the jet volume 7 number 13

SEPTEMBER 2015. ISSUE 72 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

Local Talent Praised in Movie Premiere

A red carpet movie premier for the movie ‘Twisted Families’ witnessed the talent that locals may have in future movies.

The premiere, at Village 4, was screened in Lautoka on August 20 and attracted a large turnout.

Locals who attended the movie were impressed and full of praise for the movie and what it depicted.

Director Divesh Pratap Singh said that the movie was shot in New Zealand with local talents like renowned businessman Jagdish Punja taking up a major role.

Mr Punja is also well known for his singing talent.

Dream Productions Public Relations Manager/Actor Jag-dish Punja said that the movie is about a Fiji Indian Punjabi fam-ily and that the story is based on

a lot of actual events.“The movie is a roller-coaster

ride having its ups, downs, funny moments, sad moments, roman-tic moments and its today’s sto-ry. This is based on a lot of true events,” Mr Punja said.

The lead role, Aman, said that the movie was very close to his heart and portrayed a timely message to the societies.

“I fell in love with the script when I first read it because it’s a

FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

ByKATHRIN KRISHNA

story that happens everywhere, where two people fall in love with people who are by culture/society not meant to be. I chose to act in this movie because I wanted to portray the message of accepting others by the means of movies,” he said.

Mrs Vibha Patel, after watch-ing the movie said that she was impressed with the overall mov-ie production.

“I liked it actually, I think the

characters did justice to their role and it was different com-pared to the other movies that I have seen as the movie had a va-riety of emotions,” she said.

The major sponsors for the movie were SSS Manhao Inter-national Hotel, Captain Cook Cruises, Pacific Island Air, Pun-jas, P. Meghji, Tappoo, Denarau Water Sport, BBC, Govinda Veg-etarian Restaurant, Curry House and Maya Dhaba.

The story relates to how some families reject the background of either the boy or girl intending to marry one of their children.

It goes on to send a message to every one of the consequenc-es this could end with because of the feelings parents have to-wards their children’s choices.

The movie is presently bieng screened at Village6 and Village 4 cinemas.

The cast of The Twisted Famiies at the SSS Manhao Hotel in Nadi. Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER2

FROM THE DESK

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

q CHARLES CHAMBERS

THE JET is Fiji’s first community newspaper published bi-monthly by YOURSPACE LIMITED from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.

PUBLISHER : SAMUEL SHANKAR Cell: 9966115EDITOR/ NEWS : CHARLES CHAMBERS Cell: 9973290PRODUCTION : MUNAUWAR KHAN Cell: 9222456NEWS : SERELISONI MOCEICA Cell: 8317022 : KATHARIN KRISHNA Cell: 8425101ADVERTISING : MARGARET NAQIRI Cell: 9360047 : NAVINESH KRISHNA Cell: 8356609 OFFICE PHONES : 6707075 / 6750443EMAIL : [email protected] : [email protected]

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Nadi a City by 2017

Climate Change Continue to affect Pacific Islands

Laisa Lawelua is a shin-ing example of people who have achieved success from humble beginnings.

The Nadi businesswom-an, who operates Sweet Lai-sa’s Restaurant, has shown that hard work does indeed pay off.

The restaurant, situated in Martintar is fast becoming a stop for people who crave for Fijian food done like no-where else.

From selling roti parcels and pies at Nadi airport, the Oneata native has come a long way.

Her drive to achieve a better life has seen her se-cure work on super yachts as chef, chief stewardess and deckhand.

Laisa a ShiningExample

Despite an ongoing hip injury, Laisa has overcome all odds to creating Fijian food with a difference while maintaining the taste which has become synonymous and unique with her restau-rant.

Along with her husband Eroni, Laisa’s own chefs produce dishes that would be the envy of many big ho-tels and resorts.

Its fusion with interna-tional food is generated from her strive for excellence in the taste of Fijian cuisine.

Her customers will vouch for that.

Climate change is affecting the smaller Pacific Islands with some beings threatened of being overcome by the rising sea level.

The Prime Minister has taked the initiative to spearhead this fight along with the Pacific neighbours to campaigngainst bigger economies that are directly causing gobal warning.

Nadi will be a city by 2017 and this is a dream come true for the town’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

NCCI president, Dr Ram Raju said the news was gladly received by the Chamber after the an-nouncement was made by the Minister for Local Government, Praveen Bala recently during the Special Administrators and Chief Executive Officers’ Forum in Nadi.

Mr Bala said Nadi town was on its way to meeting all the requirements need-ed to become a city by the due time.

According to the Min-ister, the town area has been extended to reach the required population of 20,000.

“I have been advised by the Nadi CEO Robin Ali that most of the work has

been done in this regard,” Mr Kumar said.

Dr Raju said numer-ous meetings have been held in the past revolving around this issue.

“This means that Nadi is finally poised to be one of the most important centres in Fiji as well as the Asia Pacific Region,” he said.

The NCCI president said the city status will further

The beautiful and emo-tional Marie Fall took the Hibiscus crown home on Saturday night after the competition wound down to the last night at the FDB Foreshore in Suva.

The leggy eighteen-year-old model with maternal links to Nakasaleka, Kada-vu charmed the crowd and judges with her winning smile and her responses to the final public judging.

After acknowledging her mother’s support, Ms Fall said she would try her best to do Suva proud as the Hibiscus was popularly known as “the Mother of all festivals”.

The Miss Carpenters representative said she would make Suva city proud at the upcoming Miss Fiji pageant in Nadi.

Queens from pageants around the country will compete for the title later this year in the jet set town.

The Miss Fiji pageant

winner will represent the country at the annual South Pacific pageant.

Previously, Seasea Misi-ki was crowned Bula Festi-val Queen and Ms Fall is the second Queen crowned. The two will wait for other yet-to-be crowned win-ners from districts around the country.

Nadi Bula festival chair-man Mohammed Hafiz said that Nadi was pre-pared to host the pag-eant after the announce-ment was made by

Marie Wins Hibiscus, Ready for National Pageant

By SERELISONI MOCEICA


encourage investors to take opportunity of de-velopment opportunities which will enhance busi-ness growth.

“Nadi Town Council and NCCI had engaged in sev-eral forums, discussions and resolutions that we were supportive of since it has all the merits rather than demerits,” Dr Raju said.

“Wonderful and excit-ing times loom ahead and augurs well for the overall economic growth of this country.”

The Chamber however said there were issues that still needed to be ad-dressed such as littering, stray animals, the beauti-fication of the town area and others.

Miss Hibiscus 2015, Marie Fall after the crowning Photo: SUPPLIED.

Minister for Local Govern-ment, Praveen Bala at the crowning of Miss Bula.

Ms Fall however was shocked and teary eyed as she took the stand after her name was called out as Hi-biscus queen.

Suva City Council’s Sarah Vamarasi was first runner up as well as Miss Charity and Mr APCO’s Tevita Tobeyaweni was crowned Hibiscus King.

The aerial view of Nadi which is to become a city by 2017.Photo: SUPPLIED.


THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 3

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LOCAL NEWS

Rotary Club for AbandonedCouple

Senior citizens, Jai Prasad, 68 and Pushpa Wati, 67 were pleasantly surprised after the Nadi Rotary donated about $500 worth of groceries to the family.

Members of Nadi’s Ro-tary Club responded to the plea of assistance from this elderly couple who were abandoned by their chil-dren.

Items including a gas stove and tank, groceries, clothing and linen, mat-tress, crockery, pots and

pans were delivered dur-ing a visit made to the couple who now reside at Sabeto.

“The couple had no-where to go and had no belongings so Rotary had to immediately step in to assist with the resources that were available to us,” said club president, Hemant Kumar.

The couple has also been allocated a piece of land in Sabeto to live and farm on to help them pro-vide for their daily needs in the future.

Rotary club members gathered the items and vis-

ited the couple in Sabeto.The Prasads were forced

to relocate after their chil-dren left them homeless more than a week ago.

A new facility to cater for the increasing problem of overcrowding of female inmates is set to be open soon.

Overcrowding at the Women’s Corrections Centre was a major issue for prison inmates.

The $5.77 million facil-

$5.77M Facility to Accommodate Female Inmates

ity which is yet to officially be opened in Lautoka will help solve this issue.

Fiji Corrections Service Commissioner Lieuten-ant Colonel Ifereimi Vasu said that overcrowding was a major problem that the FCS Suva Centre was facing and the Lautoka Women’s Corrections Cen-tre would help solve this issue.

“As a consequence, this

has resulted in the mix-ing of convicted female inmates, with those on remand as there was no separate facilities for the latter, even though one for males was opened in 2013 adjacent to the women’s centre,” he said.

The project will include the construction of build-ings, quarters, road works, fencing, CCTV, electricity and water connections.

Kumar Receives Timely Assistance

Give Clean water is a Non Government Organi-zation which aims to pro-vide clean drinking water to people living in commu-nities which do not have access to clean drinking water.

The group is made up of 13 dedicated individuals who have the heart to pro-vide clean drinking water to the less fortunate.

Amanda. L. Mineer, the President and Executive Director for the organi-zation said with a rise in water borne diseases, the group aimed to provide clean water for the villag-

ers who were prone to wa-ter borne diseases.

“We install water filters in the villages to help with water quality problems,” she said. She also men-tioned that the water filters which were used were very easy to clean and was an opportunity for the re-cipients to make the most of it.

“The simple water filters can be installed in individ-ual homes and rain water, borehole water, well water and even river water can be filtered to use later,” she said.

Krishna Kumar, a resi-dent of Aralevu, Nadi was one of the fortunate ones to receive the filter during the current dry spell.

By KATHRIN KRISHNA

By SERELESONI MOCEICA

By KATHRIN KRISHNA

“We have water disrup-tions at our place and we normally resort to rain and river water during these times. Now, since we have a water filter, we can make use of it and have clean drinking water for all our family members, all thanks to Give Clean Water,” he said.

Give Clean Water, has worked with local com-munities in Fiji for the past 7 years mainly in Viti Levu and has been working very closely with the local health department, identi-fying areas which have ty-phoid, diarrhoea outbreak and has installed water fil-ters in these areas.

The senior citizens have begun farming the land al-located to them by plant-ing cabbage, beans and herbs to provide for their

basic daily meals.In a recent statement,

the Rotary Club of Nadi is also organizing applica-tions for welfare payments

with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Pov-erty Alleviation.

Nadi Rotary club members with their gifts to the couple.Photo: SUPPLIED

The kumar family with the volunteers from Give Clean water in Aralevu Nadi.Photo: KATHRIN KRISHNA.

Sugar Bill Amendment

Parliament has decided to amend the Sugar In-dustry and the Sugar Cane Growers Fund Bills.

This after the Attor-ney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum moved for the amendments last week.

The amendment would mean an overhaul of the Board of the Sugar Cane Growers Council as the Sugar minister would be-

come the sole authority to appoint members includ-ing the chairperson.

The AG said this was also good news to the farmers who would cease to pay any fee to the Grow-er’s Fund.

“But it means they have to be financially prudent,” he said adding the Council would have to provide a budget to the Government who will cater for all ad-ministrative expenses.

The AG said amend-ments provided in the Bill

will ensure that the new Board functions produc-tively.

He also said the chang-es to the Sugar Industry Act which comes under amendments to the Bill would also ensure that sugar cane growers were fairly represented in the SCGC .

This fact would mean that issues would be better addressed.

A total of 31 members of parliament voted for the amendments.

By KATHRIN KRISHNA

The people of Yasawa, especially those who live in the northern islands of the group will benefit from the opening of a new secondary school.This was mentioned by Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy recently.

New School for Yasawa Residence Recieve Clean Water Asinate in US Seven’s Team

Give Free Water, an NGO has started helping people in remote areas access clean water.The organization began last week distributing filters to Aralevu in Nadi.

Another Serevi is making headlines. This time Waisale Serevi’s daughter, Asinate has been selected in the US women’s sevens squad. Asinate began her rugby career with Howlers, with whom her dad is a part of. Full story on back page.



LOCAL NEWS

Fiji Leads Charge to Cut Carbon Emissions

Fiji and its Pacific neigh-bours intend to lead the charge for drastic cuts in carbon emissions at the World Climate Summit at the end of November.

The comments were made by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama dur-ing the Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation (FIPIC) held in Jaipur, India on August 22.

“We have precisely 14 weeks to persuade the in-dustrial nations to put our survival before the wellbe-ing of their carbon pollut-ing industries,” Mr Baini-marama said.

He asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stand with Fiji and its is-land neighbours.

“To side with us rather than with what I have called the Coalition of the Selfish.”

“Those nations who are putting their interests be-fore the interests of those of us who are most vul-

nerable to climate change – the Small Island Devel-oping States,” Mr Bainima-rama said.

“All around us in Jaipur are reminders of India’s glorious past and the con-tribution it has made to the development of human ci-vilisation.”

“But tonight, we look to the future and the role India is destined to play in forging a better world for all mankind. And especial-ly the role it can play in the Pacific to improve the lives of all our people,” Mr Baini-marama said.

“Prime Minister Modi, you have the great honour to lead the world’s biggest democracy and a major power on the global stage. We in the Pacific look to India to take a greater lead in resolving the great chal-lenges of our time, which is why Fiji is strongly sup-porting India’s bid to be-come a Permanent Mem-ber of the United Nations Security Council.”

“For our part, we have the great honour to again

engage with you face to face to discuss ways in which we can strengthen India’s engagement with our region and our peo-ple,” Mr Bainimarama said.

He said as part of the global heritage, the Pacific belonged to the world but it was also “our home.”

“And we insist that it be respected.”

“Our people should nev-er again pawns or victims of disputes between the great powers.”

Mr Bainimarama said the Pacific needed to be kept peaceful and its pris-tine environment protect-ed for all time.

“For the ocean that sus-tains us to have its resourc-es utilised in a sustainable manner and to remain a sanctuary for the enjoy-ment of Pacific peoples and visitors from around the world for generations to come,” he said.

“Mr Prime Minister, we all have our individ-ual challenges as Pacific Small Island Developing States but some of these

PIDF Plans for Future Role

The University of the South Pacific’s School of Government, Develop-ment and International Affairs (SGDIA) recently organised a diplomacy roundtable on the emerg-ing role and future of the Pacific Islands Develop-ment Forum.

Speaking at the event held at USP’s Laucala Campus in Suva, Interim Secretary-General of PIDF, Mr Amena Yauvoli told members of the diplo-matic corps and staff and students of USP that PIDF was distinct from other regional organisations, in that it was a multi-sector and a multi-stakeholder organisation operating at national, regional and in-ternational levels.

With respect to the fu-ture of PIDF, Mr Yauvoli mentioned the organisa-tion’s upcoming annual event which was the third PIDF Summit scheduled from September 2-4 at the Grand Pacific Hotel.

The Summit will see the recruitment of a new Secretary-General and the adoption of some policies and guide to human re-sources and finance poli-cies,” he said.

With the theme of Building Climate Resilient Green Blue Pacific Econo-mies, Mr Yauvoli was confi-dent PIDF would be a new organisation internation-ally, with the signing of its new Charter that would take the organisation to a

new level.Another major highlight

of the event wouldl be the signing of a Declaration on climate change, which according to the Interim Secretary-General, was a major diplomatic step on the road to the Climate Change Conference in Par-is in December.

Mr Yauvoli told the audi-ence at USP’s FBE lecture theatre that the diplomacy roundtable provided a good opportunity for many people to know the current and future role of PIDF and Pacific Regionalism.

USP’s Coordinator of Postgraduate Studies in Diplomacy and Interna-tional Affairs, Associate Professor Gregory Fry high-lighted that the roundtable was part of the school’s outreach activity which sought to involve ambas-sadors, international agen-cies, regional institutions and NGO representatives on key issues of interest to them.

“PIDF is a relatively new organisation which has a number of innovative fac-ets including its focus on green growth, sustainable development and inclu-sion of non-government organisations and private sector,” he said.

This, he stated generat-ed a lot of interest among international observers and staff and students of USP on how PIDF had been working since its inception in 2012 and what its future plans are in implementing its commitment to green growth.

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

The Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. Photo: SUPPLIED

are common to us all,” Mr Bainimarama said.

He said population growth was placing an unprecedented strain on island environments. He added there was a need for urgent individual and collective action to prevent the unsustainable use of resources on land and at sea.

Mr Bainimarama said the most pressing issue faced and the one that required the most urgent response was the grave threat posed to Pacific Is-land countries by the ris-ing sea levels and extreme weather events caused by climate change.

“We are all suffering in the Pacific to a greater or lesser extent. But in the case of three of our na-tions – Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall islands – their very existence is threat-ened. And unless the in-dustrial nations agree to binding cuts in carbon emissions to arrest the cur-rent level of global warm-ing, these nations are des-

tined to sink beneath the waves and disappear off the map altogether,” Mr Bainimarama said.

“What will happen to their citizens is one of the great challenges the world will face. Fiji has offered permanent sanctuary to the citizens of Kiribati and Tuvalu, our nearest neigh-

bours. But all this presents a range of logistic and legal challenges which the inter-national community needs to address,” Mr Bainima-rama said.

Irresponsible Policy Making Cause of Global Problems

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

Dame Meg Taylor said it has been seen globally that the consequences of irre-sponsible and shortsighted policy making resulted crumbling economies, massive job losses, and even regional disintegra-tion.

Dame Taylor, the Secre-tary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat made the remarks during the Comprehensive Con-sultations on Pacific Trade held at the Shangri-La Re-sort on August 20.

“Regional economic in-tegration including through trade-led growth that is sustainable and which reaches all our people re-mains a high priority for the Forum,” Dame Taylor said.

“We are committed to achieving improvements in our collective wealth and prosperity, and positive growth in our region.”

“Trade and commerce must be undertaken in a responsible and inclusive manner.. The very opposite of what we are promoting in the region. Your role as vigilant observers, com-mitted practitioners, and

diligent policy makers is important.”

“Small and Medium En-terprises (SMEs) are the backbone of any economy, and more so in the Pacific islands.”

“Business structures that allow our smaller and micro-businesses to flour-ish as part of our efforts to distribute wealth equitably in the Pacific islands are an important component,” Dame Taylor said.

”Our geographic isola-tion and the associated high cost of participation in international trade are our major structural con-straints. The consultations earlier in the week have discussed how more effi-cient, transparent and pre-dictable border procedures will create an enabling en-vironment for cross-border trade and investment that would significantly benefit countries and businesses of all sizes, but most nota-bly for SMEs.”

She said another high-light had been the op-portunities available for increased trade within the region, and also for the region to engage in South-South trade that had been growing significantly. This was an area of trade that

she strongly encouraged the traders to pursue.

“I recognise that dis-cussions on trade in our region have not been with-out controversy. But in my visits to Forum member countries and in my meet-ings with Leaders, eco-nomic development re-mains uppermost. And our Leaders have consistently agreed on the fundamen-tal contribution of trade to economic growth.”

“Let me assure you that the region’s drive for eco-nomic growth and trade is very much grounded in sustainable economic growth and an inclusive process. This includes en-suring that our women, our youth and our actors in the informal sectors are part of inclusive solutions for growth,” Dame Taylor said.

“In a broader context,

Pacific Leaders have insti-tuted an inclusive Frame-work for Pacific Regional-ism through which we are able to invite every individ-ual and community from the Pacific to voice what they think should be the priorities that our Leaders need to focus on,” Dame Taylor said.

Dame Taylor

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

The national Flying Fijians squad has been named and predictions are pointing to the team emerging from the pool of death alongside Australia. Former Wallaby Greg Smith is one betting on this.

Smith Bets On Fiji



LOCAL NEWS

The Sands of Time char-ity benefit that was held at Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa last weekend was a great success.

The Sigatoka Sand Dunes is Fiji’s only National Park and is shortlisted as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. It is a unique site which combines a land-scape found nowhere else in Fiji or the region.

Sigatoka Sand Dunes is the most visited of the Na-tional Trust’s eight sites and is the flagship property on Viti Levu.

Chairperson for National Trust of Fiji Robin Yarrow said that the Trust’s over-riding objective for this important site was one of continuous improvement to ensure all visitors, resi-dents and tourists alike, had an enjoyable, mean-ingful and safe experience.

“Tourists in particular are increasingly interested to learn about Fiji’s rich heritage – much of which makes us stand-out as dif-ferent from competing is-land destinations. Satisfied visitors will support this endeavor, grow and sus-tain our economy and also assist with enhancing our other less accessible heri-tage sites”, he says.

The National Trust of Fiji was grateful for the recent government grant which had funded their Visitor Centre extension.

“We are fortunate to have such wonderful friends at Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa, to-gether with their Bilo Bar Club – The National Trust is especially grateful for the significant cash donation by the Club as well as for those in-kind that the Club has facilitated from various

Sigatoka Sand Dunes Charity Benefit a Success

Rakhi a Festival of Love and ProtectionRaksha Bandhan is a

Hindu Festival that cele-brates the love and duty of protection between broth-ers and sisters.

Raksha Bandhan in Sanskrit literally means “the tie or knot of protec-tion”. The word raksha means to protect and the word Bandhan is the verb to tie.

This tradition of Rakhi was brought to Fiji by the indentured labourers and since then, it has been observed throughout the month of August.

Usually the sister per-

By KATHRIN KRISHNA

Commisioner Western Manasa Tagicakabau (Middle) with participants of the workshop at Hexagon Hotel, Nadi.Photo: KATHRIN KRISHNA.

Make my DayTO ALL COUPLES: If you

cry every day in your rela-tionship, sit down…….take a deep breath and think – did I marry a human or an onion.

I asked my trainer which machine I should use at the gym to impress beautiful women…he pointed out-side and said “the ATM ma-chine”.

A Southern state trooper was asked on an exam: what would you do if you had to arrest your own mother. In the blank he wrote “Call for back up”.

How do you know when a man is about to say some-thing smart? He starts by saying “My wife once told me……..”

Husband takes wife to a dance club and there’s a man on the floor giving large break dancing, moonwalk-ing, back flips, the works. Wife turns to the husband and says “See that guy? 25 years ago he proposed to me and I turned him down. Hus-band says “Looks like he is still celebrating.”

There are approximately 1,010,300 words in the Eng-lish language but I still can-not string enough words together to properly express how much I want to hit you with a chair.

A state trooper pulled over an old man for speed-ing. The officer said to the man “if you can give me an excuse I never heard before

Women of West (WOW) are spearheading initiatives to assist locals suffering from mental health. A gala night is planned for September 5 at the Sheraton on Denarau where proceeds will go towards this worthy cause.

Gala Night to raise Funds

New Public HolidayFiji will have a new public holiday next year. Constitu-tion Day was passed in parliament and will be an ad-dition to other public holidays being observed in Fiji

business houses, towards our gate and fence proj-ect, which we are all here to support this evening”, he conclude.

Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa General Manager Craig Powell said that they intended to raise the standards of the facilities in general, so the site could achieve the status of a World Heritage Site.

“This will not only pre-serve its place in Fiji for future generations but will also turn into a world class tourist attraction, showcasing our culture and history, as the site provides significant clues to the earliest human presence in Fiji. This was discovered by a team of archeologists in the late 1980’s.“

“In addition we will en-hance its existence as a place of education for our children and the commu-nity and testament to this, is the number of school field trips that the Sand Dunes accommodates throughout the year.”

Mr Powell thanked the chief guest the Turaga Na Kalevu Ratu Kinijoji Navono Vosailagi for ac-cepting the invitation in his first official capacity as the paramount chief of Nadroga.

He also thanked His Excellency the President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, Barry Hancock, Lata Yaqona, the Trustees of the Bilo Bar and Davui Club for making the trip to be with them and for the generous donation of FJD$30,000 from the club to go towards the perim-eter fencing that was now under construction.

A total of $24,000 was raised on the auction items alone and over $40,000 on ticket sales.

The President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau Shares a l ight momentwith Turaga Na Kalevu, Ratu Kinijoji Vosailagi.Picture by: MARGARET NAQIRI.

I’ll let you go.” The old man said to the officer “several years ago my wife ran off with a state trooper and I thought you were him trying to bring her back to me.” The officer said “slow it down and have a nice day.”

Your birthday is the one day in the year that people you never talk to on Face-book post on your wall.

I never knew why women love cats. Cats are indepen-dent, they don’t listen and they don’t come in when you call, they like stay out all night and when they are at home they like to be left alone and sleep. In other words every quality that women hate in men they love in cats.

forms a prayer session and ties the rakhi on her brother’s wrist which sig-nified the love and her best wishes for his long life.

In return, the brother ritually pledges to protect and take care of his sister under different circum-stances.

The festival is also ob-served between cousins or distant family mem-bers sometimes between biologically unrelated men and women.

The festival brings to-gether men and women from different religions, diverse ethnic groups and ritually emphasizes har-mony and love.

Ximon Shankar and Samantha Shankar during the Rakhi fes-tival at their Nadi Home. Photo: KATHRIN KRISHNA.

Sweets Prepared for Raksha Bandhan. Photo: KATHRIN KRISHNA.

By MARGARET NAQIRI



LOCAL NEWS

There will be a Constitu-tion Day from September 7 beginning next year.

This was proposed and passed during a motion by the Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum this week.

The A-G had moved that the Speaker consider the Employment Relations Promulgation Amendment Bill 2015 and during the mo-tion also proposed the new holiday.

“The Bill also proposes a new public holiday which will be called the Constitu-tion Day which is the 7th of September where people will get to know the mer-its of the Constitution,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

He said many countries had a Constitution Day as they hold the Constitution in

New Public Holiday for Fijihigh regard.

“It will be ingrained in our society,” the A-G said.

The Attorney General said there was a need to create awareness about the Constitution.

Trade and Industry min-ister, Faiyaz Koya said the Constitution was for all Fiji-ans and there was a need to uphold it.

Members of the Opposi-tion argued against the Bill and with Kini Kiliraki add-ing that there was a need to establish a holiday for the indigenous population.

He said the holiday for the Indigenous could be marked for August 10 which is also the World Indigenous Peoples Day.

The Bill was passed de-spite strong criticism from members of the Opposition.


The Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alle-viation has urged families to establish a strong fam-ily foundation, through nurturing the values of re-spect and care for senior citizens.

The advice came from the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alle-viation, Hon Rosy Akbar, in light of the recent reports highlighted regarding the welfare of senior citizens.

Aligned to the Minis-try’s caring approach to senior citizens, Minister Akbar visited the elderly couple in Sabeto on Satur-day 29th August 2015.

Mr Jai Prasad,68 and his wife Pushpa Wati 67 thanked Mrs Akbar for the visit and assistance provided to them. This fol-lowed an assessment car-ried by the Ministry and the couple were approved to be assisted through the Poverty Benefit Scheme.

“The Ministry will con-tinue to reach out to se-nior citizens in such cases to ensure that their wel-fare and wellbeing is not compromised in any situ-ation,” Mrs Akbar said.

“We have continued to reiterate on the need for families address such issues through care, un-derstanding and com-munication process. For the ministry, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the senior citizens has al-ways been of great impor-tance- and we will go out of our way to assist them in every way possible,” Minister Akbar said.

However, Minister Ak-bar has called on stake-holders to practice more responsibility when reporting such cases through media. During the Minister’s visit and find-ings, it was revealed that the couple was not aban-

doned by their children and the story had been ex-aggerated.

“Upon the Ministry’s as-sessment of this case, it is found that the couple had left because of a family dis-pute. They left by choice and certainly not aban-doned as mentioned in some of the initial reports. It’s essential in such cases to ensure sensible report-ing through providing thor-ough assessment of the cases before drawing to any conclusion.”

“Upon our discussion with the family, the sons have assured their sup-port for their parents. Any issues concerning fami-lies are sensitive and if not handled with care, it could further damage relation-ships among families,” Minister Akbar said.

Meanwhile, Minister Ak-bar also visited 85 year old Sheema Chand Reddy, a senior citizen who was al-legedly assaulted in Nadi last month.

Minister Akbar said the Ministry in partnership with Non-Government Or-ganisations (NGO’s) will take appropriate measures to increase public aware-ness on the issue.

“The Ministry through National Council for Older Persons (NCOP) is focused on creating an inclusive, supportive, an enabling environment for senior citi-zens. Any matters concern-ing the welfare of senior citizens, should be treated with urgency and as such the Ministry will continue to increase its reach out to the ageing population. They should not and will not be neglected and for-gotten for they have con-tributed towards the de-velopment of our nation,” Minister Akbar said.

Minister’s Visit Brings Relief to Senior Citizens

Supervisor of Elections at Fiji Elections Office, Mohammed Saneem.Photo: GOOGLE

The Attorney General Hon. Aiyaz Saiyed Khaiyum presenting the constitution to a diplomat. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Hon Rosy Akbar with Mr & Mrs Jai Peasad. Photo: SUPPLIED.

(From theleft) The 85 year old Sheema Chand Reddy having a onversation withHon.RosyAkbar.. Photo: SUPPLIED.



LOCAL NEWS

Bainimarama Upgrades Radio BroadcastingRadio broadcasting will

be modernized soon to that will see an increase in-formation being accessed by Fiji’s remote islands.

The upgrading is being done on existing medium wave AM infrastructure and trans-missions, which was not commercially viable busi-ness but which has much greater access than FM broadcasts.

The Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, while launching the up-grade said this was the only way which provided remote communities with a signal strong enough to carry radio programming.

Through this upgrade, the Fiji Broadcasting Cor-poration will be able to provide clearer and more dependable programming to Fijians in maritime areas and improve the overall quality of radio coverage for all Fijians. Indeed, I am told that on a good day this signal could be picked up even in New Zealand”, Mr Bainimarama said.

The project was made possible by the assistance of the Japanese Govern-ment in the form of a $14.5 million grant.

“Fiji is eager to access the top-of-the-line equip-ment and technology pro-

vided to us by the Japa-nese Government.”

“Not only are we get-ting technology capable of reaching the furthest reaches of the country but it will provide the entire na-tion with a reliable service for many years to come”, Mr Bainimarama said.

He said Fiji and Japan shared a strong commit-ment to democracy and public participation where-by both countries under-stood that access to infor-

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

The Edulink II-funded LifeLongLearning for En-ergy Security, Access and Efficiency in the African and Pacific Small Island Developing States (L3EAP) project announced the de-cision to produce an on-line version of a generic training course in energy that will be available to all.

The announcement was made during the third L3EAP project meeting held in Mauritius on 10-11 July this year.

The 3-year project, cur-rently in its second year, is being undertaken by a consortium of three uni-versities from Germany (Hamburg University of Ap-plied Sciences), Mauritius (University of Mauritius) and Fiji (The University of the South Pacific).

The generic course in Energy Access, Security and Efficiency (EASE) is for

energy practitioners rang-ing from high-level govern-ment decision-makers to non-governmental organ-isation staff.

The course will provide training in the essentials of energy production and use in the African and Pacific Small Island Developing States. The moodle-based course will be made avail-able online to the global readership via the Ham-burg Open Online Univer-sity (HOOU) that is being developed by the City of Hamburg in Germany.

The meeting also agreed to develop short workshop-based courses for special individual needs of the consortium members, in-cluding a course in energy consultancy and financing.

Associate Professor at USP’s School of Engi-neering and Physics, Dr Anirudh Singh said that

Online Genetric Training Available Soon

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama with the Japanese Ambassador to Fiji, Takuji Hanatani after signing the deal for the project for rehabilitation of the medium wave radio transmission. Photo: PAULINI RATULAILAI of Fiji Sun

mation was a fundamental requirement of a function-ing democracy.

“Access to information is the life blood of a na-tion. It saves lives when we can boost our disaster and emergency readiness by broadcasting national warnings of natural disas-ters.”

“It helps close the gap between those living in re-mote parts of Fiji and the big islands, and promotes greater economic oppor-

tunities by putting them on equal footing.”

“It improves the quality of our education by bring-ing everyone the latest technical and scientific in-formation. And it is an im-portant tool in enabling Fiji to reach its true potential. It improves the quality of our democracy by providing equal access to informa-tion, as well as the right to equal opportunity and sub-stantive justice contained in our Constitution,” Mr

Bainimarama said.“A raft of programming

has been introduced that is relevant to modern Fiji and especially our young peo-ple. And the Government especially appreciates those home-grown pro-grams like Bati Ni Tanoa, Fijian Smiles, talk back shows and community programmes that are not only highly entertaining but are bringing us even closer together as a nation,” he said.

“No matter where you are, my Government wants you to stay up to date with the most relevant news and all the latest develop-ments in Fiji and overseas. And we are committed to delivering this service to you wherever you live,” Mr Bainimarama said.

the demand for a readily-available course in energy had been felt in the region for a long time, especially within the energy depart-ments and other govern-ment institutions working on energy.

He said a course was needed to train and upskill mature students already in the workforce and the pe-rennial issue was the lack of access to students for an appropriate course at USP and other institutions.

The L3EAP project fo-cuses on efficient methods of using clean and afford-able energy and is being undertaken by a global consortium of universities, consisting of HAW Ham-burg, Mauritius, PNG UNI-TECH and USP.

According to Dr Singh, the project which began in 2014, has had tremen-dous success in both its

networking and outreach events as well as its core task of developing energy courses.

“Project L3EAP has an active involvement of students through its Stu-dents Volunteer Scheme, designed to provide them with some real-life experi-ence in workshop organ-isation and project man-agement,“ he said.

One of the decisions reached at the meeting in

Mauritius, was to hold the end-of-project conference in Fiji, and to vigorously pursue the networking aims of the project.

The three-day confer-ence, dubbed the Inter-national Conference on Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) – Energy Access, Security and Efficiency in the African, Caribbean and Pacific SIDS will be held in early July 2016.

Dr Singh added that the

planned conference will provide an opportunity to discuss the progress made so far in providing energy access to all Pacific com-munities since the an-nouncement of SE4ALL initiative by the Secretary General of the UN in 2012.

q PRESS RELEASE

Consortium member s at the Mauritius conference in July. Photo: COURTESY USP



LOCAL NEWS

Expect More Cold Nights Ahead

Stock up on blankets and socks as more cold nights are expected for the division.

This was confirmed by the Fiji Meteorological Ser-vices weather forecast.

The extra cold condi-tions are a result of the wind flow from the South according to the FMS.

Fine weather is fore-casted for Nadi and the rest of the western divi-sion.

However for Votualevu resident Nanise Gavidi, the cold nights meant more family time.

“We have just been heading straight home af-ter work, no one feels like going out anywhere so it’s just DVDs, blankets and sleep for the whole fam-ily’” Ms Gavidi said.

FMS said the dry condi-

tions will also continue as showers will be few and far in between.

The outlook for the rest of the week is fine weather for the jet set town.

The Centre has forecast-ed rough seas as a strong wind warning remains in force for all Fiji waters.




LOCAL NEWS

Citizens of Lautoka can look forward to the con-struction of an Olympic size swimming pool once approval is given by Gov-ernment.

Lautoka City Council CEO Jone Nakauvadra said the council was presently putting everything on pa-per before seeking govern-ment’s approval.

Mr Nakauvadra said the proposal will be sent to government once every-thing was documented and wait for approval.

The swimming pool, which will be opened to the public at a fee, will be built on a space in the Bo-tanical Gardens near the children’s park.

“Our commitment is there to build the swim-ming pool,” he said.

Meanwhile work on the new look Churchill Park was ongoing with earth works presently being

done.“Once we complete

this, then we will start on the turf around October,” Mr Nakauvadra said.

The embankment will initially be grass with plans

New Olympic Size Swimming Pool for Lautoka

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Rosy Akbar while meeting with the senior citizens of Chanel Home of Compassion in Tamavua, Suva. Photo: SUPPLIED.

The example of an olympic size pool which is expected in Lautoka. INSET: Works in progress at Churchill Park in Lautoka Photos: SUPPLIED

later to provide cement seating.

The park will also boast a new international stan-dard athletics track while facilities at the ground will also be bolstered up.

“This project is being funded by the council and unlike the national stadi-um which is run by the Fiji Sports Council, our work is ongoing when funds are available,” he said.

The construction of the open market is at the fin-ishing stage with the open-ing scheduled for next month.

Mr Nakauvadra said the other major project pres-

ently underway in the sug-ar city was the construc-tion of Tappoos building.

“Work is progressing well here,” Mr Nakauvadra said.

New Secondary School for Yasawa’s

The Yasawa group of is-lands will have its second secondary school.

This was confirmed by Education Minister Dr Ma-hendra Reddy following his visit to two schools in Northern Yasawa.

The new secondary school is to be built on the northern most islands in the group.

Yasawa presently has only one secondary school Yasawa High School situ-ated on Naviti Island and students living further up in the group have to travel by boat or board at this school.

With the establishment of the new secondary school, islands like Mata-cawalevu, Tavewa, Nacula and Yasawa will find it eas-ier to travel to.

The Minister met with the Tui Drola, Ratu Epeli Vuetibau to discuss the way forward for the new Junior Secondary School.

The Northern Yasawa has six rural island Pri-mary Schools whom at most time face difficulties in sending their children to further their secondary education in the mainland of Viti Levu and Yasawa High School as it was un-economical for them.

“I thank the Tui Drola for his vision to expand education here in North-ern Yasawa. This is what we are working towards, to ensure that every Fijian student access education and pursue their dreams in life,” Dr Reddy said.

“This is a new model where there is resource optimisation. The Primary School and Junior Sec-ondary School will share infrastructure such as the Library, IT Lab and play-ground. The Junior Sec-ondary School will have Years 9 and 10 from 2016.

“We will provide $100,000 to establish the new secondary school in Nacula to assist students in this part of Yasawa. Our Asset and Monitoring Unit is currently working on beginning construction of the new classrooms in Oc-tober this year and we will have the school operate in 2016,” Dr Reddy said.

The Tui Drola, Ratu Epeli Vuetibau expressed his appreciation and said

this was great news for the community of Northern Ya-sawa as they will now have a Secondary School close to them and their chil-dren would stay with them while attending Secondary education.

“In the past parents paid hefty amount of money to send their children to get secondary education and at times some dropped out of school because their parents could not afford to pay their travelling and other relevant expenses to stay with relatives in the mainland of Viti Levu. I am indeed thankful to the Prime Minister, Minister and the Ministry of Educa-tion for this approval as this will greatly assist our chil-dren access Secondary ed-ucation,” Ratu Epeli said.

This initiative is in line

with the government’s national strategic plan to make education accessi-ble and affordable to every Fijian student.

By CHARLES CHAMBERS Yasawa Islands. Photo: GOOGLE

Digicel has introduced the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 smartphone the first in Fiji.

“This is yet another first for Fiji as we unveil the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5,” Digicel Fiji’s Head of Marketing, Ms. Sheryl Singh said.

“We have been at the fore-front of cutting edge technologies and the next is now for our customers to enjoy, “ she said.

“This handset is great value and if you’re looking for a phone with a large screen, the Galaxy Note 5 is by far the best choice for you. It represents cutting edge technology”.

“The phone has gor-geous metal and glass designs, offer fast perfor-mance and long battery life and capture excellent photos,” Ms Singh said.

The Galaxy Note 5 comes with a stylus pen which will make writing texts and emails easier. The S Pen feels natural and the multi-window feature is useful as it allows you to open more than one app at a time in a split screen view.

The Galaxy Note 5 is the best looking Note phone Samsung has ever made.

It has smooth metal edges and a glossy glass curve. The phone is incredibly light and thin. The phone offers sharp and crisp dis-plays and renders colours vibrantly.

The latest addition in

Digicel Launches Samsung Galaxy Note 5 First in Fiji

the Samsung Galaxy Note series was launched last month and will be selling at Digicel stores for $2,499.

q PRESS RELEASE

The new Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Photos: GOOGLE.



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The example of an olympic size pool which is expected in Lautoka. INSET: Works in progress at Churchill Park in Lautoka Photos: SUPPLIED



TWISTED FAMILIES PREMIER

Twisted Families pre-miere night at Village 4 certainly created a buzz amongst the invited guests.

The film, shot in New Zealand, featured local businessman Jagdish Pun-ja.

The movie was based on family reactions and at-titude towards children, es-pecially during times when courting and marriage in-

tentions are in the air.The cast of the film

were on hand to greet and mingle with the guests and on the other hand it was an occasion for the locals to get ‘up close and personal’ with the stars.

About 200 people turned up to the premiere night and socialized with a lot of refreshments and pictures taken with the stars.

The pictures featured on this page clearly depicted the mood of the evening.

Twisted Families Movie Premiere Night in Pictures

By CHARLES CHAMBERSGlimpses from the premiere. Photos: MARGARET NAQIRI



LOCAL NEWS

Glimpses from the premiere. Photos: MARGARET NAQIRI

Sofitel Resort‘s ball-room was transformed into the Greek Theatre and the memories of mu-sic legend Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night seemed a reality.

Tribute artist Gary Ryan of England, with the hus-kiness of his voice remi-niscing the music icon’s unique singing style sent the guests back in time with renditions of Dia-mond’s hits.

Diamond’s captivating performance at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August 1972 and the same concert recorded on the old long playing records as an album titled Hot August Night still lists as one of the artist’s most rousing per-formances.

For those who had grown up alongside Dia-mond’s music, this was the closest they had got to witnessing the superstar perform.

Hits such as Red Red Wine, Sweet Caroline, Cracklin’ Rose, Song Sung Blue, Soolaimon, I am..I said, Solitary Man and Crunchy Granola Suit had those present thinking the 70’s never went anywhere.

Sofitel’s Director of Sales

and Marketing Michael Bell was very pleased with the success of the show, and the prospect of what the future could present to this renowned resort.

“We were delighted with the turnout at our first ever Tribute Night here at Sofitel Fiji,” Mr Bell said.

“We had nearly 200 guests dancing the night away to the hit songs of the legendary American art-ist,” he said.

Mr Bell said the resort had brought Ryan to Fiji and his performance was the stepping stone for other such concerts in the future.

He said the tribute art-ist was reputed to be one of the world’s top Neil Dia-mond Tribute Artists and travels the world perform-ing as the superstar.

Mr Bell knew too well of

Ryan’s caliber as a tribute artist.

“I had used him a num-ber of times in various ho-tels in the United Kingdom and every time he per-formed the event was sold out,” Mr Bell said.

“Following the suc-cess of Saturday night, we would look to do further tribute nights during the coming year” he said.

Neil Diamond Tribute Rocks Sofitel

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

Neil Diamond show at Sofitel. Photos: SUPPLIED

Guest enjoying the moment at the Neil Diamond show at Sofitel.

Sofitel Fiji Ambassadors Walk for Cure Kids

Staff of Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa would have to be one of the best looked af-ter workforce.

Amongst other ben-efits they receive from be-ing employed by this re-nowned resort, the staff ’s health is probably the main look-out for the hotel.

With that in mind Sofitel recently organized a walk-athon was the culmination of its Ambassador Well-ness Week.

This was done with the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of

the resort’s staff. Resort staff brought

their families along as they joined resort guests for a Walkathon for Cure Kids on Saturday 28th August on Denarau Island.

Fifty walkers set off from the resort for a 5km circuit of Denarau Island early that morning, led by Sofi-tel’s general manager Alan Burrows and included some resort guests.

Sofitel Fiji through its parent company, Accor Hotels, has been a long-term partner of the charity Cure Kids in Fiji, and this was a new fund-raising ini-tiative in aid of this charity, with the dual purpose of

getting the staff and their families involved in a fit-ness activity.

The resort’s annual Am-bassador Wellness Week featured activities such as medical and dental checks, donating blood, breast checks and pap smears, sandwich bar for lunch, HIV Aids and cancer awareness presentations, and a make-up sale and demonstrations.

Last week also saw the launch of a 3 month weight loss challenge, which has had 50 participants sign up to get in shape for the fes-tive season.

Ambassadors who par-ticipated in the Walkathon

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

for Cure Kids had sought sponsorship from family and friends, and the fund-raising total from this event for Cure Kids is expected to reach $1000.

Mr Burrows stated “the

walkathon was a great way to start the weekend and would become a fixture on the resort’s annual ambas-sador calendar of events. It is great to encourage our staff and their families to

come together for a good cause and also improve their fitness at the same time”.

Participants after te courtesy the walkathon organised by Sofitel. Photos: SUPPLIED.

Classroom environments plays a major role in either the advancement of chil-dren’s learning capabilities or its detrimental.

With this in mind Sofitel Resort revitalised Nadi Dis-trict School’s junior class-rooms in a refurbishment project – and the look of happiness on the children’s

faces following their two week break said it all.

As part of the resort’s Cor-porate Social Responsibility program, ambassadors from the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa took over the classrooms at Nadi District School during the recent school holidays with the aim to complete the refurbishment project to enhance the learning envi-ronment for the children.

The team of ambassadors were led by members of the

resort’s engineering team, who spent the school holi-days water blasting; painting walls, the roof of the 4 class-room block and classroom furniture.

They also installed new blackboards and pin-boards, purchased a steel storage cupboard and new teacher’s chair and desk for each of the four junior class-rooms.

Then staff then com-pleted minor repairs work,

purchased new computer desks and chairs for the teachers’ resource area, and built a roof over the school’s new recycling centre which the resort set up in April dur-ing their annual Planet 21 celebration.

The $10,000 project was funded through guest dona-tions to the resort’s commu-nity charity fund, which has also seen the resort donate sports equipment and recy-cling resources to the school earlier this year.

The resort’s General Man-ager, Alan Burrows, was on

hand to see the excitement in the students’ faces as they returned to their new-look classrooms on Tuesday, and experienced the gratitude of the teachers who appreciat-ed the make-over to bright-en up the classrooms.

Finishing touches to the walls were provided by stu-dents from the International School Nadi, who also vis-ited the school during this project to paint murals on the classroom walls.

Mr Burrows stated that August had been a month of action for the resort to follow

through on some commu-nity partnership initiatives, through this school project, along with the resort’s staff Walkathon for Cure Kids and donation of new bedding to Loloma Home.

Guests from Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa were invited to visit Nadi District School as part of the resort’s guest activities program, and the resort wass proud to support this local primary school where many students have parents working at Sofitel or one of the other Denarau re-sort properties.

Sofitel Fiji Brightens The Day of Nadi District School Junior Students

By CHARLES CHAMBERS



TOURISM

Fiji set another record in tourist arrivals in July this year.

This new record sur-passes the 2011 July figure by 10.3 percent and 12.3 percent higher than July last year.

Of the total number of ar-rivals, visitors from Australia and New Zealand made up 65 per cent of the total.

The increase in visitor numbers to Fiji continued to soar to new heights as a re-sult of strategies developed and intensively implement-ed by Tourism Fiji in its key source markets to increase and diversify Fiji’s tourist base.

The latest provisional figures released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS) showed that visitor arrivals for July 2015 have reached a new monthly record of 79,494 – surpassing the pre-vious high of July 2011 by 10.3 percent.

The July 2015 arrivals fig-ure is 8,678 or 12.3 percent higher than that of July 2014.

As a result, the total visitor arrivals for the first seven months of 2015 sits at 415,011, an increase of 35,584 or 9.4 percent com-pared to the same period in 2014.

According to FBoS fig-ures, New Zealand has seen a prevalent increase with 16 percent more arrivals com-pared to the same month last year. Australia has had a 6.8 percent increase. Austra-lia and New Zealand make up almost 65 percent of total visitor arrivals.

The increases are fol-lowed by the Pacific Islands of 1,710 (54.5 percent), the United States of 880 (13.2 percent), China of 754 (27.3 percent), Other Countries of 156 (43.8 percent), Canada of 108 (8.5 percent), South Korea of 49 (10.4 percent), and Japan of 32 (6.1 per-cent).

Tourism Fiji Executive Chairman, Mr Truman Brad-ley says the growth in the provisional figures released by FBoS was in line with the visitor arrivals targets set by Tourism Fiji.

“The positive trend to our visitor arrivals is a reflection of the elbow-greasing done by our team across our key markets to ensure more and more people want to keep coming to our country, as well as the efforts of the Government to put in place strategies to boost the tour-ism industry and our econ-omy.”

Mr Bradley explains that the opening of new flight routes to Fiji from Australia and New Zealand, visitor friendly immigration poli-

Visitor Arrivals Hit New Recordcies, the Tourist Tax Refund Scheme, putting in place innovative investment poli-cies, and improvements to the infrastructure are just some of the strategies that helps us attract more people to Fiji.

“The current provisional figures for the first seven months indicate that we have achieved almost 58 per cent of our visitor arriv-als target in a good way. The industry is expected to peak in the next three months and as a result we expect to achieve our target and give the much needed boost to the Fijian economy,” Mr Bradley says.

Meanwhile, Mr Bradley added that the arrival of the first New Zealand B787 Dreamliner to Fiji in October is expected to further boost tourist numbers from New Zealand – which has the second highest visitors to the country.

“We have a total of 72,870 New Zealanders visit the country from January to July 2015 and we expect to see continuous inflation in those numbers. The arrival of the Dreamliner is one way for us to be able to do that and the Tourism Fiji team will be de-ploying campaigns to lever-age the profile of what will be another historic moment for Fiji’s tourism industry, he said.”

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

Tourists arrive at the Nadi International Airport. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Julian SmithMartintar

Julian Smith, MartintarThe developments are good

for the city-to-be. The face for the new city.

Mohammed NabiSigatoka

The flow of traffic should be lighter now with the new roads. No more getting stuck in traffic.

Naushad AliNadi

The new buildings and hotels and even the roads will mean more investment for the town which in return will cre-

ate more jobs for us.

Nilesh ChandLautoka

The developments will make Nadi look even better now. New roads should be

able to make travelling in and around Nadi a bit easier in

terms of traffic.

Salote Wedlock CAAF Compound

They should be able to make Nadi look good and another tourism attraction.

Ashneel KumarNavakai Nadi

It is good for the people of Nadi because it is a tourist town and I think there should be

more developments.

Street Poll: What do you think of the current developments in Nadi?

The Segway Hire is a fun and unique way of touring at the Robinson Crusoe Is-land.

Brought in by fly board-ing couple, Tyce Winkler and Shaye Felsch, the ride is part of their Hydro Sports package that was recently introduced at the Resort.

“It’s fun, easy to operate and guests here are able to have their own individual tour with a guide to check

out the beauty of the is-land, Mr Winkler said.

“We want to be able to provide a unique way of touring that people are able to take on their own.”

According to the couple, the ride is fast becoming a popular avenue for tours on the island.

“It keeps you balanced and moves with you, easy to steer to whichever di-rection you want to go,” Mr Winkler said.

The Resort has special guides that help you tour around the island on the

Segway ride.The Hydro Sports pack-

age also includes fly board-ing and jet ski hires.

Touring on the SegwayBy SERELISONI MOCEICA

The segway ride. Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI



TOURISM

Fijian tourism operators from around Viti Levu were part of a successful week-long road show across New Zealand’s four major cities where they had the opportu-nity to market their products directly to more than 230 Travel Agents.

The ‘Around Viti Levu’ Roadshow was organised by Tourism Fiji’s New Zea-land Regional Office and attracted ten industry opera-tors – a group of nine resorts and Fiji Airways – who pre-sented their products to a selection of Travel Agents from Auckland, Christ-church, Hamilton, and Wel-lington between recently.

Tourism Fiji’s Regional Di-rector New Zealand, Wayne Deed says the road show enabled Fijian operators to present a variety of tourism products on Viti Levu to “en-courage New Zealand con-sumers to disperse and seek new experiences.”

“The road show is an important element of the work that we do to raise the profile of the ‘Fiji’ brand.

Tourism Operators Promotion in New Zealand

By KATHRIN KRISHNA

Street Poll: What do you think of the current developments in Nadi?

Through the event, Tourism Fiji is able to have increased destination awareness of Viti Levu as well as in-creased product knowledge of the front line agents that are present,” Mr Deed adds.

The need to organise and coordinate the roadshow was further highlighted dur-ing the Fijian Tourism Expo held in June this year, when buyers from New Zealand expressed their amazement with the range of properties and activities that Fiji had to offer.

To ensure that the road show met everybody’s ex-pectation, Tourism Fiji New Zealand provided all the logistical arrangements for the week and delivered an engaged audience to all the venues for the local tourism operators to engage with.

Radisson Blu Fiji Resort Director of Sales, Ms Su-zie Jones, who attended the road show, shared how impressed she was with the execution of the event by the Tourism Fiji New Zealand team. She emphasised that such an event was invalu-able to the Fijian tourism operators.

“One of the most im-portant aspects of this road

show is getting to the coal-face – the actual agents that book. We talk to our Prod-uct Managers in the main wholesaler market of New Zealand and they know our product well but being able to present to the agents that actually talk to the clients is a huge benefit,” Ms Jones says.

Sigatoka River Safari Man-aging Director, Mr Jay White, who was also present at the Roadshow in New Zealand, shared similar sentiments.

“It was definitely benefi-cial being able to speak with the front line sellers in New Zealand and provide them with the accurate and lat-est information about ‘what to do’ when holidaying in Fiji, adding “that the feed-back from those who at-tended the Roadshow was extremely positive and they loved knowing what their guests had on offer for their time in Fiji.”

“We look forward to an-other 2016 Roadshow and we would like to thank ev-eryone at Tourism Fiji New Zealand Office for their as-sistance in making the event such a success.”

Fly Boarding Into A Whole New Level

In a spectacular fuse of technology and tradition, guests at Robinson Crusoe Island Resort were treated to the world’s first ever fly boarding fire dance.

The fireworks display over the sea was the culmi-nation of entertainment pro-vided by the staff members to guests on the island last week.

Fly board product owners Shaye Felsch and TyceWin-kler said fly boarding was an exciting new adventure wa-

By SERELISONI MOCEICA ter sport and the couple was proud to have introduced it to the Resort.

“This is fly boarding taken to a whole new level and we aim to produce something that’s never been done be-fore,” Ms Felsch said.

She said the product was new in the country and would definitely attract a lot of interest.

“Fly boarding is the in-thing right now back home and it has always been our aim to bring it over to Fiji,” the Queenslander said.

Attached to a jet ski, the fly board is a water jetpack that fits like shoes and pro-

pels the wearer out of the sea and into the air.

The Resort’s Operations Manager Phil Andrickson said the water sport was a unique addition to the activi-ties available at the Resort.

“We’re very proud of be-ing the first to actually wit-ness the combination of fly boarding and fire dancing and a staff member has been trained for this, so this is a big moment for us,” he said.

Mr Andrickson was ada-mant that the water sport would attract more visitors to the Resort.

Tyce and Shaye Winkler with their fly boarder and a staff from Robinson Crusoe Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI.



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Skills • Leadership &

Management Skills• CT to WLT

8 Weeks $1100 Classes are held on Saturday from 9-3. Also offered in outer districts.Sigatoka: September/October

Workplace Leadership Training (WLT)

Those appointed or getting ready for leadership positions

• Staff Welfare & Safety• Human Resource

Management Skills• Leadership &

Management Skills • CT to PDT

8 Weeks $1350 Classes are held on Saturday from 9-3. Also offered in outer districtsBa/Tavua:September/October

Caregiving Fundamentals

Homecare workers or those pursuing a career in caregiving/ those seeking alternative employment here/abroad

• 110 hours of classroom theory, skills demonstrations

• First AID/CPR Training• 40 hours of practical

Day- 7 weeksEvening-9 weeks

$900 Only offered in Lautoka

Day & Evening class optionsSummer class on demand

Certificate II in IT

School students and adults

Those wishing to use computer skills in the workplace/Study effectively

• Fundamentals of IT• MS Word 2010 (Intro)• MS Excel 2010 (Intro)• MS Power point 2010

(Int)• Internet & Email

48 contact hours

$800 Can be delivered in any district if there are 20 participants per group.School Holiday class starting 18 August

MYOB People using MYOB.Those wishing to acquire MYOB skills to add value to CV and employability

• MYOB for Beginners• MYOB Intermediate• MYOB Advanced

2 days per stage

$250 per stage

Can be delivered in-house or on demand.Saturday & Evening class options

Train The Trainer (TOT)

Suitable for teachers, Government workers, private sector

• Stage 1- The Practical Trainer

• Stage 2- Facilitation Skills

• Stage 3- Advance Trainer

2 Saturdays per stage

$220 per stage

Can be delivered in any district if there are 20 participants

These courses are ongoing at USP Lautoka Campus. However, interested persons in other Western districts are encouraged to liaise with your networks and collect expressions of interest. You can then contact the undersigned for scheduling of training and other logistics.

To obtain the enrolment form and for further information, contact Rajendra Singh, el: 666 6800; fax: 6667133 or email: [email protected] or Babita Sharma; email: [email protected] or enquire at the USP Lautoka Campus, Western House, corner of Vidilo Street, Lautoka or visit our website: www.usp.ac.fj/lautoka

OHS MODULES 1 & 2 TRAININGAcquire knowledge and skills in identifying hazards, assessing and controlling risk and in contributing to occupational health and safety management in your organisation. It is mandatory in Fiji under Legal Notice 169 section 7(1) that OHS special training should be provided to health & safety reps and committee members in every work place. Safety at work is everyone’s concern.

Learning outcomes1. At the successful completion of the training participants will be able to:2. Explain the roles & functions of OHS representatives and the committee.3. Demonstrate the use of workplace arrangements to resolve workplace health & safety issues4. Describe methods used to identify workplace hazards & assess their risk factors.5. Apply OHS technology & communication skills6. Identify the relevant OHS regulations & codes of practice

Training content1. OHS act 1996 – application2. Workplace arrangements3. Establishment of OHS reps & committees4. Functions of the OHS committee5. Managing OHS – The 6 steps approach6. Current OHS regulations7. SMART audit8. Accident investigation & reporting9. Hazard identification & risk assessment & controls10. Hazardous substances

LAUTOKA CAMPUS

Dates, Days & Time Applications Due Date

Venue Fee

Saturday 5 September Saturday 15 September Saturday 19 September 9am – 4pm

28 August 2015 USP Lautoka Campus $320

To obtain enrolment form and for further information, contact: Rajendra Singh; tel: 666 6800; fax: 6667133 or email: [email protected] or Babita Sharma Email: [email protected]

or enquire at the USP Lautoka Campus, Western House, corner of Vidilo Street, Lautoka or visit our website: www.usp.ac.fj/lautoka

Target GroupThis training is open for all interested individuals.It is also available for in-house training deliveryTraining will also be delivered in other districts of the Western Division on demand. Interested persons are requested to liaise with your networks and collect expressions of interest. You can then contact the undersigned for scheduling of training and other logistics.



WORLD NEWS IN BRIEFExplosion rocks warehouse at U.S. military base in JapanAn explosion rocked a warehouse at a U.S. military base in Sagamihara, Japan, but there were no reports of inju-ries, Japanese fire officials said on Monday.The local fire department said it received a call just after midnight of an explosion at a U.S. Army depot where it said “dangerous material” is stored and sent firefighters. REUTERS

North, South Korea holds marathon talks in bid to end standoffTop aides to the leaders of North and South Korea ne-gotiated overnight and into Monday morning in a mara-thon bid to try to ease tensions involving an exchange of artillery fire that has brought the peninsula to the brink of armed conflict.The rare and unusually long meeting at the Panmunjom truce village inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) began on Saturday evening, shortly after North Korea’s dead-line for Seoul to halt anti-Pyongyang propaganda broad-casts or face military action.The North had deployed twice the usual artillery strength at the border and had more than 50 submarines away from base, the South’s defense ministry said on Sunday. REUTERS

Rapper Khalifa handcuffed at LA airportRapper Wiz Khalifa was handcuffed and then released by U.S. Customs officers after refusing to stop riding his hoverboard at Los Angeles International Airport, author-ities said on Sunday.A video on Khalifa’s Instagram site shows three U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers pinning Khalifa to the floor on Saturday and telling him to quit resisting.“I didn’t do nothing,” Khalifa tells them. “What you want to do? Put me in jail because I didn’t listen to what you say?” REUTERS

Seven killed as jet crashes into cars at UK airshowA jet aircraft ploughed into several cars on a busy road near an airshow in southern England on Saturday, killing at least seven people, police said.The vintage Hawker Hunter fighter jet crashed onto the A27 road, close to an airport in Shoreham where the airshow was taking place, near the south coast city of

Brighton.All those who died were on the road at the time of the crash, police said, adding that it was possible more bod-ies might be found overnight and on Sunday. The pilot is in a serious condition in hospital. REUTERS

Australian shares set to fall after slump on Wall StThe Australian share market is set for another heavy sell-off, following steep falls on European and US markets on Friday night.The benchmark ASX 200 already lost 1.4 per cent on Fri-day to close at 5,215 after a key index showed Chinese manufacturing had its sharpest contraction last month in more than six years.That triggered a 4.2 per cent slump in the main Shang-hai market and 5.4 per cent dive in Shenzen, defying re-cent government t efforts to stem the losses with stock purchases and selling bans on some shareholders. ABC News

US airman nabs train hijackerA US passenger who tackled a gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris said survival instinct led him to react.Off-duty US airman Spencer Stone said he had just wo-ken from a deep sleep when he saw the gunman and moved to restrain him on Friday.His friend, Alek Skarlatos, a member of the US National Guard, said the gunman appeared to have no training.French authorities say the suspect, Moroccan national Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25, has links to radical Islamism. BBC NEWS

Typhoon claims lives in PhilippinesTen people have been killed as Typhoon Goni dumped torrential rain in the northern Philippines, triggering land-slides and floods, officials say.Several were killed when houses were submerged under rocks and mud. Others are reported missing in flooded areas.Thousands of people have been evacuated to higher ground and some domestic flights were cancelled.At one point, Typhoon Goni was packing winds of winds of up to 195km/h (121mph). BBC News

Swiss planes collideAt least one person has been killed after two small planes

collided in mid-air during a show in northern Switzer-land, police say.The accident happened at around 9.30am GMT last weekend at Dittingen, near Basel.Swiss media say one of the pilots managed to escape by parachute and came a day after a military jet participat-ing in a show crashed onto a busy road in the south of UK. BBC News

Tony Abbott to visit Eddie Mabo’s grave Tony Abbott will today become the first prime minister to visit the grave of land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo on remote Murray Island in far north Queensland.The Prime Minister arrived on the Torres Strait Islands overnight to begin his annual week-long trip to a remote Indigenous community.Today he will visit the grave and be greeted by Mr Mabo’s family members and community representatives.

JULIE Bishop blast ALPForeign Minister Julie Bishop has called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to “show leadership” after Western Australian Labor politicians retweeted “appalling” jokes about former SAS soldier and Liberal Party candidate An-drew Hastie.He was not on the scene at the time and revealed on Saturday that he has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Defence Force. One officer is still under investigation over the incident.On Saturday, Western Australian Labor politician Darren West retweeted a tweet saying :”A chopper with Bronny in comes in to land & here’s Hastie’s chopper, to chop off your hand!”. SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Irishman in coma after punch An Irishman who is in an induced coma in hospital after a fight in Bondi Junction was the victim of a one-punch attack, police will allege.Jason Cierans, 29, was found unconscious and bleeding from the mouth just after 1am on Saturday when police were called to the Tea Gardens Hotel in Bronte Street following reports of a brawl.On Sunday, 30-year-old Argentinian national Adrian Ga-briel Martinez appeared in Parramatta Bail Court charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm over the at-tack.

Music to Your EarsPeni Nabainivalu and

his group of serenaders have established a big fol-lowing at the Tanoa Inter-national Hotel in Nadi.

The Mataso native from Rakiraki’s renditions of original Fijian songs which they have blended into their harmonious voices has captured the hearts of many.

Such is the popular-ity of their music that civil servants, top business executives and ordinary workers make the Tanoa International a stop when-ever they were in Nadi.

Nabainivalu’s silky touches to the guitar and keyboard were derived from his love for music and learning by listening.

The father of three chil-dren, Pauliasi, Yvonne and Patrick and grandfather of Patricia is sought after dur-ing his annual leave from work to place at weddings, company parties and vil-lage fundraising events.

Born in Lautoka, the 53 year old attended the then Lautoka Fijian School (now Delana Primary) be-fore going back to his vil-lage in 1970 to carrying on

his primary education.Nabainivalu was then

sent to his mother’s village of Dalomo in the Yasawa Group where he continued at Bukama Primary School and then on to Yasawa Ju-nior Secondary School in Naviti.

While staying with his parents at Mataso, his fa-ther Tevita Laulau bought him a wooden ukele with strings made up from fish-ing lines, beginning his adventure into the music world.

Later at Yasawa Ju-nior Secondary School he along with other students started music classes but far from what normal mu-sic lessons taught.

“Our teacher used to ask everyone to play one song and that was what our music class was,” he said.

The first band he joined was at Tokoriki Island Re-sort in the Mamanuca Group in 1990.

He was bandleader and his back up group in-cluded Semi Komai, who hailed from Koro Island and a landowner Jonasa Ramase.

Nabainivalu then moved across to Matamanoa Re-sort and teamed up with Semi, and Saimoni from Viwa Island.

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

Peni Nabainivalu with granddaughter Patricia. Photo: SUPPLIED

He spent two years there and landed a job at the newly opened Sonaisali Resort and played there for four months before mov-ing back to Matamanoa.

He later left Mata-manoa and came back to the mainland and stayed at Tuvu, between Ba and Lautoka and during this time met up with again with Mr Stein, who owned Matamanoa and Tokoriki and his son in Lautoka and he was asked to return to the island.

During this time at Matamanoa, he met Irene Chambers, who was work-ing in the boutique there and they later married.

In 1993 Nabainivalu moved to Tanoa Interna-tional and played along-side local musicians Josua Gagalia, Peniasi Ravusana, Jjone Saukuru and Akariva Yameyame.

“I have been at Tanoa since and the way the ho-tel management and own-er Mr Yenkat Reddy and his son Rohit have looked after me and my family has made it difficult for me to leave,” he said.

“I am thankful for their kind generosity, especially when my wife fell sick and the management staff travelled down from Nadi to Lautoka to visit her,” he

said.Presently at Tanoa the

trio includes Peceli Nasau from Savusavu and Sabeto villager Atunaisa Rasea.

At one stage he teamed up with Semi Nailaulau from Drauniivi village and Rasea, both of whom who had previously played at Raffles Gateway.

At that time at Tanoa, their instruments were an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and ukele but this changed six years later when new instruments including a keyboard was purchased by the hotel.

The band was also tak-en to Samoa to play at the Tusitala Samoa Hotel and also travelled to American Samoa where they enter-tained the locals there at the McDonald’s anniver-sary.

“I love playing easy lis-tening music and people like it because after a hard day or week’s work it takes away the stress,” he said.

I play old Fijian music the way it is and do not change it,” he said.

Nabainivalu has a love for the music of Jale Mar-eyawa, the late Sakiusa Bulicokocoko, Rootstrata, the Old Timers, Kula n Friends, Joe Beraki and Marika Tawakelevu among a few.

Under the name of Vuni-vadra Serenaders, Nabaini-valu alongside Nasau and Josua from Natalau put out their first disc which has 16 songs that is fast selling be-cause of the old Fijian hits.

On those that venture to Tanoa to listen to their music, Nabainivalu said whenever these avid fol-lowers come from Suva to

stay in Nadi, they were up at the hotel the first night and until they left.

“I usually ask them why they didn’t stay at the hotel they were booked in and listen to the house bands there, they said our mu-sic was more relaxing, He said.



LOCAL NEWS

Uncle Tom loves his music and it is this love that drives him to share his music in the streets of Nadi town every afternoon.

The popular Nadi musi-cian confesses that he is married to his guitar after his wife passed on sixteen years ago.

“My guitar is named af-ter my wife, Pauline who passed on about sixteen years ago,” said the 62 year old diehard musician.

Uncle Tom as he is pop-ularly known or Thomas Christopher Dean said he began playing guitar at the

tender age of twelve.“This is my life, I grew

up with music, my family loves to sing and I myself can’t stop singing, you will never find me without my guitar,” Uncle Tom said.

Uncle Tom is originally from Tailevu and moved to Nadi thirty years ago. He has five daughters and a son and lives on his own as his children have all mar-ried and moved away.

The musician said his music took him around the country as he moved into band after band plying his trade.

Uncle Tom started out with the Exodus, a local Fijian reggae band that performed in the 1970s in

Uncle Tom and PaulineSuva.

“We used to play at the Golden Dragons and then I moved on to the Quick-enders and played at the Oakley nightclub back then in Nausori,” he said.

Uncle Tom said grow-ing up with a musical fam-ily fueled his passion often skipping school to take his guitar to his family’s cassa-va patch to play in Tailevu.

“I listened to my mother playing the ukulele and taught myself the guitar,” he said.

“Every time I get to-gether with my two broth-ers, we will sing, we have about 11 guitars between us as we all share the love for music, even though


Tokoriki Island Resort has confirmed another five mission dollars exten-sion to its current facilties.

This was revealed by Chairman Andrew Turn-bull as the Resort celebrat-ed its 20th anniversary last week.

According to Mr Turn-bull the resort will close down in January 2016 for renovations to begin.

“We will be spending probably about $5 million because we are redoing the whole main complex,”

he said.Renovations also in-

clude a new jetty and heli-pad, new bar and refrigera-tion, kitchen, staff quarters and 36 swimming pools with one pool for each bure.

The chairman also con-firmed plans to build an-other four and a half star sister resort exclusively for couples.

Mr Turnbull is currently looking at purchasing real estate for this new venture.

Tokoriki Island Resort is based in the Mamanu-ca group and opened its doors in 1995

Mr Turnbull said the re-

sort now has a total of thir-ty six bure from the nine-teen it began with twenty years ago.

The chairman acknowl-edged the services pro-vided by the staff and said they were the resort’s most valuable commodity.

“There is an old saying here ‘Arrive as a visitor and leave as a friend’ and it’s just so true. What makes the difference is our staff because we treat them like family,” he said.

Representatives of stakeholders of the tour-ism industry were part of the celebrations on the is-land resort.

Tokoriki for Bigger and Better Things

they have their own jobs” he said.

The music enthusiast sings songs from the 60s, 70s and the 80s and his fa-vourite genre of music is the blues.

“You should all come around and watch me play, make song requests and I’ll sing them for you,” Uncle Tom said.

You will get swept away by the small man with the big voice as he stands out-side MH Supermarket with his Pauline.

Uncle Tom playing guitar utside MH Nadi Store. Photos: SERELISONI MOCEICA

Police Initiative for Human Rights

Police officers need to respect human rights and perform duties within the ambits of the law.

This was the stand tak-en by police officers in the western division as they finished a series in training workshops organized at the

AFL Academy in Nadi last week.

The sergeants, corporals and constables were from Ba, Rakiraki, Tavua, Nalawa, Namarai and Vatukoula and are part of steps taken by the Fiji Police Force to build a culture of respect.

“Police Officers are con-fronted with human rights 24 hours and are constantly

met with challenges and shortfalls which is why training on human rights is essential for the Fiji Police Force,” said Divisional Police Commander West Senior Superintendent Marika Yali-maiwai.

He said a change in mindset was needed to en-sure that officers applied the law according to principles of human rights.

“It is good and healthy for the Fiji Police Force to be ex-posed to human rights and I thank UNDP for their fund-ing support and SPC RRRT for facilitating this week’s

training.”United Nations Develop-

ment Programme repre-sentative Sonja Bachmann acknowledged the initiative taken by the Police.

“We are encouraged by the enthusiasm and engage-ment of the Fiji Police Force from the Commissioner of Police level down to the divi-sional level, which is impor-tant to progress on effective policing in line with human rights standards and human dignity,” she said.

The workshops were or-ganized in collaboration with the UNDP, Secretariat of the

Pacific Community Regional Rights Resource Team and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In a statement, the Po-lice said the objective of the

training was to help officers perform duties in compli-ance with the domestic leg-islative framework and also in accordance with inter-national human rights stan-dards.

By SERELISONI MOCEICAMembers of the Police gender training workshop and facilitators in Nadi. Photos: SUPPLIED




BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

vep

vep



BUILDUP TO RUGBY WORLD CUP 2015 - COMPILED BY CHARLES CHAMBERS

Buildup To Rugby World CupMcKee Confident Fiji Will Rise to the Challenge

Akapusi Qera captains a Fijian RWC 2015 squad that boasts an array of at-tacking talent even with the loss of Napolioni Na-laga, who has failed to re-cover from injury in time. Nalaga has been named as one of seven non-travel-ling reserves.

However, Crusaders star Nemani Nadolo, who missed Fiji’s World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2015 title-winning campaign due to a leg injury, does take his place in the squad after undergoing a suc-cessful rehabilitation pe-riod.

Ben Volavola’s impres-sive showing in the Pacific Nations Cup has earned the former Australia U20 international a call up at fly-half where he will compete with Lepani Boti, Gabby Lovobalavu and Josh Matavesi for the num-ber 10 jersey.

Qera, who will be ap-pearing in his third Rugby World Cup, will be assist-ed by vice-captains, centre

Vereniki Goneva and hook-er Sunia Koto.

“I am very pleased to announce a very strong and experienced team to represent Fiji at RWC 2015,” John McKee said.

“After the successful Pacific Nations Cup cam-paign and current training camp here in Fiji the squad is working well towards the challenges ahead in the UK at RWC 2015.

“Pool A is a very chal-lenging pool and I have every confidence that this team will rise to the chal-lenge and bring their best game to every match at the World Cup.

“Challenges such as those ahead of us bring out the best in top competitors and top teams.

“With this talented group of rugby players, fiercely proud of represent-ing their country, I believe we have a team of players who will bring their best game to the biggest con-test in international rugby.”

Fiji face hosts England

in the opening match at 20:00 on 18 September at Twickenham. They will then tackle Australia 23 September, Wales on 1 October and Uruguay on 6 October in their remaining Pool A matches.

Forwards: Lee Roy Atalifo, Isei Colati, Campese Ma’afu, Peni Ravai, Manasa Saulo, Su-nia Koto (vice-captain), Tuapati Talemaitoga, Vil-iame Veikoso, Tevita Ca-vubati, Leone Nakarawa, Api Ratuniyarawa, Nemia Soqeta, Masi Matadigo, Akapusi Qera (captain), Malakai Ravulo, Netani Talei, Dom Waqaniburo-tu, Peceli Yato.

Backs: Nemia Kenatale, Nikola Matawalu,Henry Seniloli, Lepani Botia, Gabby Lovobalavu, Josh Matavesi, Ben Volavola, Vereniki Goneva (vice-captain), Kini Murimuri-valu, Nemani Nadolo, Waisea Nayacalevu, Me-tuisela Talebula, Asaeli Tikoirotuma.

Rugby World Cup tick-et scalping continues to cause outrage in Britain with a pair of tickets to the final being touted for al-most $50,000.

The opposition Labour Party is putting heat on the government with research showing ticket prices on the secondary market are reaching 40 times their original value.

Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Bryant is on the warpath after Eng-land Rugby 2015 lobbied

with no success for legis-lation to outlaw resale ex-cept through official chan-nels, as was the case for the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games.

Britain’s new Consum-er Rights Act contains a clause that forced second-ary sites to display detailed ticket information and al-lowed governing bodies to cancel tickets if they felt they were being sold in breach of terms and condi-tions.

But Bryant told the Guardian newspaper that

the limited provisions in the Act, used to monitor ticket sales during the just completed Ashes cricket series, were not good enough to discourage tick-ets being resold on “an in-dustrial scale” because the maximum penalty was just over $10,000.

“The government prom-ised to protect the tourna-ment from unfair ticket touting but with less than a month until the World Cup, it is clear that fans are be-ing ripped off left right and centre and ministers are

doing nothing about it,” Bryant told the Guardian.

“Rugby is crying out for extra investment in pitch-es, coaches and kit but it is a scandal that the gov-ernment is allowing fans to be charged 40 times the face value of a ticket with nothing going to the grass-roots game, the players or the stadia. That money just goes into the pockets of parasitical rip-off mer-chants who add no value whatsoever.”

A spokesman for sec-ondary market leader Via-

gogo told the paper the Rugby World Cup was the most popular event it had been involved with and strongly defended its free-market business model.

“It is perfectly legal to resell a rugby ticket if you want to. We believe once you’ve bought something, whether that’s a house, a car, or a ticket, it’s up to you what you do with it and you should be allowed to resell it at whatever the market value is,” he said.

“Since the days of the gladiators, people have

been reselling tickets to sporting events. The dif-ference is that since Via-gogo introduced our safe and secure marketplace, nobody need now take risks buying from classified ads, auction sites, or even worse from a shady char-acter outside the venue.”

Rugby World Cup or-ganisers say the situation simply emphasises their warnings to buy from offi-cial outlets.

Scalpers Re-selling RWC Tickets for $50,000

Veteran lock Marco Bor-tolami has been left out of Italy’s final 31-man squad for next month’s World Cup in England.

The 35-year-old Bortol-ami is Italy’s most capped player, along with captain Sergio Parisse, with the duo having each made 112 ap-pearances.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel also omitted inex-perienced winger Michele Visentin and flanker Robert Barbieri.

“It was very difficult to communicate the decision, especially when you’ve put in as much work as the lads have over the past nine weeks,” Brunel said. “So to tell several players they were not coming to the World Cup was particu-larly difficult.”

Bortolami, who has played in three World

Cups, has captained Italy on numerous occasions and is also an influential presence off the field.

It will be a record-equal-ing fifth World Cup for his Zebre teammate, flanker Mauro Bergamasco. Sa-moa legend Brian Lima is the only other player to have achieved that feat.

Italy also named four foreign-born players in their squad - Australians Luke McLean and Joshua Furno, South African Quin-tin Geldenhuys and Fijian Samuela Vunisa.

Italy plays Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, before travelling to Cardiff for its final warm-up match against Wales on Septem-ber 5. The squad will re-turn home before flying to London on September 13.

Italy is attempting to get through the pool phase of a

World Cup for the first time in its history. It plays France in its opening World Cup match on September 19 at Twickenham and also faces Canada, Ireland and Romania in Pool D.

“We know that it won’t be easy and that France and Ireland, which are above us in the rankings, are favorites to progress through the pool phase,” Brunel said. “But we mustn’t forget that Italy was able to beat both of them in the 2013 Six Na-tions.

“At the same time, we can’t allow ourselves to underestimate Canada and Romania, two sound teams that - like us - are aiming to get a win against someone who’s above them in the World Rugby ranking.”

Italy Drop Veteran Lock

Kevin Mealamu to Retire After World Cup

All Blacks hooker Kevin Mealamu has confirmed he will retire after the World Cup and take on a two-year role as New Zea-land Rugby ambassador.

Mealamu’s new brief will see him focus on the wider Auckland region and community rugby, where the game has battled to hold ground in New Zea-land’s largest city in re-cent times. Teenagers and club rugby numbers show a worrying decline in the past 12 months.

Having earned wide-spread respect during his time with Auckland, the Blues and All Blacks, there’s no better man to tackle those challenges.

“We’re delighted to an-nounce Kevin’s appoint-ment as a New Zealand Rugby ambassador,” NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said.

“He’s hugely respected

by not only our organisa-tion, but the wider rugby community. He has huge mana amongst the Auck-land communities as well for everything he’s achieved and is the perfect person to carry out this role.

“As an Aucklander, Kevin is well aware of the challenges we face in the greater Auckland region. He’s ideally placed to help us encourage more play-ers, coaches and referees to embrace the game in the region.”

Mealamu, the 36-year-old 126 test veteran was “excited and humbled” by the opportunity.

“I’ve loved my time as a rugby player here in New Zealand and loved being part of all the teams I have represented, particularly the All Blacks,” he said.

“While there’s a little bit more I want to achieve

this year before I hang up my boots, it’s cool to know that I am going to be still in-volved in rugby in this new role.

“I’m grateful for the op-portunity to support the game which I love and which has given me so much and in my rugby ambassador role I look forward to giving back to the game, to the Auckland region, the wider commu-nity, and to New Zealand rugby.”

Kevin Mealamu



RUGBY WORLD CUP & LOCAL SPORTS

Wallaby Great Smith Predicts England and Wales to Drop

Wallabies great George Smith is happily playing the Grim Reaper in the leadup to the Rugby World Cup, predicting heavyweights Wales and England won’t qualify from the “pool of death”.

The two northern stal-warts are grouped with Australia, Fiji and Uruguay with just two teams ad-vancing to the quarterfi-nals.

Smith, the flanker with 111 tests to his name, bold-ly predicts Australia, the Rugby Championship win-ners, and Fiji, the Pacific Nations Cup champions, will be the sides to make the playoffs.

The 35-year-old Smith, who played in the 2003 and 2007 tournaments and had hopes of making this year’s Australian squad, is a World Cup ambassador and in that role he issued a dire warning to Wales and hosts England.

“It’s going to be ex-tremely competitive in, as they say, the pool of death. The English and Welsh, from what I’m led to be-lieve, have been training extremely well while Aus-tralia have won the Rugby Championship. But I think

Fiji are going to go through with Australia,” Smith told Walesonline.

He believed Fiji were an improving side with a knack of causing trouble at World Cups, often at the expense of Wales.

“I played against a num-ber of their players in the French Top 14 last season while I was with Lyon and they are very good,” Smith said of the Fijian stocks.

“Apart from in 2011, Fiji seem to perform well in World Cup tournaments. They put the Welsh out in 2007 and nearly beat the eventual champions South Africa in the quarterfinals.

“Anybody who under-estimates Fiji will be in trouble. I have known their coach John McKee for a number of years and have been impressed in how he brings players together and manages them.

“With Fiji that is the key because when they are happy they perform. John is very good at that, as you can see from the results because they have per-formed well and improved in the last couple of years.”

And he said the Walla-bies would do more than just top the highly-compet-itive pool. He felt they were good enough to go all the way to the final and were capable of lifting the trophy

By CHARLES CHAMBERS

Fiji handed American Samoa a 6-0 drubbing at Prince Charles Park in Nadi during a friendly interna-tional match recently.

American Samoa start-ed off very strong but the Osea Vakatalesau cap-tained Fiji side soon put paid to any intentions the visitors had of winning the match.

Fiji’s first goal came in the 8th minute from the boots Taione Kerevanua and from then on there was no looking back for the side.

In a tense moment, Fiji’s Kolinio Sivoki and

American Samoa’s De-metrius Beauchamp were both red carded in the 31st minute of play for danger-ous play.

The two teams went to the break with Fiji holding on to the slender 1-0 lead..

In the second spell, Ba’s prolific forward Malakai Tiwa put Fiji further ahead with a goal in 54th minute.

Fiji’s wonder boy Napo-lioni Qasevakatini added to the scoring with goals in the 61st and 80th minute.

Vakatalesau added to American Samoa’s misery with a 71st minute strike and Tevita Waranivalu ended the match with one of his own in the 74th min-ute to seal the visitors fate.

Fiji Thrashes American Samoa

By KATHRIN KRISHNA

for a third time.“I think they have pre-

pared well and have got the players to do that. They play well as a team and it shows the respect the play-ers have got for the coach Michael Cheika that they all want to play for him,” Smith said.

“He’s a person who is a good man-manager and tells the players straight. That’s what you like from a coach, some home truths rather than talk around a problem.”

He felt a solid lineout, improving scrum and back-row depth made the Wallabies’ pack a threat while they had different combinations for different scenarios in their halves.

He felt the Wallabies success at the 1991 tourna-ment in England and the 1999 event in Wales was a promising guide to the for-tunes of the current team.

“I hope us winning both previous finals on British soil is an omen. Players will be aware of what’s happened in the past and take motivation from that.

“I believe Australia will win the World Cup but I hope they aren’t facing New Zealand in the final.”

The majestic Nadroga team was too good for their competitors from Na-mosi as they shut down all of Namosi’s tricks and successfully defended the Skipper Cup 2015.

Nadi’s Prince Charles Park was a sea of red and white as supporters filled up the pavilion and the ground last Saturday at the final of the competition.

“One team wins and the other loses,” said Ilaitia Tuisese, sponsor represen-tative as he acknowledged the players after the game.

The game began with Nadroga putting the first points on the board with a successful penalty kick by left wing Apenisa Waqa-tabu.

Namosi responded through the boots of Kitio-ne Taliga as he also kicked a penalty leveling the points at 3 all.

Apisai Moimoi scored

the first try for the Nadroga team and by halftime the score was 28-10 to Nad-roga.

Scuffles broke out be-tween the players as Nad-roga continued to pres-sure the Namosi boys who fought nails and teeth to get through the solid Nad-

roga defence.Waqatabu was in fine

form as he ripped through Namosi setting his team-mates up for the tries that were yet to come.

Namosi scored a few more tries and Taliga kicked in 3 more conver-sions with the team’s final

score at 22 after a last min-ute try from the side in the dying minutes of the game.

Nadroga took the Skip-per Cup back home with the final score at 59 points to Namosi’s 22.

Nadroga Champions Again

Nadroga wing Apisalome Waqatabu in action. Photo: SERELISONI MOCEICA


Wallabies Told of Call-Ups by Special Phone Call

The 31 players who will attempt to win a third Rugby World Cup for Aus-tralia all learned of their selection with a phone call from a member of the Wal-labies’ victorious squad of 1999.

Australia coach Michael Cheika has selected a 31-man squad for Rugby World Cup 2015 with more than 1,200 caps in total, al-though there is no place for second-row James Horwill or scrum-half Nic White.

In a special twist ev-ery member of the squad was notified of their selec-tion by a call from one of Australia victorious RWC 1999 squad with captain Stephen Moore getting the news from the man who lifted the Webb Ellis Cup that day in John Eales.

For three players – Moore, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Matt Giteau (pictured) – it will be their third Rugby World Cup appearance with Giteau a member of Australia’s side who reached the fi-nal of RWC 2003 on home soil only to lose 20-17 to England thanks to Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal in extra-time.

By contrast 13 players in the squad, which has a split of 17 forwards and 14 backs, will make their

Rugby World Cup debuts at England 2015, includ-ing the likes of Hooper, full-back Israel Folau and centres Matt Toomua and Tevita Kuridrani.

Only two members of the squad have not fea-ture in Australia’s Rugby Championship winning campaign in flanker Sean McMahon and prop Toby Smith, the only uncapped player selected.

“We’ve become a re-ally tight group and it was a very difficult process in picking only 31 players, but I know each player selected will travel to Eng-land with the full support of those team-mates who won’t board the flight,” said Cheika, who took over as coach in October 2014.

“Our primary focus throughout the Super Rug-by competition, The Rugby Championship and Ble-disloe Cup was to select a balanced squad between youth, experience and form and this squad cer-tainly delivers on this.

“It’s also important that we select a squad that will handle the tournament play and our draw in par-ticular at the Rugby World Cup, as well as maintain a strong competition for places in the team.

“The first part of the year during the Super Rugby season, we worked hard at building relationships and strong foundations, and

By CHARLES CHAMBERS during The Rugby Champi-onship we wanted to con-tinue to improve and play a brand of rugby that Austra-lia could be proud of and get every player contribut-ing towards the outcome.

“It’s essential we con-tinue to improve over the next four weeks as a squad and we’ll be working hard to make sure we deliver on the qualities we want peo-ple to see in the Wallabies team of 2015.”

Australia will hold a camp in Sydney this week-end and will then depart for Indiana to prepare for their match with the USA Eagles in Chicago on 5 September.

An additional 10 players will remain with the squad until they depart for Eng-land on 13 September, in RWC 2011 captain Horwill, White, Sam Carter, David Dennis, Tetera Faulkner, James Hanson, Scott Hig-ginbotham, Samu Kerevi, Christian Lealiifano and Taqele Naiyaravoro.

Australia begins their RWC 2015 campaign against Fiji at the Millen-nium stadium on 23 Sep-tember, before facing Uru-guay in Birmingham four days later. They will then face England and Wales at Twickenham on 3 and 10 October with the top two sides in Pool A progressing to the quarter-finals.



The 20 member Vodafone Fiji Under 17 side for the Oceania Football Confederation Championship (OFC) in Samoa. Photo. Antonio Kitione.

SEPTEMBER 2015. ISSUE 72 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

Page 22 Page 23

The legacy of the Serevi name lives on.

This time it is through the boots of nineteen year old Asinate Serevi, daughter of the world’s most famous sevens rugby player, Waisale Serevi.

Asinate was recently picked as Cen-tre for the United States Women’s All-American Under 20 team.

The Central Washington University sophomore, along with fellow univer-sity team mate, Jenny Johnson played a two match series with Canada in El-

lensburg, Washington recently wowing supporters with her try scoring prowess, as like her father.

She scored a hat trick against Canada in the first game and has now become one of the star players of the All Ameri-can team.

CWU head coach Wil Snipe was im-mensely proud of the duo and said the opportunity to play for the country au-gured well for them in terms of their per-sonal growth and development.

Asinate was picked last year as the university’s female fall athlete after she beat seven other candidates from volley-

The Tradition

Asinate Serevi in action. iNSET: The Serevi family in USA.Photos: SUPPLIED.


Skipper CupFinals

ball, cross country and soccer.Then coach, Mel Delham said Asinate’s

size, innate handling skills and playmak-ing abilities were unique and made her a threat with the ball in hand.

Delham said Asinate exemplified the qualities of a great teammate and player.

The sophomore currently resides in Seattle with her famous rugby family and continues to play the game that sky-rock-eted her father and family to fame, a feat that has not gone unnoticed by her proud father.

“It’s really cool she is on a full scholar-ship through women’s rugby,” the magi-

cian said in the Courier Mail.He also commented on the develop-

ment of women’s rugby in Fiji.“Twenty years ago there was no rug-

by for women in Fiji because of our cul-ture. It was unacceptable.

“Now Fiji has a women’s team that can aspire to the Olympics.”

Asinate has set the pace for young Fijian women who dream of making it big in rugby locally and overseas and re-minds us that rugby is not only a game for men,but for those who believed in their will to make something of them-selves.

Rugby World Cup2015 Buidup

the jet volume 7 number 13

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