THE Constitution Commission has assured the people of Vanua Levu all their submissions will be heard in spite of the relatively short time given for consultations there.
The development follows concerns raised by chiefs in Labasa that the Constitution Commission should be fair and take more time to hear submissions from the north.
Commission executive secretary Keshwa Reddy said the efficiency of the commission team had improved and that all submissions would be heard.
“What is more important to understand is Vanua Levu is in the later phase of submission hearings and the experiences we have from doing the work in the Western and Eastern divisions — the efficiency level of how we approach the communities has increased actually,” Mr Reddy said.
“So this does not necessarily mean that those 10-12 days that we have allocated for Vanua Levu will not be enough.”
Mr Reddy said the commission had mobilised people on the ground and was already spreading awareness to the people of Vanua Levu on the venues of the submission hearings.
“We are mobilising all resources, our team have left for Labasa which means we are ahead of the commissioners.
“Usually what happened in the past is that when the commission arrived for hearing, that’s when the team arrived as well.”
Mr Reddy said the onus was also on people to co-ordinate themselves.
“There is definitely a timeframe and it’s practically impossible to be all over, it’s the people’s constitution and people are encouraged to come,” he added.
“We will provide the necessary transportation as well in areas where the commissioners will be able to go and we will be having two to three sessions at the Labasa Civic Centre.”