THE hiring of canecutters from Vanuatu despite the “high level of unemployment in the country” was raised in Parliament yesterday.
Responding to the President’s address during the opening of Parliament last week, Opposition member Ro Teimumu Kepa said the level of poverty in the country has increased.
She said according to media reports, Government was expected to recruit more labourers in the near future.
“Why is Government not hiring local people and giving them the same rates and working conditions as those brought from overseas,” she asked.
“There is no wonder that Government has a huge problem with their cash flow because of mismanagement. Because of this inefficiency it has had to formulate major cutbacks in its operations.”
Earlier, Leader of Opposition Sitiveni Rabuka had also raised his concerns on the sugar industry saying it continued to wallow in its own pool of mill mud, adding that nothing was mentioned in the President’s speech to address the industry which has been the mainstay of Fiji’s economy since colonial days.
Ro Teimumu also highlighted in Parliament that since the privatisation of the Fiji Electricity Authority to Electricity Fiji Ltd, and Public Works Department to Water Authority of Fiji, the country had become a land of water and power cuts.
“With roads riddled with portholes that the Fiji Roads Authority cannot fix on time, consumers have raised their concerns on the poor services provided by free toll-lines having to be passed from pillar to post,” she said.
