Politics

Firms ‘have healthy bank balances’ | Court states Aiyaz is a director and shareholder of two companies

A Magistrate’s court ruling delivered on September 13 states former attorney-general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is a director and shareholder of two companies that “have healthy bank balances”. Magistrate Jeremaia Savou noted this in the bail variation...

21st September

Consultation on draft Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expression Bill launched

In line with Cabinet’s decision and in a decisive move to enhance Fiji’s intellectual property landscape, the Minister for iTaukei Affairs Ifereimi Vasu is honoured to announce the launch of the consultations on the draft Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expression Bill 2023 (‘draft Bill’). This initiative, spearheaded with the expertise of renowned IP lawyer...

18-year-olds registered in voters register eligible to vote in municipal elections

Any Fiji citizen who is 18-years-old and over, already registered in the National Register of Voters and resides in a ward boundary within a municipality for at least three months is eligible to vote in the 2024 Local Government Elections. In a press conference yesterday, Minister for Local Government and Housing Maciu Nalumisa said the...

20th September

PM on climate funding hurdles

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has relayed challenges surrounding climate change funding during a bilateral working lunch with the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock. The meeting took place in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, which Mr Rabuka is attending. During the...

Budget allocation spurs agricultural growth

The Ministry of Agriculture received its highest ever budget allocation of $96.8 million in the 2018/2019 financial year. The allocation helped the ministry to increase outputs of major agricultural commodities that later sparked a 5.5 per cent increase in the sector’s contribution towards the national GDP. This was shared by acting deputy secretary for the...

18th September

Civil servants involve in scam

Parliamentarian Faiyaz Koya has described the E-bay scam as an unfortunate one that involved a good chunk of civil servants. In responding to Women’s Minister Lynda Tabuya’s statement on the need to address Fijians involvement in such a scam, Mr Koya said: “We should condemn it outright now”. “Unfortunately, we, as Fijians, are quite gullible...

17th September

Wong: Responsible management of competition between great powers should be encouraged

At a time when there is greater competition between great powers, one of the things we all should be doing is to encourage and urge the responsible management of that competition. This was the response of Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong to questions from this newspaper on the increased geopolitical interests in the Pacific. In...

16th September

Lack of opportunities impacts Fiji youth

THE lack of economic opportunities has led to extreme poverty within communities, leading young people to loiter around urban centres, live on the streets and engage in illegal activities such as growing marijuana. This was highlighted by Youth and Sports Minister Jese Saukuru in Parliament on Wednesday. “We have a very young population; current figures...

Opposition MP’s claims ‘will not’ go to the Privileges Committee

Parliament Speaker Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu says he has reviewed the evidence by Opposition MP Parveen Kumar and ruled that the matter would not be referred to the Privileges Committee. In Parliament on Monday, Ratu Naiqama confirmed receiving evidence from Mr Kumar on the claims he made against Finance Minister Prof Biman Prasad. The matter was...