The Fiji Times » Opinion

Editorial comment – Lessons on our roads

Sometimes, in our busy lives, we unintentionally forget some important moments in time. Perhaps we just need to sit back sometimes, and reflect on how far we have come, or moved on. Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, there were other issues that were part of our lives last year. They served as major obstacles that...

Letters to the Editor – Saturday, January 15, 2022

The smile says it all SAM Brown, 75, was all smiles after his name was picked as one of the 40 lucky winners OF The Fiji Times 152nd anniversary December draw. He was elated as the extra cash will enable him to put a new coat of paint on his house. Brown, who is retired...

Editorial comment – Encouraging news

The revelation that COVID-19 test positivity among tourists remains low is encouraging. Tourism Minister Faiyaz Koya confirmed this. He reiterated Government’s position that it does not view hotels as major drivers of transmission. Tourist arrival numbers for January, he said, had not changed. “Most people find Fiji a wonderful destination to come to,” Mr Koya...

Opinion: Less worker exploitation under the SWP

When the pandemic hit, Pacific Island countries closed their borders to workers hired through the federal government’s Seasonal Worker Program (SWP), preventing them from returning home. It was understandable – the health systems in these countries would have struggled to deal with an outbreak caused by workers returning from Australia. However, it left thousands of workers stuck in Australia during the non-harvesting and planting season. Before the outbreak it...

Letters to the Editor: Friday, January 14, 2022

Psychosocial support! More pictures of devastation and destruction in The Fiji Times. Farms have been damaged so Fijians can expect a rise in the price of vegetables and root crops. Vendors are worried over shortage and the prices. Fijians have been warned of the possibility of an increase in diseases. With the impact of the...

Editorial comment: COVID-19 deaths

When Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr James Fong announced seven new COVID-19 deaths for the seven days to Tuesday, January 11, bringing the virus death toll to 721, there has to be some concern. He revealed this in a COVID-19 update on Wednesday this week, when he also announced 2165 new cases. In the past...

Letters to the Editor: Thursday, January 13, 2022

Heart-breaking pictures and stories Our hardworking journalists have been working round-the-clock to update us on news and stories from the impact of the flooding. While we have been in the comfort of our homes and loved ones, they have braved atrocious conditions to get the latest. The editor-in-chief has also gone late night on social...

Let’s not forget to read

With school on hold now, we have an opportunity to look back at an important issue we seem to have forgotten. Around this time back in 2020, we learnt that the majority of students who entered high school were either non-readers or slow readers. It was a shock to the system and to many Fijians....

Opinion: New year brings new opportunities

The new year brings opportunities and challenges for the Pacific. There are big questions being asked across the region — questions that go to the heart of how countries, peoples and regional organisations see themselves and how they relate to the rest of the world. And there are ongoing political, social, and economic challenges, all of which are complex and complicated. Whilst outsiders may look for one-liners to...

Opinion: 2021 was world’s fifth-hottest year

BRUSSELS – Last year was the world’s fifth hottest on record, while levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere hit new highs in 2021, European Union scientists said. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a report on Monday that the last seven years were the world’s warmest “by a clear margin” in records dating back to 1850 and the average global temperature in 2021...

Letters to the Editor: Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Act of bravery Heavy rainfall and floodwaters did not deter the Rakiraki National Fire Authority officers and police who evacuated 28-year-old Sristi Naicker in Rakiraki. The NFA officers and police were commended for their act of bravery at the height of the natural disaster as they transported the pregnant mother in a water tank across...

Editorial: Something to think about

There are many things we can discuss this early in the new year. With heavy rain around the country inching out floodwaters, we are reminded about water safety. We are also reminded about natural disasters and the fact that we are well into the cyclone season. This is an annual window that means we have...

Letters to the Editor – Tuesday, January 11, 2022

A man of principle ‘Nand – a man of principle: A lawyer who stood for the rule of law’ (FT 10/1). That’s how Graham Leung a former colleague of the former Solicitor-General Nainendra Nand remembers the man who was removed from his position after the 2006 military coup. I wonder how many of those who...

Editorial comment – A reminder about water safety

The revelation that 17 people have drowned during natural disasters between 2017 and August 2021 is interesting. The data was released by the Fiji Police Force and was highlighted by National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) director Vasiti Soko. The majority of these incidents, she noted, involved people being swept away by strong currents while trying...

Seed library — from little things, big things grow

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be” is a well-known phrase from Hamlet by William Shakespeare, but it’s not one embraced by gardener Deb Tanzer. She wanted to do something for her local community, so she established a community library in Westbrook just outside Toowoomba about two years ago. She has expanded from that idea...

Letters to the Editor – Monday, January 10, 2022

Cyclone alert NOT the start that Fijians wanted, but I guess it was coming as the Fiji Meteorological Service issued a Category 1 cyclone warning and the Ministry of Education stated that all schools would be closed today. Heavy rainfall resulted in many rivers bursting their banks and water seeping into towns. Fijians were plagued...

Editorial comment – We know what must be done

When our number of COVID-19 positive cases rose, we expected some changes in the rules. In fact we all should have expected that. It was coming anyway. Now that we are into the third wave of the pandemic here in Fiji, these are issues that we can’t shrug aside. Given the rate of community transmission,...

Opinion

Letters to the Editor – Monday, January 17, 2022