the jet volume 6 number 5

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER, 2014. ISSUE 56 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

THETHEJJETET

Water joyThe Water Authority of Fiji

(WAF) has achieved another mile-stone in provision of treated water to the residents of Nawaicoba Nadi after 21-years.

This was made possible through the assistance of Government and WAF respectively.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainima-rama personally commended WAF in the provision of this basic need espe-cially in Nawaicoba after 21-years.

Speaking to the residents of Nawaicoba in July, PM Bainima-rama said that water has started to come in some of the homes of Nawa-icoba.

“WAF is going to continue to work to bring water to your homes. Water will eventually come to you when WAF fi nishes work in Nawa-icoba area,” said PM Bainimarama.

He said Government will contin-ue to provide services to its people out of which one of the basic neces-sities is water.

PM Bainimarama personally re-minded WAF to continue this pro-vision of service while at the same time to be mindful of the new devel-opments that are also taking place in Nadi.

Nawaicoba Advisory Councillor Kuwar Singh said that more than 3000 people of Nawaicoba are really very happy with this great initiative taken by the Government and WAF.

He said this scheme started in 1993 under the Rural Regional Self Help Project but was never com-pleted.

While thanking the Government and WAF, Mr Singh said the peo-ple of Nawaicoba have waited for 21-years for this day to come.

“The residents have been depend-

ing on boreholes, wells, creeks and rainwater all this while but now their dream is coming true,” said Mr Singh.

Mr Singh said WAF was ap-proached in 2010 and water cart-ing commenced for the residents of Nawaicoba which was very helpful.

“I am really grateful to WAF and the Prime Minister that at the end we are successful in getting water to the Nawaicoba community,” added Mr Singh.

Another resident Navin Pillay said they have been receiving nor-mal supply and now they don’t have to depend on boreholes to consume water.

“We are now receiving water ev-ery morning and the pressure is re-ally good,” said Mr Pillay.

He thanked WAF for a job well done in providing water to the resi-dents of Nawaicoba.

Nitya Nand also shared a similar sentiment thanking the Government

and WAF for the provision of this service to their area.

“We thank the Government and WAF and we all are so happy. We are fi nally getting treated water after 21-years,” he further added.

Ten percent of the Nawaicoba community has access to clean drink-ing water now and very soon the rest of the residents will be enjoying this basic need. WAF will continue to provide sustainable and clean drink-ing water to all Fijians.

By NAVINESH KUMAR

Bula Festival a success !Bula Festival a success !

The 2014 Bula Festival ended on a high note on Saturday, Au-The 2014 Bula Festival ended on a high note on Saturday, Au-gust 9 with major sponsors Digicel confi rming more support in gust 9 with major sponsors Digicel confi rming more support in future years. Seen above are the winners of the Miss Priscilla future years. Seen above are the winners of the Miss Priscilla pageant. The Jacks of Fiji Miss Priscilla 2014 Miss Emirates pageant. The Jacks of Fiji Miss Priscilla 2014 Miss Emirates Airline Chanel Medel is seen standing second from left. INSET: Airline Chanel Medel is seen standing second from left. INSET: Digicel Fiji CEO Darren McLean with Miss Digicel Bula Festival Digicel Fiji CEO Darren McLean with Miss Digicel Bula Festival 2014 Rowzel Madden who was sponsored by Sharma Music 2014 Rowzel Madden who was sponsored by Sharma Music Centre. More coverage on pages 16 & 17. Photos: MARGARET Centre. More coverage on pages 16 & 17. Photos: MARGARET NAQIRI. NAQIRI.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER2

PICK OF THE MONTH

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

“Fiji - the way the world should be”“ Being the hub of the Pacifi c, 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 ”

MINFO

THE JET is Fiji’s fi rst community newspaper published monthly by SHAMBU ADVERTISING from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.

PUBLISHER : SHALENDRA PRASAD Cell: 9232073FAX : (679) 6708188 EMAIL : [email protected] : www.thejetnewspaper.com

Young woman takes up organic farming

Tokasa Vadrasola in her plantation at Sabeto. Photo: SPC.

By ASHLEY GOPAL

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

As the early morn-ing sunlight bathes the Sabeto Valley in

Fiji’s west, a farmer wakes up, leaves home and walks about 20 minutes to a plantation, greeting others also on their way to their farms.

There the farmer begins work, weeding and caring for the crops – aiming to get a few hours of work done before the heat of the day starts in earnest and the sun drives workers into the shade to take a break for breakfast.

This is a common scene all over the Pacifi c Islands, but a difference in this case is that the farmer is a woman and is only 22 years old. Tokasa Va-drasola from Sabeto has turned her hand to farming as a career – commercial organic papaya farming to be precise.

Ms Vadrasola fi nished form 6 at Vulinimono High School and then stayed home to assist with the family chores and grew a small mixed crop garden in-cluding vegetables such as cab-bages for home consumption. In mid-2013 she joined a group of 20 farmers in the Sabeto valley to form the Sabeto Organic Pa-paya Association (SOPA) with the aim of becoming organi-cally certifi ed and exporting papaya to New Zealand.

SOPA is being supported in this effort by a project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and implemented by the Pacifi c Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom)

and the Secretariat of the Pacifi c Community (SPC).

The aim of this project is to enhance the access of Pacifi c smallholders to high-value mar-kets by obtaining appropriate and recognised organic certifi -cation and support. The project facilitates the development of organic participatory guaran-tee systems (PGS) to provide a credible organic guarantee to consumers seeking organic produce through the direct par-ticipation of farmers and con-sumers in the organic guarantee process, and is based on recog-nised standards for organic pro-duction.

The organic production tech-niques used by SOPA are also benefi cial for building farming systems that are resilient and help mitigate climate change

impacts, and therefore the group has also been able to re-ceive support from the USAID Enhanced Climate Change Re-silience of Food Production Systems initiative.

Ms Vadrasola has one acre of organic papaya – about 130 trees. She explains that as the farm is becoming organically certifi ed she doesn’t use any chemicals or weed killers on the land. She says that the weeding is sometimes hard work but that she believes that the organic methods produce better fruits that is healthier and safer.

The SOPA members meet weekly to discuss progress and learn more about organic farm-ing.

“We all have to follow the rules of the PGS and the organ-ic standard,” she explained, “we

have to make sure the plantation is clean of rubbish and plastics and do other things to make sure we have a good quality crop like pruning and applying compost and organic fertilis-ers. We have also learned to bag fl owers to collect seeds because seed saving is an important part of organic farming.”

The PGS members are also trained to keep records of all activities on their plots and to inspect each other’s farms to ensure all members are comply-ing with the organic standards. There are currently 20 farmers in SOPA, seven of whom, are women. When asked who the best farmers are in the group their certifi cation manager To-masi Draunimasi immediately responded, “The women! They are reliable and work hardest.” Ms Vadrasola was quick to add that the men in the group do help them with weeding at times and that everyone works well together.

SOPA’s fi rst harvest will be starting in September, and Ms Vadrasola is looking forward to earning a regular income from exporting her papaya. She hopes that from the money she earns she will be able to help her family and also to save a little and start a small store in the village.

She says her family is very supportive of her farming ef-forts and plans and sometimes family members help out on her papaya plot. Her advice to other young people considering going into commercial farming is: “Work hard and be honest, it can be hard work but organic farming is a good career and it will pay off.”

Army to respect poll results: Commander

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces will support the elected Government and accept the outcome of the 2014 General Elec-tion.

Speaking at the RFMF Commander’s parade recently for military personnel who have returned from the United Nations Disengagement of Force mission in Golan Heights, RFMF Commander, Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga urged the 196 offi cers to remain apolitical at all times.

“We should not be involved in any political party activities nor should we be participating in any political party activities, but rather we should remain apolitical for the mere fact that we should be ready to accept the role of the custodian of any Government that comes into power after the election,” Briga-dier General Tikoitoga said.

“We can only do that if we remain neutral in preparation pri-or to the election, remain neutral during the election and accept the result of the election and subject ourselves to the Govern-ment that comes into power after the elections.”

The RFMF Commander said the RFMF would not favour any individual or political party and reminded those who had not read the constitution to familiarise themselves with the document.

“We will take our role in the constitution seriously and we will continue to uphold that role for the sake of upholding sta-bility and maintaining law and order in our nation,” Brigadier General Tikoitoga said.

Fiji remains the largest contingent in Syria with over 400 troops on the ground.

Treat for special kids

Pacifi c Transport employ-ee Sachindra Govind cele-brated his daughter’s birthday with students of Nadi Centre for Special Education.

Instead of hosting a party at home with family and friends, Govind treated the special kids with lunch on July 17 to mark his daughter

Divya Darshika’s 13th birth-day.

Darshika who is a form-four student of Sangam Col-lege was not present at the lunch as she was attending school that day.

“My daughter said to me that it will be a good idea to provide lunch to children of the special school instead of spending money for a birth-day party so I readily agreed,” Govind said.

Sachindra Govind serving lunch to children of Nadi Special School. Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 3

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NADI TOWN COUNCIL NEWS

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Hygiene awareness at Nadi Market

The Nadi Town Council has taken a lead role in the country as far as food hygiene for fresh fruits and vegetables is con-cerned.

Starting from the Namaka Market last year, Dr Namrata, an expert in food hygiene from the International Trade Centre (ITC) in conjunction with the Secretariat of the Pacifi c Com-munity (SPC) has been carrying out workshops with market vendors to raise awareness on the importance of hygiene and the important roles the vendors play in the whole equation.

This year Dr Namrata was back in the country and conduct-ed a special workshop with Nadi market vendors on Wednes-day, August 13.

Dr Namrata carried out various presentations to educate ven-dors on how to carry out their daily chores in a hygienic manner.

She also highlighted various examples whereby people have lost their lives due to carelessness in handling food.

Nadi Town Council special administrator Robin Ali said the council and vendors are very lucky to get access to such high level of training as far as food hygiene and safety are concerned.

He said the council is always encouraging such initiatives which are aimed at improving lifestyles in the township.

Nadi Market Vendors Association president Ram Chand said such workshops are very benefi cial to vendors. He also com-mended the council for keeping the market clean at all times, keeping the image of an international town intact.

Dr Namrata of India carries out the awareness workshop at the Nadi Market. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Government has given $40,000 for the upgrade of Nadi Bus Stand public toilets in a bid to provide better facilities for resi-dents and visitors while looking at the needs of special citizens as well.

Special administrator Robin Ali said work at the bus stand is nearing completion with the council also having to spend close to $10,000 apart from the government grant.

“The upgrade work will be a great relief for people with dis-abilities as they will be also able to use the facilities at their ease,” Mr Ali said.

He said the council is also inviting members of the business community to join hands with them in a public private partner-ship to further enhance the bus stand area.

Bus Stand upgrade nears completion

Market ready for opening

Work on the Nadi market upgrade project is nearing completion says special administrator Robin Ali.

“We are targeting to complete the works by early Septem-ber and have it opened by the Prime Minister depending on his availability,” Mr Ali said.

“The completion has been delayed by almost four weeks due to some issues with Fiji Electricity Authority and rede-signing of the cantilever.

“We are currently working on seeking sponsors for fi f-teen durable bunkers for the hostel. The total utilization of fund as at 15/08/2014 is 76% and Council has given another $35,000 from its recurrent funds to complete the project,” Mr Ali said.

He said the total cost of the project upon completion will be $839,000 of which $804,000 is funded by government and $35,000 by council.

“Upon completion, the new market will have proper ac-commodation facilities for thirty vendors who were other-wise spending their nights on footpaths,” Mr Ali informed.

He said currently, the female staff members of the coun-cil are carrying out an awareness campaign educating the vendors on how to properly use the facilities being built for their convenience.



NADI TOWN COUNCIL NEWS

Experts begin fl ood control studyFollowing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding

between the Fijian Government and the Government of Japan, two experts have started work to look at mitigating fl ooding in Nadi.

Nadi Town special administrator Robin Ali says the two Ja-pan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) offi cers are car-rying out assessment works at the Nadi River and will put a report on proposed solutions.

The two have been working out of the Nadi Town Council and will put together a detailed and comprehensive report for best fl ood control practices.

“They are working with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Land and Water Resource Management Unit to compile a report that would best address the issue of fl ooding in Nadi,” he said.

“We are grateful to Government for making this a priority as fl ooding in Nadi affects close to 50,000 residents and puts a lot of constraints to services to the people including tourists.”

The Japanese government has already committed three hun-dred million dollars for the project.

Mr Ali says this solution will be a huge relief to the people of Nadi.

“I can say that it’s going to bring a lot of relief to the Nadi people. As for fl ooding, we don’t know what is the extent of rainfall but this cut-off channel is going to take the bulk of the water to the other side so obviously the level of water would be much, much less compared to the last fl oods.”

“It’s taken more than a decade to get the project started but thanks to the Government for getting this far in getting a fl ood-ing solution for Nadi and the next three years will see further studies carried out before the actual diversion begins in 2016,” Mr Ali added.

MINFO

Nair Dais upgrade works plannedBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

If all goes according to plan, Nair Dais – a popular spot in the heart of Nadi Town could soon get an internation-al standard upgrade.

Special administrator Rob-in Ali said the council has al-ready sketched the proposed

upgrade works and is inviting a public private partnership to move forward with the proj-ect.

He said Fiji’s Ambassador to the Middle-East, Dr Robin Nair has pledged a generous donation of $20,000 for the project and the council will also be approaching govern-ment to partly fund the project

via the challenge fund initia-tive.

The Nair Dais is named in honour of Late Raman Nair who hailed from Nadi and was a much respected government offi cial. He was the father of Ambassador Nair who is cur-rently based in United Arab Emirates. According to Mr Ali, the council intends to cre-ate an open space for activities at the Dais while also build-ing seating facilities, a water fountain and other facilities.

Nadi Town Council special administrator Robin Ali, left, caught in a jovial mood with prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama during the senior citizens day and Eid celebrations at the Civic Centre on Wednesday, July 30. Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI.



LOCAL NEWS

With the push for more women to be represented at senior levels of decision mak-ing, at least one woman is al-ready literally on the road to achieving that.

The country’s senior most female qualifi ed road engi-neer, Zaina Khan is encour-aging young girls not to limit their goals.

Zaina Khan was born and bred in England.

Zaina’s father left Fiji to marry her Kenyan mother in 1966.

He was one of the sons of the founder of M. R. Khan Buses Limited which still op-

Khan excels in male dominated fi eld

erates in Nadi today. “I have a family connec-

tion. My father is a Fijian. With the introduction of dual nationality, it makes it pos-sible for me to be here,” Khan says.

Zaina performs one of the top jobs in the Fiji Roads Au-thority – looking after NAS-RUP, the Nadi and Suva Road Upgrade Project.

“What inspired me into this profession, nothing in particular. Thinking I come from the UK where we have a lot of great women in our history Queen Elizabeth the 1st, Queen Elizabeth the 2nd,

Queen Victoria, Margaret Thatcher, for us women in the UK, we just think we can do whatever we want,” said Khan.

Zaina Khan is not only a road engineer, she’s also a specialist in water and sew-erage engineering and for a woman its very inspiring in-deed and also could be tough working amongst men.

“You need to be qualifi ed, you need to be working really hard, you need to be honest and stick to your values.”

FIJI TV

MINFO

Zaina Khan has links with the famous Zaina Khan has links with the famous M.R. Khan family of Sabeto, Nadi. Photo: M.R. Khan family of Sabeto, Nadi. Photo: MIKA LOGA / FIJI TV.MIKA LOGA / FIJI TV.

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Plans for new detention centreThe Department of Immigration is working

towards purchasing land to build Fiji’s fi rst ever detention centre in Nadi.

The Department’s assistant director Ed-ward Brown said they have earmarked a piece of land in Nadi and are currently fi nalising de-tails including the lease agreements.

“We are currently working towards acquir-ing a piece of land for the detention center which will ensure that it is on its own and not at the Nadi international airport,” he said.

“The initial plan was to have it together at the airport but we feel that security should not be compromised thus the reason for the delay.”

Mr Brown said that those entering Fiji il-legally or violating anti-immigration laws are

usually detained at hotels while being processed. He said that the high costs of this process should be mitigated through the establishment of a per-manent detention centre.

“However, the number of persons that are kept under detention varies and some weeks, it could be as high as 10 while there could be none on some days and it will all depend on our sur-veillance and monitoring,” Mr Brown said.

Government has given the immigration de-partment $450, 000 for the construction of the region’s fi rst centre and Mr Brown says the proj-ect will speed up once the land is secured.

CCTV cameras for Nadi on trackNadi will soon be wired with

CCTV cameras installed at stra-tegic points to improve on the safety and security of residents and visitors.

Local ICT company

Shazcom Technologies has come forward to carry out the work at cost-to-cost following a successful demonstration of how the system will work.

Director Shanil Chandra car-ried out a demonstration of the system at the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry board

meeting and is currently work-ing on installing cameras at various points within the town so that a fi nal demonstration can be carried out involving all stakeholders.

“This is a small way of giv-ing back to my town of birth,” Chandra told NCCI members.



LOCAL NEWS

Ripal is Rotarian number one

New bridge a relief for residentsTwo Western villages are amongst the fi rst

of hundreds to have river crossings fi xed or rebuilt, as the Fiji Roads Authority looks to improve access for people in isolated areas or those vulnerable to being isolated by fl ooding.

Work has begun on crossings at Masi and Togo Lavusa, two villages near Nadi. Fiji Roads Authority Capital Works Manager Ian Hunter says the projects should be completed before the rainy season, in November.

These are just two of around fi fteen cross-ings throughout the country that are coming into the construction phase. The work is not just about repairing the crossings, but making sure they are stronger, less likely to fail and easier to maintain in future.

“There are hundreds of crossings just like these, all over Fiji, in need of repair or replace-ment,” says Mr Hunter. “The list is very long, and it is a matter of prioritising the crossings that have the greatest need, or that can be fi xed relatively quickly and simply before they fail completely. Really, they are all a priority - giv-ing Fijian people everywhere reliable access to the outside world is extremely important, for so many reasons.”

For villages that are cut off when crossings are washed away, the most pressing problems are access to work, education and health care.

“At some locations, we haven’t been able to get buses in for upwards of fi ve years because

By ONARINA UMUa crossing was destroyed and cut off from safe vehicle access.”

FRA’s consulting engineers, MWH Global, says as pressing as the crossings are, they are proving to be some of the FRA engineering consultants most challenging work.

“The logisitics are enormous, which is why it is going to take some time to work our way through the list,” says Technical Delivery Manager Don Clifford. “Many are deep inland. Getting people and materials to the site is time-intensive and costly - some are several hours from a main road. But all the reasons we are fi nding these projects a challenge, are the rea-sons they are such a priority.”

It’s not just getting equipment and people on site that is making the crossing projects more time consuming than might be expected.

“Simple crossings are quick to put in, but they don’t last. It takes high tech expertise to make a reliable, permanent solution and a great deal of attention to detail. The reason many have failed isn’t that they weren’t strong enough, it was caused by failure of individual components.”

Mr Clifford says the very nature of crossings makes them a diffi cult proposition.

“The work is incredibly weather dependent, and because we are putting them across river beds that are diffi cult to de-water, building them becomes more complex.”

By MARGARET NAQIRI

Rotary Club of Nadi president Ripal Patel, centre, is fl anked by her husband Sanjit Patel, right, and brother-in-law Vinod Patel during the change-over night at Sitar Restaurant in Mar-tintar. Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI.

Longtime member Ripal Patel has been elected to lead the Rotary Club of Nadi dur-ing a special change-over night at Sitar Restaurant re-cently.

Ms Patel takes over the po-

sition from Hemant Kumar who has been working hard for the past one-year.

The club has been making a huge impact in the lives of people in Nadi and the greater western division with various community initiatives in ar-eas of health, education and disaster relief efforts.

While addressing members during the function, Ms Patel said the club will be raising funds for Friends of Fiji Heart Foundation as the fi rst project under her leadership.

She said other projects will include assisting Animals Fiji and upgrading of the mater-nity unit at Nadi Hospital.



LOCAL NEWS

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Former mayor joins FijiFirstFormer Nadi mayor Sanjit Patel. Photo: FijiFirst.

NFP policies to benefi t ALL: Prem Singh

Prem Singh (pictured)of Nadi is a respected busi-nessman, company director, consultant and farmer, and an experienced politician and leader in local government with a history of community work with youth, sports, sugar industry and business.

Political involvement: Singh was educated in Fiji and New Zealand at Wellington polytechnic. He was elected to Parliament in 2001 and as lone NFP member was leader of Opposition. He was elected to Nadi Town Council three times and became Deputy Mayor, 1999-2001.

Community service: On Nadi Chamber of Commerce directors’ board since 2007,

appointed to Multi-Ethnic Cultural Centre, Chair of Nadi District Advisory Council 2003-2012, member of Nadi Rural Local Authority, on technical committee for Nadi Basin Catchment and was chairperson of National Rec-onciliation committee 2004; founder member of the Fiji Cane Growers Association; Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha (SDPS) of Fiji National Vice President 2002-2009, President Nadi and has led sports and youth committees.

Concerns: rise in cost of living, poverty and unfair dis-tribution of wealth, return to full democracy, with rule of law, decent wages for decent jobs and leaders accountable to the people.

National Federation Par-ty Plan for “Your Future”

1. Reduce Value Add-ed Tax (VAT) from 15% to 10 %.

2. Increase retirement age to 60 in the Civil Service.

3. Give full scholar-ships to eligible students from

poor families who do not qualify for scholarships under Toppers scheme.

4. Increase monthly pension under the Social pen-sion Scheme to $50.

5. Remove restrictions on workers’ rights and allow free collective bargaining.

6. Hold an Education Commission of Inquiry into curriculum, teaching and class size.

7. Meet with leaders of the i-Taukei community and others about improving the Fi-jian administration as a matter of priority. For political stabil-ity, the NFP will work hard with other political parties to implement policies that en-sure the i-Taukei community feels supremely confi dent and secure about its place at the heart of Fiji.

8. Re-establish Public Works Department.

9. Improve health ser-vices and upgrade hospitals and health centres to provide quality care.

10. Increase the avail-

ability of land for agricultural purpose through a ‘Master Lease’.

11. Provide welfare funding for all widows/ wid-owers/ destitute regardless of other support already provid-ed.

12. Promote gender equality in access to produc-tive resources, education, training, economic opportu-nity and decision making at all levels.

13. Support training to police and military to enhance professionalism and commit-ment to democratic gover-nance and rule of law.

14. Implement a mini-mum guaranteed price on cane of $85 per ton and pro-vide subsidy for inputs such as fertilizer and weedicides.

15. Produce a set of na-tional guidelines for child pro-tection, safety and support.

16. Provide strength-ened support for training and employment opportunities for young people.

Achievements of the NFP

In the last 50 years, the National Federation party has achieved many things for peo-ple of all walks of life in Fiji. Some of its major achieve-ments are listed below:-

1. Establishment of the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF).

2. Successfully and peacefully negotiating the independence of Fiji and the 1970 Constitution.

3. Proposing the idea of a local university that led to the establishment of the Uni-versity of the South Pacifi c (USP).

4. Brought about ALTO in 1996 and ALTA in 1976 in partnership with the landowners that provide mechanisms and basis for res-olution of future land tenure problem in Fiji.

5. Played a key role in the sugar industry by negoti-ating the Denning Award, pur-chase of the CSR and SPSM and establishment of the FSC and in restructuring the sugar industry in 1984 allowing

farmers to have greater say in the industry.

6. Establishment of the Housing Authority of Fiji.

7. Establishment of the Reeves Commission to review the 1990 Constitution and the successful passage of the 1997 Constitution.

8. Negotiated Diwali and Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday public holidays.

Our Commitment• The NFP will: - Re-

store ‘Respect’ for the Rule of Law in our nation.

• Return ‘Dignity’ to all people.

• Restore and defend the right to ‘Speak’ out freely.

• Restore ‘Confi -dence’ to business and invest-ment with reasonable and sup-porting economic policies.

Support NFP for progress. Support NFP for open, hon-est change. Support NFP for justice, fairness and equal treatment under the law. Sup-port NFP so you can ‘TRUST’ again.

Former Nadi mayor Sanjit Patel believes FijiFirst is the best party to take the country forward.

Patel who is a graduate from Canberra University in Australia is a well-known per-sonality in Nadi and has been serving people at various lev-els.

“I strongly believe that Fi-jiFirst has the ability to take the country forward and we should all support the party for future prosperity,” Mr Pa-tel said.

Patel who has a track re-cord of doing well in his various public roles has been a Rotarian for many years having served as president as well.

“I have been working on the fi eld with people of grass-root level during natural disas-

ters and during our commu-nity outreach programs and know exactly what the people of Fiji need. I believe FijiFirst is ready to deliver that ser-vice and assistance needed for prosperity,” Mr Patel added.

Apart from running his business, Mr Patel is also busy with various educational institutes. He is the chairman of the board of governors of Nadi College and president of the Fiji Education Society. Patel has also served as presi-

dent of Nadi Gujarati Sports Association and Fiji Gujarati Sports Association respec-tively.

In 2005, Patel created his-tory in the local government circles by accumulating a sur-plus of $1 million during his term as mayor of Nadi. He was also instrumental in the construction of the Namaka Market which is providing service to thousands of resi-dents and visitors alike.

His election number is 145.

NFP



TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Expo dates releasedFollowing the success of

the inaugural Fijian Tourism Expo (FTE) in May, Tourism Fiji has announced that FTE 2015 will take place in Fiji from 16-18 June 2015 at the Denarau Island Convention Centre.

After a competitive ten-der process, the Denarau Is-land Convention Centre was

chosen to host FTE again in 2015 due to the success of this year’s event and the Centre’s ability to cater for an even bigger event next year.

“After this year’s hugely successful inaugural event, the interest in next year’s Fi-jian Tourism Expo is incredi-ble,” says Tourism Fiji Events Director, Sally Cooper. “We

expect the event to be signifi -cantly larger in 2015 with the addition of more niche op-erators and service providers from the wider tourism indus-try.”

Event organisers will work with a number of resorts to provide accommodation for the attendees of the event and will be showcasing a range

of venues for the events and functions that are part of the main programme. Pre and post- FTE familiarisation tours will also be offered to showcase the wider Fiji to visiting travel industry spe-cialists.

Tourism Fiji has purpose-fully selected dates immedi-ately prior to Australian Tour-

ism Exchange (ATE) 2015, to be hosted in Melbourne, to make it easier for buyers from key long haul markets to make the most out of their annual visits to the Pacifi c region.

"By timing FTE to run im-mediately prior to ATE, we hope to not only attract more long-haul buyers to Fiji, but also give them the opportunity

to understand and experience the great variety of tourism product we have to offer,” says Cooper.

For more information on FTE visit www.fi jiantouris-mexpo.com, or contact Sally Cooper scooper@tourismfi ji.com.fj.

TOURISM FIJI

Vika Cokakosova secures expatriate role at SheratonBy IRENE EDWARDS

By LATA YAQONA

By MARGARET NAQIRI

Sheraton & Westin Resorts Fiji, on Denarau Island, part of Fiji’s only fi ve star integrated re-sort complexes has announced the appointment of Vika Cokakosova (pictured) to the position of Director of Conventions - a role previously held by expatriates.

“We are delighted to have one of our very own local associate replacing an expatriate and we have every faith that Vika will continue to lead her team with utmost professionalism that has bought her to this point,” said Vishnu Deo, Director of Human Resources.

Vika’s journey with Starwood Fiji started in February 2010 and quickly got the respect of her fellow associates. She was part of the fi rst group of candidates to participate in the Starwood Ca-reers Track in 2011 and 2012.

The Starwood Careers Program is a series of fast track developmental program for both in-ternal and external talents at different phases of their professional career with Starwood.

Talent management and people development are one of the core focuses of Starwood and as such, Starwood is committed to developing programs that allow associates to tap into their potential to achieve greater success in their pro-fessional career with Starwood.

In addition, Vika, while on holiday in Aus-tralia did cross training in the conventions de-partment with sister properties, Sheraton on the Park and The Westin Sydney. These opportuni-

ties enhanced her knowledge and skills in the role and other areas of the business which has inspired her to take up this new and exciting challenge.

“It is rewarding and I am excited about the opportunity. It is true that the steps of a good man are ordered by God,” says Vika of her pro-motion.

“My career has always been centered on tourism which I have always been passionate about. Years I had spent with ATS Pacifi c con-tributed hugely to my success in the fi eld that I will continue to champion. Starwood is a fan-tastic organization with opportunities to grow. I was fortunate to be a part of the fi rst group of candidates to take part on the Starwood Career Track which is a promising program for career expansion.”

It is a great achievement for not only Vika but for Starwood Fiji as the complex is now establishing to be the training ground for the Pacifi c Island region.

Powell leads Fijian ResortShangri-La’s Fijian Resort

and Spa announces the ap-pointment of Mr Craig Powell (pictured) as General Manag-er of Shangri-La’s Fijian Re-sort and Spa. He replaces Mr Michael Monks who has been in Fiji since 2010.

It is a homecoming for Mr Powell, a Fiji islander who was born in Singapore but grew up in Fiji.

A graduate of the presti-gious Swiss Hotel Manage-ment School – Ecole Les Roches in 1994, Mr Powell has a wealth of international experience in hospitality spanning 25 years.

Mr Powell began his career in hospitality with the Regent Hotel in Auckland in 1989 be-fore he returned to Fiji where he joined Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa as a manage-ment cadet in 1991.

Outrigger family day a success

It was a perfect family out-ing for kids as Outrigger on the Lagoon held its third an-nual staff carnival on Saturday, August 2 for the staff and their children.

General Manager Peter Hopgood said that they do this to say thank you to the chil-dren of their staff for allowing their moms and dads to work at Outrigger six-days-a -week and they don’t get to spend much time with their parents.

“Today all the children that

belong to Outrigger on the La-goon Fiji staff family are very excited. We have a very dedi-cated team here at the resort and they work a lot of hours and we do take them away from their children so this is our way of saying thank you to their kids,” he says.

The day was fi lled with lots of activities, bouncing castles, rides, face painting, garage and bake sale, barbeques and more for all to enjoy and the staff also put up stalls and the money which was raised went to their community funds.

The RFMF Band made a

special appearance performing for the children and the staff.

“We’ve had a wonderful year and its shaping up to be our best year on record and we can’t do this without our staff and we are up to 650 staff now and I truly believe we have one of the best teams throughout the South Pacifi c so we are very lucky,” Mr Hopgood said.

“We have unbelievable res-taurants, a world famous spa but our number one asset is our staff and this is what our guest always talk about and it’s im-portant that we do recognize and acknowledge them as well.”



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TRAVEL AND TOURISM

The Managing Director and CEO of Fiji Airways, Ste-fan Pichler, is the new Chair of Tourism Fiji, the organisa-tion that presides over the for-tunes of the local industry and markets the country as a holi-day destination. Mr Pichler's appointment - for a term of three years - was announced by the Attorney General and Minister for Tourism, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who said it signaled an exciting new era for the tourism industry and the Fijian economy as a whole.

"Stefan Pichler brings an unprecedented level of expe-rience to this role, having held senior positions in the tourism industries of Germany and Australia. Coupled with his stewardship of our national airline, he is ideally placed to lead our industry and take it to new heights. And his strong commercial back-ground means that not only will Tourism Fiji be placed on a stronger commercial foot-ing but the highest standards of corporate governance will be introduced to safeguard the interests of Fijian taxpayers, who fi nance its $23-million a year budget”, the Minister said.

Pichler chairs tourism board

"This appointment un-derlines the importance the Bainimarama Government places on our biggest revenue earner and our determination to continue to grow the local tourism industry by identify-ing new markets and opportu-nities. Stefan Pichler has done a great job at Fiji Airways - spearheading its continued revival and return to profi t-ability - and has a wealth of ideas about how to consoli-date the work that has already been done to put our tourism industry on a better footing. Never before has the future looked so positive for Tourism Fiji, the health of the industry and the jobs on which the wellbeing of so many Fijians depends", the Minister added.

Aside from holding senior executive positions in several airlines, Mr Pichler is a former CEO of Thomas Cook AG, the world's second largest leisure travel group, with 35,000 staff and an annual turnover of $US 20-billion. For four years, he chaired the peak German tourism body, Bundesverband der Deutschen Tourismus-wirtschaft (BTW), and has also been a member of the board of Tourism Australia and the global tourism body,

the World Travel and Tour-ism Council (WTTC). He also chaired the Tourism Working Group of the World Economic Forum, the prestigious Swiss-based non profi t organisation that brings governments and the private sector together to promote global economic growth.

Mr Pichler - who took over as head of Fiji Airways in September 2013 - said he was honoured and delighted to as-sume the Chair of Tourism Fiji. " I have developed a deep love of Fiji and its people and am fully committed to mak-ing our industry the best in the world for a nation of our size. We already have tremen-dous branding with our slogan "Fiji: Where Happiness Finds You" but there are parts of the world which our market-ing effort has yet to reach and where there are great opportu-nities for expansion. I intend to begin work immediately with the great team around me at Tourism Fiji and all of the stakeholders in our industry to step up our efforts to seize those opportunities", Mr Pi-chler said.

Fiji Airways CEO Stefan Pichler. Photo: MINFO.

MINFO

FIJI AIRWAYS

The Fiji Airways Group is pleased to an-nounce that a career progression plan has been put together by both Fiji Airways and Fiji Link to facilitate a full career path for pilots from Fiji Link into Fiji Airways. The plan has been carefully designed taking into consideration the current and future pilot requirements for both airlines, while enabling Fijian pilots to have a career at home.

Commencing in January 2015, the fi rst of 20 pilots currently fl ying for Fiji Link will trans-fer to Fiji Airways as First Offi cers on Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft and will continue their fl ying career through to eventual Command (Captain) status. After these 20 pilots have made the transition, which will take place over two years, the remaining Fiji Link pilots who have the necessary qualifi cations will begin to transfer gradually to Fiji Airways as requirements dic-tate.

Stefan Pichler, Fiji Airways Group Managing Director and CEO commented: “We are commit-ted and have made provisions in our Five-Year Master Plan to have a pilot localisation policy in place. This Pilot Progression Plan (PPP) has been worked out carefully between the two air-lines to cater for operational readiness. It’s tangi-ble and it’s here to stay. It is part of our efforts to become the employer of choice for all Fijians.”

Mr Pichler also stated that this Pilot Progres-

Pilot progression plans at Fiji Airways

sion Plan provided an excellent opportunity for all Fijian pilots to have a full fl ying career from Twin Otter aircraft through to modern wide body aircraft such as the Airbus A330.

He added: “We recognize that so many young Fijians wishing to become aviators link their aspirations with us, as the National Airline Group. We are committed to honour-ing their career goals right here at home. Of course, we have to ensure the progression occurs methodically, as we need enough pi-lots to operate Fiji Link fl ights. And, we need pilots who are the best and most seasoned professionals we can get. The Plan now in-centivises recently-hired Fiji Link pilots who currently do not have the necessary qualifi -cations to progress to Fiji Airways, but will do in the near future.“

The PPP Pilot Progression Plan has been designed in two stages. The fi rst stage is the transition of 20 identifi ed Fiji Link pilots into Fiji Airways. The second stage will begin in 2017, and will allow pilots to transition to Fiji Airways as First Offi cers and return to Fiji Link for a period of time as ATR Cap-tain, before returning to Fiji Airways to take up command on the jets.

National Airline Group now offers complete career path for Fijian pilots



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The Allocation of Seats

Table 1 presents the party list of Party C as delivered by the Supervisor of Elections. For space reasons, only the first ten candidates’ names and totals are presented (out of the full 50 candidates Party C is running). The total number of votes gained by all 50 candidates is at the bottom.

The Electoral Commission takes the totals for each party and independent candidate and puts them at the head of separate columns under the name of each such party and independent candidate. See table 2.

The Electoral Commission then determines which are the 50 highest figures (50, because there are 50 seats to be allotted). It marks these figures by putting a circle around each of them, in order, up to the number 50. (In the example, the figures are shaded instead.)

The number of highlights in the column of each party and independent candidate is the number of seats due to that party or independent candidate. In Table 3, the total of seats due to each party and independent candidate is written at the bottom of each column of the table.

The Electoral Commission must now determine which candidates of each party are to occupy the seats won by that party. This it does by looking back at the party lists, ordered according to who got most votes, as given by the Supervisor of Elections. The topmost candidates on each list will occupy the number of seats that party has won.

Looking back at our tables we see that Table 3 indicates that Party A won 12 seats, Party C won 5 seats, and so on.

In Table 1 therefore the 5 candidates at the top of Party C’s list are deemed elected. (And so on for the rest.)

211 10,200Name

Name

NameNameNameNameName

NameNameName

List continues 53,890

10,0604,1133,7173,2211,2331,0521,084900882

Party CCandidate’s Number Votes

140390277137381143299248371

Party A

117,064

Party B

23,441

Party C

53,890

Party D

29,112

Party E

221,457

Party F Independent 1 Independent 2

10,46227,50467,099

Table 2 shows the total for each party and independent candidate of our example. The total valid vote is 550,029 (which is the sum total of all the figures in table 2). 5% of that figure is 27,501.45 (called the threshhold). Any party or independent candidate that does not get 5% or more is eliminated. Party B (with 23,441 votes) and independent candidate No.2 (with 10,462 votes) fall under the threshold of 5% and are therefore eliminated. They will not be allocated any seats.

Now begins the allocation of seats. See table 3

This is done by dividing the total votes of each remaining party and remaining independent candidate by 1, entering the figures under the names of the respective parties and independent candidates.

For parties (but not for independent candidates) the top row of figures is then divided by 2, then by 3, then by 4, and so on, up to the number of candidates a party is running. It enters the resultant figures (termed quotients) in their respective columns. The figures will be rounded off to the nearest whole numbers. For reasons of brevity not all the possible figures have been entered in the columns of the example (table 3)

Table 2

Table 3

Table 1

In the 2014 General Election, the Fijian Electoral Commission will determine from the total number of votes which 50 candidates will occupy the 50 seats of Parliament.

When the results from all polling stations have been received and then tallied in the National Results Centre, the Final National Results Tally will be delivered to the Electoral Commission by the Supervisor of Elections.

This Tally will contain the total number of votes received by each candidate and the total number of votes received by each political party. The party list of each party will have been arranged in descending order, the party candidate with most votes being at the top, and the one with least votes at the bottom

In the example presented here, there are 6 parties (A, B, C, D, E, and F) and two Independent candidates running.

Divisor Party A Party C Party D Party E Party F Independent 11 117,064 53,890 29,112 221,457 67,099 27,5042 58,532 26,945 14,556 110,729 33,5503 39,021 17,963 9,704 73,819 22,3664 29,266 13,473 7,278 55,364 16,7755 23,413 10,778 44,291 13,4206 19,511 8,982 36,910 11,1837 16,723 31,637 9,5868 14,633 27,682 8,3879 13,007 24,60610 11,706 22,14611 10,642 20,13212 9,755 18,45513 9,005 17,03514 8,362 15,81815 14,76416 13,84117 13,02718 12,30319 11,65620 11,07321 10,54622 10,06623 9,62924 9,22725 8,858Seats 12 5 3 23 6 1



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RUPS BIG BEAR AND RUP KI RANI OPENING FEATURE

Rups sets new shopping trend in NadiBy MARGARET NAQIRI

Fiji’s leading retailers have yet created another trend follow-ing the opening of their world-class shopping complex in Nadi.Rups Big Bear opened its new three-storey, shop 2 building complex on Main Street, Nadi with a big bang on Friday, August 1 as thousands of customers fl ocked in to take advan-tage of the opening specials.The store which carries a huge range of furniture, curtains and clothing has become an instant success in Nadi.“We have opened this spectacular shopping complex in our previous shop 2 location because of customer demand and we wanted to bring in a bigger and better range of imported furniture, curtains and clothing,” said store manager Rajnesh Kumar.“The response from customers has been really good, as this shop offers them a one stop shopping experience,” Mr Ku-mar added. “Our prices are very affordable and customers can also get lay-by deals and discounts on marked prices. We also offer a wide range of bridal wear which comes in full set for the bride and groom.”So the next time you are in town, do not miss the opportunity to visit the all new Rups Big bear complex.



BUSINESS NEWS

The Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) has announced that Hig-gins (Fiji) Limited had been awarded the Nadi N2 Road Upgrading Project that will see a signifi cant improvement to a total of 6kms of road in Nadi in two years’ time.

Making the announcement, interim chairman for FRA and Public Service Commission permanent secretary, Parmesh Chand said that the value of the contract was $65.9 million.

“The project is part of the Nadi and Suva Road Upgrad-ing Programme that the Gov-ernment had approved in 2012 considering the many benefi ts it will provide to the country,” Mr Chand said.

“The intent of the Nadi and Suva Road Upgrading Pro-gramme is to improve the inter-national gateways to Fiji.

“The upgraded roads will become an attractive welcome to both the local communities and the tourists.”

Mr Chand added that the completion of this programme will bring added benefi ts such as reduced travel times and congestion for our road users.

“The improvements apart from the extended road width will include better pedestrian footpaths, improved street lighting, and upgraded trans-port service facilities like new bus stops that will improve the traffi c fl ows providing relief to the bottleneck experience that travellers in the area are en-during daily in both Nadi and Suva,” Mr Chand said.

The contract award rep-resents major road widening along Queens Road from Na-soso Junction to Wailoaloa Junction.

Higgins gets contract

MINFOFBC

Pacifi c’s leading golf course equipment and machinery sup-pliers, J. Kevi Group recently delivered brand new Ransomes Jacobsen golf turf equipment on Denarau Golf and Racquet Club.

Sheraton Fiji golf maintenance manager David Brennan said the acquisition of the machines is a big step for the Starwood Group to allow the golf course to be of world-standard at all times.

“We have received eleven new maintenance equipment’s plus a fl eet of four new golf carts and all of these will be main-tained by the J. Kevi Group,” he said.

J. Kevi Group CEO Kevi Reddy said his company is proud to be involved in such a project as they continue to be the lead-ers in the fi eld.

New golf equipment to boost servicesBy MARGARET NAQIRI

Bred Bank extends services to the West

BRED Bank has opened a new branch in Namaka, Nadi on Saturday, August 30.

Chief Executive Offi cer Satish Deb says the bank is fo-cussed on setting up branches around the country in order to reach more customers.

“Our business principle is customer fi rst in determining our products, services, culture and presence. We are very mindful of our customers’ ex-pectations, needs, wants and aspirations,” Mr Deb said.

“We will be innovative and fair. We will strive to bring you fantastic customer ser-vice, convenience in banking, good and simple products and our best offer possible.”

The Bank has introduced a home loan product and a motor vehicle loan facility in order to compete with most of the established competitors in Fiji.



EDUCATION

UNI FIJI

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

USP open day a success

Lautoka would have never been the same without USP says Lautoka City Council CEO Jone Nakauvadra.

Speaking at the Lautoka Campus open day on August 8, Nakauvadra said USP has helped massively in the devel-opment of the city and pacifi c region at large.

Divisional education offi -cer western Lorima Voravora said USP has changed thou-sands of lives with its qual-ity education and training. He told students attending the open day on how lucky they are.

“In our times, university education was very rare and very expensive. There were no private students. In com-parison, you all are so lucky to have so many opportunities to excel in life,” Mr Voravora

said.USP is one of the only

two regional universities in the world. The chief guest for the open day was acting com-missioner western Luke Mo-roivalu.

Michael Kirby to deliver Sir Moti Tikaram Memorial Lecture at UniFiji

The second Sir Moti Ti-karam Memorial Lecture will be delivered at the Saweni campus of the University of Fiji at 6.00 pm on 31st Octo-ber, 2014.

The annual oration was in-augurated last year by Profes-sor Julian Moti QC, the Dean of UniFiji’s Law School, to honour the distinguished life and legal career of Late Sir Moti Tikaram, one of Fiji’s longest serving judges.

Professor Moti QC an-

nounced that The Honour-able Michael Kirby AC CMG has accepted his invitation to speak at this year’s oration.

A renowned international jurist, Kirby is currently Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Before he retired, Kirby was a Judge of the High Court of Australia from 1996 to 2009 and served as President of the Courts of

Appeal of Solomon Islands as well as New South Wales.

“We are honoured and privileged to have Michael Kirby address us on the topic: Regarding Others as Our-selves: Law and Dignity. I am so pleased he is venturing to Fiji again to pay tribute to our dear friend and the memory of our long association with him,” said Professor Moti QC.

Admission to the lecture will be free.

Masters in Nursing launched

Close to fi fty nurses, includ-ing four from Cook Islands and one from Marshall Islands has enrolled for the inaugural Masters in Nursing program offered for the fi rst time in the

country by Umanand Prasad School of Medicine (UPSM) at the University of Fiji.

While offi cially launch-ing the program at UPSM on August 20, director of nursing Selina Ledua commended the University of Fiji for coming up with such a program.

“Today’s launch marks an-other signifi cant milestone for the development of nursing education in the country,” Ms Ledua said.

She said the new program will be instrumental in the academic and professional development of nurses in Fiji.



AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMAAT FEATURE



AIR NEW ZEALAND CARGO AWARDS

The management and staff of Air New Zealand, distin-guished guests and fellow freight forwarders. A very good evening to you all.

It gives me great pleasure to give you all a brief insight into our role as a forwarder and how we contribute solely to the airline industry. We were incorporated and estab-lished on the 8th of March, 2004 mainly to cater for our members interest on issues related to customs and other government stakeholders that play an important role in our operations.

We are a fi rm that special-izes in arranging storage and shipping of merchandise on behalf of its shippers, with the commencement of services such as

• Inbound transporta-tion

• Preparation of ship-ping and export documents

• Warehousing• Transshipments• Booking cargo spac-

es• Negotiating freight

charges• Freight consolida-

tions• Cargo insurance• Filing insurance

claimsFreight forwarders usually

ship under their own airway bills (Called HAWB) and their agents or associate at destina-tions (overseas freight for-warders) provide document delivery, deconsolidation and freight collection services.

Our role also is to provide the platform to support com-pliance of our members with all its stakeholders for the importation/exportation of all goods via air into and out of Fiji. The relationship that we have to build with our airline industry is imperative in our business.

• Financial payment via IATA is a critical part of our industry, as we receive (Imports) and also payout on behalf of our exporters, this in return puts us at a very high risk in terms of debt manage-ment.

• In terms of inter-national security compliance we are compelled to meet im-portant security requirements,

Address by Mr Santokh Singh, chairman of Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council

this establishes the need to be certifi ed as regulated agents by the local authority, CAAF, with non-recoverable secu-rity training and programs and also the annual audit which is mandatory for forwarders.

• Sales and service is also a critical part of our role, mainly establishing the mar-ket with revised airline rates, new airline requirements and updated schedules, as this solidifi es our operations as IATA regulated agents to se-cure space on the airlines, pre-pare shipment loads, execute and tender the consignment timely with compliance for the departure of carriers. We endeavor to provide the most shared volume by commodi-ties for the export.

I wish to take this moment to pay special tribute to Air New Zealand on behalf of our team at Williams & Gosling, as we were quite fortunate to have partnered with Air New Zealand since the establish-ment of its cargo division 25 years ago and hope that this relationship will continue grow in years to come.

Mr Pradip Singh and your team at the cargo division thank you for the support and the opportunity to work together to make our mark a successful one.

On behalf of the Customs Brokers & Forwarders Coun-cil I also wish to take this op-portunity to thank Air NZ for the support rendered through-out the years and much heart-felt appreciation from our end for the continuous familiar-ization trips to explore new markets. We can look upon assisting each other in terms of strengthening our business relationship.

Thank you, dhanyavaad, Sukria and enjoy your eve-ning.

Santokh Singh

TOP: The boys from IFC having a good time. BOTTOM: The red team at Natadola Golf Course a day after the awards.

From left during the awards night are Air New Zealand’s international cargo sales manager Daniel Kinney, Fiji and Pacifi c Islands cargo sales manager Pradip Singh, New Zealand and Pacifi c Islands cargo sales manager Blair Gourdie and cargo sales supervisor Fiji Neelesh Prasad.




Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Cargo leads...Cargo leads...

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Air New Zealand Cargo Sales Manager Fiji and Pacifi c Air New Zealand Cargo Sales Manager Fiji and Pacifi c Islands Pradip Singh, left, shares a light moment with Islands Pradip Singh, left, shares a light moment with Carpenters Shipping General Manager Manikam Narain, Carpenters Shipping General Manager Manikam Narain, right, and Airport Manager Fabian Vikash Verma. Photos: right, and Airport Manager Fabian Vikash Verma. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Air New Zealand offi cials and cargo agents pose for a group photo Air New Zealand offi cials and cargo agents pose for a group photo during the annual cargo awards held on Friday, August 8.during the annual cargo awards held on Friday, August 8.

Air Zealand Cargo contin-ues to make a huge impact in the Fijian economy by carry-ing our exports all over the globe.

The airline which has been operating its cargo division in Fiji for the past 25-years has become the number one choice for exporters and im-

porters alike.At the helm of the suc-

cess of the cargo operations in Fiji is none other than cargo heavyweight Pradip Singh, the airlines’ cargo sales man-ager Fiji and Pacifi c Islands.

An emotional Mr Singh told agents at their annual cargo awards held on Friday, August 8 that he has only two more years left at the position before his retirement.

“Whoever comes in after me, I can assure you all now

that the service delivery and high level of professionalism will continue to be the trend at Air New Zealand Cargo,” Mr Singh said.

The function also provided an opportunity for agents to meet Air Zealand Cargo’s new international cargo sales man-ager Daniel Kinney.

Air Zealand’s new coun-try manager Fiji and Vanuatu Brent Roxburgh also took the opportunity to mingle around with agents.




AIR New Zealand Cargo sales manager, Fiji and Pa-cifi c, Pradip Singh says the annual awards is a time to recognise growth and achievements of their cus-tomers.

“It is an important part of any partnership to recognise the achievement and support of the other party,” Mr Singh said.

“Air New Zealand Cargo has changed from its regular Fiji/New Zealand destina-tion carrier to a global car-rier to support the growing needs of our Fijian custom-ers.

“We have carried more cargo beyond New Zealand for the last two-years as we are now more focused on opening up Fijian exports to the world, by using Auck-land as a hub we are able to open up global destina-tions for the local exporters and businesses to get Fijian products into the worldwide market.

“From Fiji we are the pre-ferred air freight carrier for cargo to Japan, South East Asia, London, Australia and greater US and Canada,” added Mr Singh.

“We see ourselves as lead-ers in designing and deliver-ing excellence in cargo solu-tions in partnership with our customers and Fijian export-

Singh is king at Air NZ CargoBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

ers. We take pride in provid-ing superior cargo solutions that will enable the success and profi tability of our cus-tomers.

“Air New Zealand wants to create a culture around being customer centric, that being we create partnerships through focusing on our cus-tomers’ wider business and how we can in term grow revenue for all parties in-volved.”

Mr Singh left Air Pacifi c in June 1990 to join Air New Zealand as cargo sales su-pervisor — Fiji.

He took charge of sales of Air NZ cargo Fiji, Tonga and Samoa in 1993.

Today he is cargo sales manager for entire Pacifi c Islands where Air New Zea-land fl ies into. These are Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Cooks, Niue, Norfolk Island, Vanuatu & New Caledonia.

Air New Zealand manager cargo Fiji and Pacifi c Islands Pradip Singh. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD



SPORTS

2014 Sheraton Fiji Villa Teams Challenge

The 2014 Sheraton Fiji Villa Teams Chal-lenge fi nished in great style with a lavish ban-quet, themed as a ‘Coronation Street Party’ at The Sheraton’ Fiji Sandy Point Beach on Friday night 29 August.

The golf tournament, which has a history spanning fi fteen years, includes four days of golf, all played at the Denarau Golf & Rac-quet Club. Teams of mixed fours, scored under a modifi ed stableford system, where handicaps are changed daily.

The 2014 winners were announced as Team ‘Top of the South’ comprising of Pe-ter & Shona Johnson, with Mike Inwood and Tania Appleman, all members of New Zea-land’s Motueka Golf Club. With a winning margin of 9 points, they fi nished with 875 team points. This was the fi rst year that they had competed in the event, with captain Pe-ter Johnson, announcing “they will be back, and their expectations had been exceeded, greatly”.

Team ‘Shore Mata’s’ with team members Jill & Graeme Udy (NZ – North Shore GC) along with Chris & Paul Mackenzie (NZ – Matamata, GC) were placed second on 866 points.

Tied equal third were the teams known as ‘4-Play’ and ‘Steel Foxes’, with 858 points. 4-Play team members Marie and Bill Platt from New Zealand’s Manor Park were in the winning team in 2013, but were back with their long-term teammates, Judy & Ross Morten. The Morten’s (members of NZ’s Manor Park & Boulcott Farm GC, respec-tively) who had been playing for some years in the tournament were unable to make the event last year.

Team ‘Steel Foxes’ also had a new look, with Sid & Ollie Thornton from NZ’s Waiuku GC, and playing in their fi rst Villa Challenge, partnered up with previous competitors, Ike and Barbara Ashworth who are members of Thames GC in New Zealand. They were tied in 3rd place with Team ‘4 Play’.

Johnny & Di Crook (Australia’s Bayview GC, along with Simon Cox (NZ’s, Man-gawhai GC) previous winners, partnered with Tiri Naylor from the Denarau Golf & Rac-quet Club, came in 5th place with 856 points. They competed under the team name of ‘Bent Anzacs’ with their traditional 4th player, Sue Cox taking a managerial role, out of action with a shoulder injury.

Derek Larsen from Mount Maunganui, (NZ) scored the perfect shot during the week with a hole in one on the par 3, 17th. Club of choice was a 7 iron - it was Larsen’s fi rst hole in one.

The best round on any one-day was scored by tournament regulars, Team ‘4 Uro’ with 233 points on day 3. The team players are all members of NZ’s Pupuke GC and include Karen Cater, Karen Purdy, Linda Millsteed and Susan Binks.

The Villa Challenge fi rst started by John & Wendy Cooper of previous tour company IS-TAS, has been managed for some years now by PaR nz Golfi ng Holidays, who are based out of Auckland. The scoring system has remained unchanged over the history of the tournament where players score against par and then add their handicap to get their score of the day. Good rounds are rewarded with handicap reduc-tions daily, and poor rounds are assisted with ex-tra handicap points for the next days play. The name changed two years ago to the Sheraton Fiji Villa Teams Challenge.

Local teams were placed down the fi eld with Team ‘Fijian Floozies’, Sulu Brook, Linda Cal-laghan and Edwina Paterson, all DGRC mem-bers along with Suva’s Sereima Bale, fi nishing with 828 points in 8th place. With total points of 819 and playing under the team name of ‘Strug-glers Cove’, Laura Cunning, Trevor Fox, Marc Hinton and Joy Leslie fi nished in 15th place.

PaR nz Golfi ng Holidays have announced the dates for the 2015 Sheraton Fiji Villa Teams Challenge as the 9th to 14th August 2015, which will follow their popular women’s tournament, The Sheraton Fiji Denarau Women’s Golf Clas-sic scheduled to be played the week earlier.

Final Results (all NZ based players unless noted)

1st: 875 - TOP OF THE SOUTH: Peter & Shona Johnson, Mike Inwood, Tania Appleman

2nd: 866 - SHORE MATA’S: Chris & Paul Mackenzie, Jill & Graeme Udy

3rd: 858 - STEEL FOXES: Ike & Barbara Ashworth, Sid & Ollie Thornton; 4 PLAY: Ma-rie & Bill Platt, Judy & Ross Morten

5th: 856 - BENT ANZACS: Simon Cox, Di & Johnny Crook (AUS), Tiri Naylor (FJ)

6th: 837 - BOPPERS: Julie & Grant Whit-taker, Eric McPherson and Phillipa McKnight

7th: 831 - COXLESS FOUR: Jad Suttor, Elaine Swanney, Pam Prenter, Wendy Parkes

8th: 828 - FIJIAN FLOOZIES: Sulu Brook (FJ), Edwina Petersen (FJ), Linda Callaghan (FJ), Sereima Bale (FJ); 4 URO: Karen Cater, Karen Purdy, Linda Millsteed, Susan Binks

10th: 827 - SENIOR CIRCUS: Jim & Sue Senior, Bill & Raewyn Roan

11th: 826 - GREY WACKIES: Sue & Rich-ard Gibbs, Warwick & Jennifer Wakeham

12th: 825 - WINDY JAFFAS: Warwick Co-peland, David Hartstone, Carole & Phil But-land; 3 PENSIONERS & 1 FILLY: Derek & Jane Larsen, Peter & Jill Northcott

14th: 821 - BULA VA: Ken & Elaine Magill, Pearce & Marilyn Bresnehan

15th: 819 - STRUGGLERS COVE: Laura Cunning (FJ), Marc Hinton (FJ), Trevor Fox (FJ), Joy Leslie (FJ)

16th: 816 - HAPPY HACKERS: Jenny Cart-wright, Shaun Iles, Trish & Russ Lategan

17th: 813 - 4 SHADES OF GREY: Linzi Bull, Chris Ellett, Sally Chambers, Mary Hag-gas

Winners from left, Mike Inwood, Tania Appleman, Shona Johnson, Paul Yui (Sheraton) and Peter Johnson. Photos: SUPPLIED.

PRESS RELEASE

Derek Larsen grabs his ball from the 17th hole.



SPORTS

PRESS RELEASE

Andrew strives to put Fiji on record

Nadi based water sports professional and sailing enthu-siast Andrew Redfern wants to put Fiji on world record when it comes to speed sailing - just as humans have always had a hunger to run faster, jump higher, further and generally out do others.

To our ancient hunter gath-erer ancestors, this would have been vital to survival. The faster, fi tter and more ath-letic you were, the better you were able to hunt and avoid being hunted.

Today those needs and de-sires have evolved into a com-petitive edge in humans that we often fulfi ll through the sports that we pursue.

As a race we constantly strive to be faster, better in all walks of life and nowhere is this more so than in the world of speed sailing.

From a 26.3 (now consid-ered pedestrian) knots in 1972 to a blistering current record of 65.45 knots, the speed sailing record has bounced around between multi-million dollar purpose built sailing crafts to windsurfers, kite surfers and currently back to the “big boys” and their toys through the present record holder ‘Vestas Sail Rocket 2’.

So what does this have to do with Fiji and Andrew par-ticularly? To date some 42 countries around the world have National Speed Records and Fiji doesn’t! Yet!

But if Andrew has his way, that is all about to change.

He will become the fi rst ever Fiji Citizen to take part in the Luderitz Speed Challenge held annually in the deserts of Namibia.

“It’s kind of strange,” said Mr Redfern, “but I was look-ing through the International Speed Sailing records one day and I noticed Fiji wasn’t there!”

“I was actually quite surprised and a little disap-pointed,” he continued. “So I decided to contact the World Sailing Speed Record Coun-cil (WSSRC) who verifi ed that Fiji did not indeed have a National Record for the 500m class. So that’s when I decided to do something about it and put Fiji ‘on the map’ in the world of speed sailing.”

The Luderitz Speed Canal developed in 2007 and refi ned annually has been responsible for some 11 World Records and 64 National Records over the years.

“To sail fast,” said Mr Red-fern, “you need strong wind and fl at water, two things that rarely occur together. The channel was developed pur-posely to give sailors the best of the thermal desert winds but smooth water to sail on.”

“The competition now has a huge worldwide audience which means it is also a fan-tastic opportunity for us to promote Fiji and our incred-ible location for water sports on an international level. The response from local sponsors has been incredible to date,”

Mr Redfern added.“It takes a little bit of

thinking outside the box to recognize the potential behind something like this which is new to Fiji and I would really like to thank, Williams and Gosling, Viti Water Sports, Pacifi c Tourist Store, Jacks of Fiji and Port Denarau Marina for their fantastic support.

“Getting to Namibia from Fiji in itself is a very expen-sive exercise especially with the excess luggage charges for equipment.

“But it’s not just a case of getting there,” he stressed, “I really want to set a record that Fiji can be proud of and to do that requires some very spe-cialized equipment which is

expensive.“I would like to take the

opportunity to urge Fiji busi-ness houses; especially those involved in tourism and ex-port, or in fact anybody with an interest in sailing, to get behind this record attempt and promote our beautiful islands to the world.

“With over ten hours cov-erage on prime time TV, a huge social media following, some 250 plus print media articles covering the event and up to 7000 unique hits per day on the event web site, sponsors will certainly get great exposure and value for their investment,” Mr Redfern added.

“The fact that Fiji has a

competitor for the fi rst time has already started to cre-ate interest overseas. Two of the world’s top professional windsurfers, one of whom is a former world champion, have expressed an interest in coming to Fiji and shooting an episode about windsurfi ng here as part of their series on sailing locations around the world. Fiji has a great history of sailing especially through former World Windsurfi ng Champion Tony Philp.

“Tony was a true world class competitor and showed what can be done even with-out the support and coaching that many overseas competi-tors benefi t from,” said Mr Redfern.

“We live in a sailing and water sports paradise,” he added, “It would be great to see more kids getting into these activities.

“I’m hoping that kids in Fiji watching this event might be inspired to take up sailing and the ultimate aim is to have regular Fiji sailors compete in all types of sailing and im-prove on the record,” said Mr. Redfern.

“The Fiji Yachting Asso-ciation has coaching available for those interested in sail-ing and I would urge anyone interested to get in touch and let’s get some more Fiji cham-pions out there,” concluded Mr. Redfern.

Fiji’s hopeful Andrew Redfern with daughter Josephine in Fiji’s hopeful Andrew Redfern with daughter Josephine in Nadi. Photo: SUPPLIED. Nadi. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Nadi Sports Council updateBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

The interim Nadi Sports Council committee is on the verge of completing the contact directory of all sporting bodies in Nadi says Bobby Tikaram, the main man behind the for-mation of such a body in the jet-set town.

Mr Tikaram said the commit-tee will soon call a special general meeting to formal-ly invite heads of sporting bodies or their representa-tives to become members of NSC and to offi cially en-dorse the formation of the Nadi Sports Council.

“Following the meeting, the council would then elect a board of fi ve to seven members and together with the interim commit-tee form executive board of the Nadi Sports Coun-cil to look after the day to day affairs of the NSC. The meeting will be fol-lowed by a social function to celebrate the formation of NSC,” Mr Tikaram con-fi rmed.

He said the immediate ac-tion following the proper formation of NSC will be the adoption of a basic constitution with a vision and mission of improving the sporting standards and sporting facilities in Nadi, designing of a logo plus planning of other events like the annual sports awards towards the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015.

“The interim-chairman of NSC Mr John Grey will also announce and intro-duce the proposed NADI SPORTS CITY project to be part of or incorporated into the council projects,” Mr Tikaram said.

the jet volume 6 number 5

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