seen as a significant corollary of e-health and all is about providing health related ser-vices through Dr SMS. While treatment and diagnostics are not possible through this me-dium, the Dr SMS program is an advisory platform on health and Wellness program said the Foundation Execu-tive, Ambalika Devi.

To access Dr SMS, the customer will be required to dial *979# and register for Dr SMS e.g name, age, gen-der, address, phone numbers, email address, family medi-cal history (diabetic, cancer, heart diseases etc), pre-exist-ing conditions, patient history (medications) and lifestyle patterns and agree to allowing the Doctors to use the history to provide health advisory. The customers are required to provide TRUE information for effective advice.

“Upon registering, the mo-bile number will become the patient card number. So when the doctor clicks on patient

mobile number. The patient’s history is displayed which helps the doctor to provide advice,” said Praneel Singh, senior engineer of Vodafone Fiji.

According to Dr B P Ram of ACATA Trust Fiji, Dr Re-sponses to SMS will be with-in 24 hours via portal, refer-rals will also be made in case of specialist advice need e.g Gynecology, cancer, kidney, diabetes etc. For face to face consultation, Doctors will provide referrals to nearest medical facility.

“The aim of Dr SMS is also to reach out to the poor and the vulnerable that are not able to access doctors and medical personnel due to poverty and remoteness,” said chair of Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation, Mr Lionel Yee.

He said that he is very en-thused about this project and will be closely monitoring how the project will make a difference to the mortality age band.

Source: Press Release



JACKS KATCHI KIDS CORNER

18



TALK BUSINESS

By PRANESH AMARSEE

Time for more action and less talk

Bula everybody.Why again? Why us? Why

Nadi all the time? And above all how long can we survive such terrifying and costly floods? What is the solution? Where to start? What to do? There are heaps of questions that we are asking but there is no fixed answer for our ques-tions. I am myself sick and tired of talking about floods. Frustration has its limits and we in Nadi have passed the mark. Our situation at this point of time is as an Indian would say “Na Maro Na Mo-tao” meaning don’t die but don’t live. We can go around the bush talking about this recent floods and waste our time and effort. We have to move ahead. I know it’s easy to say and hard for many to move ahead as some have lost all their savings. Our minds at the moment are not thinking right but if we try to set our selves some direction than we will be certainly taking a step forward. To do this you have to dig deep inside your-self, see how much you have saved and what are your op-tions today.

One of my Hobbies now a day is reading articles, maga-zines, newspapers and watch-ing some good movies which takes me away from my daily routines. One of the articles inspired me to watch one of the greatest movies again. The Godfather is widely regarded

as one of the greatest films in world cinema – and as one of the most influential, espe-cially in the gangster genre. Now ranked as the second greatest film in American cin-ema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1990 for be-ing "culturally significant." The film's success spawned two sequels: The Godfather Part II in 1974, and The God-father Part III in 1990. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and James Caan as the leaders of a powerful New York crime family. The author of this article relates this pow-erful movie to the present day CEO or the Manager or the person in charge of running the Business.

After watching the movie again and reading the article I fully agreed with this author and it has been summed up as follows. The following five essential points that I found related to us today.

Firstly we need to build a powerful community. As Marlon Brando would say in this movie “Someday, and that day may never come, I’ll call upon you to do a service for me”. As we saw in recent floods, enemies started talk-ing to each other during crisis. If you are alone you will suf-focate theoretically. You need to build relationships and this means with your neighbors, with other company manag-ers and share ideas, and with the community as a whole. Another very interesting point today I realized is that social networking today is very helpful in keeping people con-nected to each other. The mis-sion statement of Facebook is to give people the power

to share and make the world more open and connected. As of December 2011 there were 845 million monthly active users. In the last three months of 2011, users generated an average of 2.7 billion "likes" and comments every day. And Twitter now records over 200 million tweets per day. That's up from January 2009 when users sent two million tweets per day. This is not to mention the figures for other platforms such as youtube, myspace, instagram, flickr, pinterest, posterous and foursqare. The list of course goes on. Online, we never have to be alone. There is always someone, somewhere who is awake and can 'like' us. It also provides a platform from which we can share in a way we've never done before.

Secondly, hold people ac-countable. As Marlon Brando would say “Whats the matter with you? I think your brain is going soft”. Godfather re-minds us of the importance of being tough when necessary. In business, accountability isn’t achieved by a murderous rampage. But the lesson is this - to be successful in business you have to be tough, and you have to be extremely focused on hitting goals and getting results. That doesn’t mean patience and understanding don’t have a place, but ongo-ing tolerance of low-perform-ing people or products just eats away at the success of the entire company. You are ultimately responsible for all of your employees and share-holders, and that requires tough and swift decisions.

Thirdly don’t get emotion-al. In business there are win-ners and losers and we need to accept that fact. If your business is not making profit

then quickly change your strategy. We have seen many shops closed after the floods. May be it was the floods that caused it but many I spoke to made very wise decisions. Continuous loss will harm but a stop being placed before hand will save money. Get-ting emotional such as I have had this business for so many years and what will people think about me are some of the common feelings amongst us but those who don’t give a damn are winners at the end. “Its not personal sonny, its strictly business” – Marlon Brando.

Fourthly, Be decisive. As soon as you know what choice to make, move for-ward. Hesitation too often leads to missed opportunities. One of my business mentors is Mr Hari Punja who hap-pens to be my uncle as well. He would always place em-phasis on our ability to make decisions and sticking by it. Changing ideas and decisions often leads to losses, mental disturbance and emotional blackmail. A decision is easy to make but implementing the same decision into action is what we require.

Fifthly, spend time with your family. “Do you spend time with your family? Be-cause a man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” – Marlon Brando. A leader can’t be successful in creative problem-solving and making excellent decisions unless that person is connected to people and passions outside of work. I find that it’s often time with family and friends that gives me the perspective I need to build the relationships and make the decisive actions re-quired for continued success in business. We all have fami-lies and sometimes we neglect them as we are too busy with our daily businesses. Fami-lies are important part of your life. Be it your wife, children, parents, brothers, they all are important.

Today when you walk in Nadi town, none of the shop owner’s face is happy. It is a sad, shocking and terrible situation that we are facing in Nadi. Be it commercial or residential, everyone has been affected some way or the other. How to solve and come out of this misery no-body knows. Businesses have

dropped significantly and thus affects Government revenue as well. Tough as it sounds, but as I said we need to dig deep in ourselves and find solutions. Business decisions need careful attention and keeping emotions aside. Af-ter the floods there has been as usual lots of meetings, seminars, talks and planning by relevant authorities. Some as usual are talking again of rising sea level, shifting town and what not. It’s all talk and talk but no action so far. Let us get the facts right. First we need money and for that we need to bring back business in town so that economic cycle resumes. For this we have to target tourism and tourism. Then we all know Nadi needs another river to take all that excess water out to sea. De-velopments have taken place in past and we are paying price for it. Dredging the riv-er, widening the river mouth and getting some professional help from overseas as to how to upgrade our drainage sys-tem is immediately needed. Only talk will not help. We need action, action and ac-tion.

God bless Nadi and Fiji.

National Fire Authority officers help in cleaning Nadi Town after the floods. Photo: EMOSI LASAQA.



ENVIRONMENT

Let’s save our sharks !By DIANA TORA

Mamanuca Environmental Society

Sharks! Sharks! Sharks! This has recently become a very hot topic in the country. In the local newspapers we read about conservation or-ganizations and groups going on about the importance of sharks and why we need them in our oceans, and then you have some who agree and yet others who believe the less sharks we have the safer it is for us. Really are we that self-ish? The sea is their home; we humans only use it as a food source and for recreational purposes.

Sharks are the apex preda-tors of the ocean! They con-trol the species populations below them making them very important in the eco-logical balance of the ocean ecosystem. Sharks have often been portrayed as monsters by the movie industry through fatal attacks during picnics and recreational water activi-ties and have over the years instilled fear to beachgoers. Sharks have been given un-fair negative publicity and it is very important that people make an effort to learn about them and try to understand their qualities.

Most sharks are meat eat-ers and so they feed on other fish and even other sharks, however humans are definite-ly not on their list of delica-

cies. Research has shown that if a shark attacks a human it’s usually with one bite to taste thinking they are something good to eat until they taste hu-man flesh and realize it isn’t their normal food source, they let go and swim away. Sharks that feed on other ani-mals usually roam the deeper waters while the reef sharks feed on small crabs, shellfish and octopus buried in the sand and inside holes in rocky reefs. An average of 65 peo-ple worldwide are injured by the ocean's top predator each year—with only two or three deaths—but up to 73 million sharks are killed annually by people.Sharks are the perfect example of our lack of con-cern for our natural environ-ment and the impacts our ac-tions have on it.

Sharks have been around for more than 400-million-years having outlived the di-nosaurs to become the apex predators of our oceans. This means they are the predatory species that do not have any species that prey upon them. But, today sharks are being hunted at alarming levels which can lead to extinction.

In addition to our failure to learn about and lack of will-ingness to understand this species are activities that are placing an enormous strain on the shark population. Com-mercial fishing practices and finning are the main serious threats to the shark popula-tions worldwide with an esti-mated 70%-80% decline due to this. Sharks are caught for their fins for use in shark fin soup particularly in China and other Asian countries. The fins of these sharks are cut off

and their bodies thrown back into the sea. These sharks lat-er die from their injuries, suf-focation or are eaten because they are not able to move nor-mally. The increasing demand for this high status dish has increased and spread shark finning to many countries in-cluding Fiji.

Throughout the month of April, the people of Fiji were given the opportunity to cel-ebrate and record Fiji’s amaz-ing coral reef bio-diversity, by taking part in the ‘FIRST FI-JI-WIDE SHARK COUNT’, an activity that was organized

by Helen Sykes of Marine Ecology Consulting.

The Mamanuca Environ-ment Society was a registered participant for this survey and we limited ourselves to count-ing the inshore sharks or reef sharks. We saw mainly white tip and black tip sharks during this survey but we hope to see more in November when the survey is conducted again.

The results obtained will help to develop better shark protection measures and con-tribute towards proper man-agement of this species. The data collected from this sur-

vey will give us a fair idea of real shark numbers and also allow us to map the distribu-tion of this species. Most im-portantly the numbers will al-low us to understand patterns of marine ecosystem health since sharks are the apex predators and vital to overall marine life balance.

The continued fishing of sharks down to an unsus-tainable level will affect the populations of their prey spe-cies below them and this will ripple along to the other spe-cies. It is not exactly known on the consequences of hunt-

ing sharks to extinction but it is obvious the impacts will affect the entire ocean eco-system. “Nobody knows what will happen if they (sharks) are overfished to the point of extinction, but it will be something like taking all the CEOs out of companies - na-ture will be left with no direc-tion,” says Jonathan Ali Khan the founder of Sharkquest Arabia.

Let’s work together and raise awareness on the envi-ronmental impact of remov-ing these predators from the sea.

Seventy three million sharks are killed each year according to research.

20



TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Every Wednesday night Sonaisali Island Resort, Fiji is treating guests to the an-cient Fijian tradition of Fire Walking, with a breathtaking Fire Walking show and tradi-tional Kava Ceremony.

“Since its introduction the Firewalking and Kava Ceremony has been the most popular of the cultural events showcased at Sonaisali. The show takes about 45 minutes to an hour and the performers all interact with our guests, often sharing stories and other Fijian Traditions,” says Aaron McGrath – Sonaisali Island Resorts Managing Di-rector.

Fijian Firewalking is unique to the Sawau Tribe of the island of Beqa in the Southern Islands of Fiji and each week a group of 8-10 performers make the weekly trip to Sonaisali Island Re-sort to entertain guests and explain this ancient tradition.

All members must observe two strict rules, there must be no contact with women and eating coconuts is forbidden in the days preceding the cer-emony. Failure to observe these taboos may result in severe burns. This ancient religious ceremony often re-quires great strength and dis-cipline of the mind, body and spirit.

Six to eight hours before the ceremony a huge bonfire is built with the ceremony starting with the smouldering logs being removed with long green poles whilst the partici-pants chant, to clear away the logs from the hot stones. A long tree fern, said to con-tain the spirit of God, is laid across the pit in the direction of the bete (the priest/master of ceremonies). Large vines

Weekly fire walking at Sonaisali island

are then dragged across the stones, levelling them for the actual firewalking.

When the stones are finally in position, the bete jumps on them and takes a few trial steps to test their firmness. He will then call for bundles of green leaves and swamp grass which are placed around the edge of the pit. Finally, the position of the tree fern is adjusted at the command of the bete, and the firewalkers will approach the pit from the direction in which it points. The tree fern is removed and the firewalkers walk, single

file, across the red-hot stones.This performance is fol-

lowed with a traditional Kava ceremony, where one member of the audience is appointed as the Chief. Kava (also known as Yaqona) is the tra-ditional drink of Fiji and is mixed from the roots of the piper methysticum plant and diluted in water. Participants sit in a circle on a mat facing the tanoa, a large hand carved wooden bowl. One by one, amidst chanting and hand clapping, each person drinks the kava from a share half co-conut shell. Kava ceremonies

are still used in many Fijian villages to welcome visitors.

Feedback from guests in-cludes: “My boys loved it and cherish the photos of them with the firewalkers” ~ Jenny Clarke. “We attended and loved it” ~ Kathryn Brown. “My hubby was chosen as Chief, so funny, great night” ~ Jo Hamilton Sime.

4 Star Sonaisali Island Re-sort is a true island escape, a small green dot in the beauti-ful South Pacific Ocean – yet the world you’ve left behind is only a 3 minute boat ride across the lagoon from the Main Island and 25mins drive from Nadi Airport.

Air Pacific has announced the historic name change from Air Pacific to Fiji Air-ways, a major development for the airline with govern-ment’s full support.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said that as Fi-jians, “we take pride in our country and now our national airline can better reflect this in name also”.

“There are exciting times ahead for our national airline, the new interior cabin design will be revealed in the coming months and the general public and the tourism industry looks forward in anticipation of the new design,” Prime Minister Bainimarama told guests in-cluding those from both the tourism and airline sector.

“All of these positive changes in Fiji Airways, for-merly Air Pacific, in recent years have been facilitated by and has the support of my Government.”

Prime Minister Bainima-rama added that government recognised Fiji Airways as

Air Pacific to be renamedthe national carrier as being vital contributor to the Fijian economy.

“It, therefore, is only logi-cal that Fiji Airways contin-ues to be a viable and sus-tainable commercial entity,” Prime Minister Bainimarama said.

“It is, therefore only logi-cal that the staff, the manage-ment, the shareholders and the other partners remain committed to Fiji Airways.”

In addition, Prime Minister stated that any deviation from this objective could spell di-saster for the national carrier, its employers, the tourism sector and the economy as seen in other countries.

Attorney General and Minister for Civil Aviation, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said that the rebranding of Air Pa-cific to “Fiji Airways” was a milestone for the company and also part and parcel of the Bainimarama government’s agenda of utilising and capi-talising on the Fijian brand.

“The Fijian brand conjures

up different images, if you go to Europe and you men-tion Fiji, people will never respond to you in a negative fashion even though they may have never seen the map of Fiji,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.

Minister Sayed-Khaiyum highlighted that this was one of the reasons for the change in name for the Fiji Visitors Bureau to Tourism Fiji, the Fiji Trade & Investment Bu-reau to Investment Fiji and the Fiji Audio Visual Com-mission to Film Fiji under the Bainimarama government.

Chief Executive Officer for Air Pacific, Dave Pflieger said that an extensive brand and marketing audit revealed that Air Pacific’s customers and the traveling public did not associate the name of the airline – Air Pacific with Fiji.

“In short, despite our 42 years of efforts to market the name ‘Air Pacific’, Fiji is the word that resonates and moti-vates people to find us, to buy tickets on us, and to build va-cation packages.”



BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

22



SPORTS

Barracuda Swimmers Learn Life Saving SkillsWith swiftly flowing

brown flood water still on the minds of everyone in the Western Division, children who are members of the Nadi-based Barracuda Swim Club got a chance recently to find out what to do if they come across someone who is drowning.

Air Pacific Safety Instruc-tor, Mrs Kelera Dakuliga, volunteered her safety teach-ing expertise to give the thirty Nadi Barracuda Club swim-

mers a lively lesson in the vital steps to take in keeping a victim alive until medical help arrives.

During a short break in the middle of a swim marathon the children had undertaken in order to raise funds to at-tend the Fiji Swimming Long Course Nationals, the swim-mers found out how to check for breathing and heartbeat problems, and how to admin-ister CPR to an unconscious victim.

The poolside at the Nadi Sports Club was a lively scene as both children and their parents took turns prac-ticing their newly acquired life-saving skills on plastic dummies.

“The recent floods and the current media coverage on drowning stats continuously remind us how important it is to be able to swim and un-derstand basic water safety skills,” said Barracuda Swim Club president Ben Rova.

“Plans are in the pipeline to involve our Swimming Club and other interested stake holders along with local hotels in a community-wide event that will give members of the public a chance to learn the basics of survival swim-ming and rescue.”

For more information about this upcoming inno-vative water-safety project, email the Nadi Barracuda Swim Club at [email protected].

The Fijian Government salut-ed the Fiji national 7s team for winning the London 7s tournament in style.

The national side ended the series on a high note win-ning the last event of the IRB World 7s Series in London.

Minister for Sports, Mr Vil-iame Naupoto said the win has surely put smiles on every Fijian fan.

"Congratulations on your magnificent win in Lon-don and on your overall achievement in the IRB HSBC World Sevens Se-ries 2012," Minister Nau-poto said.

"You have made the nation proud and thank you for the wonderful gift to our mothers on Mothers' Day."

However, he added that the players must not rest on their laurels as they have the 7s World cup next year.

"Vinaka vakalevu and enjoy your time with your family before we begin the prepa-rations for the World Cup next year."

Fiji finished the series with three titles namely the Gold Coast 7s, Hong Kong 7s and the London 7s titles.

The Alifereti Dere - coached side finished second in the overall series, six points behind winners New Zea-land.

Govt salutes sevens heroes

Minister for Sports Viliame Naupoto.

Sunny West Bowling Carnival returnsTeam BSP...last years winners of the team event. From left are Deepak Deoji, Arun

Kumar, Sheral Mar and Curtis Mar. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.Twenty-seven overseas based bowlers will join forces with around sixty lo-cal bowling enthusiasts to be part of the 2012 Shop N Save Sunny West Bowling Carnival from May 25 – 31 at the Nadi Sports Club.

The participation of the bowlers was confirmed by the chairman of the tourna-ment Shorab Khan adding that the committee was al-most on the verge of cancel-ling this year’s tournament due to the effects of the re-cent bad weather and floods.

Khan who is also the bowls director at the Nadi Sports Club said a timely boost from Shop N Save who are the major sponsors of the tournament was the

By SHALENDRA PRASAD key factor in the committee changing their mind to con-tinue with the major event this year.

“Thanks to Shop N Save, our major sponsors and also supporting sponsors BSP and Williams & Gosling together with individual sponsors who have come onboard to sup-port us for the tournament this year and we are expect-ing the week-long bowling tournament to create a great atmosphere here at the sports club,” the former national rep offered.

Team BSP consisting of champion bowlers Deepak Deoji, husband and wife team of Curtis and Sheral Mar and national rep Arun Kumar are the defending champs in the team event while Som Pa-dayachi and Ratish Lal are

the defending champs in the pair’s category.

For updates and daily re-sults, readers can log onto our

website www.thejetnewspa-per.com.

Namaskaram...champion bowler Som Padayachi in

action during the Sunny West Bowling Carnival last year. Pa-dayachi and his partner Ratish Lal are the defending champi-ons under the pairs category.

Runners-up of the team category last year.

This couple came all the way from PNG to be part of the carnival last year.

the jet volume 4 number 7

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