Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says media outlets such as The Fiji Times and fijivillage want people to believe that his Government is an uncaring Government – blind and deaf to the difficulties faced by ordinary people.
He said this when he officiated at the opening of the Ba Provincial Council meeting in Sorokoba Village on Tuesday.
“That has never been true,” the PM said. “I was sent a rather ridiculous headline run in The Fiji Times over the weekend that supposedly quoted our A-G as saying, “Government policies spared people from suffering.
“My friends, the A-G never said that, I know because I, like thousands of other Fijians, was listening to him.
“Let me be clear: Fijians, along with everyone else on Earth, experienced hardship and difficulty through the pandemic. It was not an easy, simple, or painless experience, in Fiji or anywhere else.”
The article the PM referred to titled “2022-23 Budget: Government policies spared people from suffering” appeared in The Sunday Times on July 17.
The article referred to comments made by Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum while delivering the 2022-2023 National Budget where he said Fijians were spared the suffering faced by Sri Lankans during the COVID-19 pandemic where they were struggling to find kerosene and gas to cook.
The Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley said the comments attributed to Mr Sayed-Khaiyum were taken from the context of his 2022-2023 National Budget address. ”
It is unfortunate that the Prime Minister has made those comments about The Fiji Times,” Wesley said.
“As a responsible newspaper, we have given people space to highlight their issues and the challenges they have faced, and are facing.
“We have given people a voice — a place where they can express their views and concerns. That is one of our roles as a watchdog for society.”
