The Fiji Times

Six years after birth

Couple’s quest to register their daughter with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages six years after she was born has finally succeeded. The couple from Nasea, located past Naduri Village in the Macuata Province, was overjoyed that they were assisted by Empower Pacific to get a birth certificate for their daughter. Their last knock...

By the sweat of our brows

Many years ago on at least two separate occasions I drove with some friends from Sydney to Somersby on the Central Coast of New South Wales to visit an open air museum and theme park known then as Old Sydney Town, before it was converted into a movie location in 2003. The set up was...

Falling in love with a Kadavu princess

PART 2 The villagers of Nasau, Kadavu began to call William Churchill by the name Ratu Ritu. He was the man who was spared by their chief, Na Saqa Levu. In Churchill’s book, ‘A Princess of Fiji’, he wrote that his life with them was nothing short of idleness as he was a ‘teacher of...

Maui fire | Fiji man hailed a hero in Lahaina

Part 1 Man from Savusavu, Cakaudrove has been hailed a hero in the United States for the part he played in providing assistance during the recent Lahaina wildfire on Maui, Hawaii. On August 8, wildfires swept across Maui and killed at least 97 people, making it one of the America’s deadliest disasters. For weeks, the...

Coffee paradise on the Coral Coast

Enveloped by tropical trees, shrubs and beautifully landscaped gardens, Café Planet, at Korotogo offers you the tranquil respite you’ll ever need when travelling to, from and past Korotogo on the famed Coral Coast. You’ll love the natural ambience that greets you behind the natural heliconia fence and marvel at the swaying emerald verdure that protect...

Good fats, bad fats, salt and cholesterol

Fats, oils, salt and cholesterol are all factors that have a significant bearing on our health, particularly in middle to later life. How often do we hear of an untimely death of a close friend or relative from some sort of heart-related incident. A closer look at the factors in our diets may help us...

Care for your mind, body, and spirit

Bula Fiji! Thank you for taking time out to read Bula Vakasaama, a column dedicated dicated to enlightening readers about practical strategies for optimal mental health and mind wellness. Today, I’d like to invite you to appreciate the importance of self-care. Society has conditioned us to put others’ needs before our own, however, it is...

Marriage is a compromise

Love and romance can spark virtually anywhere. The trick is keeping the spark alive like Inoke Nabou and Kalesi lotawa. The couple first met at a rugby competition in Suva during a match between the Police and Army teams. While Inoke is a police officer, Kalesi is a secondary school teacher. They were together for...

Look Back | Pioneers are happy in their Ctesiphons

On September 24, 1960, The Fiji Times, published an article on the first three women in Fiji to live in a Ctesiphon house. The happy pioneers were Losalini Silisoma, Mrs Abdul Lateef and Teresia Raloka. A month or so before the move, each family was living in just one room, Losalini at Flagstaff, Mrs Lateef...

Blessed are the peacemakers

ON Thursday, the whole world celebrated International Day of Peace. Although the UN day is not as famous as others like World Press Freedom Day, International Women’s Day or World Teacher’s Day, it is important nevertheless. The UN General Assembly has set aside the special day to help strengthen the ideals of peace, by observing...

Reports conflicting, says Ro Filipe

It is unacceptable for threats to be made to crews of shipping vessels or vice versa. This was the response made by Minister for Transport Ro Filipe Tuisawau when asked by this newspaper to comment on a travel advisory route suspension issued by a shipping company because of a threat made to a staff member....

‘Safety paramount’

The safety and well-being of staff will always be paramount, says Goundar Shipping general manager George Goundar. The inter-island shipping company threatened to cease operations to Gau because of threats from an individual and the continued disregard of the company’s rules and regulations. Airing his concerns to this newspaper, Mr Goundar said an incident occurred...

Khan: Take ownership

Garbage scattered by stray dogs on roadsides end up in drains and public places which contributes to the tonnes of litter lying out in the open. The Lautoka City Council (LCC) chief executive Mohammed Anees Khan said this in light of recent concerns by the Lautoka Residents and Ratepayers Association that people do not take...

Evaluation ‘a growing field’

An inaugural Fiji Indigenous Evaluation workshop in Suva this week drew together indigenous monitoring and evaluation (MEL) experts. Evaluation Youth Pacific Co leader Asenaca Blake said monitoring and evaluation were growing fields of work in Fiji and the Pacific. “We thought it would be good to come together and to talk about what we are...

Roko Tui’s role ‘vital’

Assistant Minister of iTaukei Affairs Isikeli Tuiwailevu has stressed the importance of the roles played by the Roko Tui (provincial administrators). Mr Tuiwailevu told a Roko Tui workshop in Suva the three-day training provided an opportunity for them to reflect on the services they provided to villagers. “The question you should ask yourselves is how...

Motibhai conducts drug awareness

Motibhai Suva will continue to collaborate with stakeholders to create drug awareness on drug-related issues as part of its corporate social responsibility. They recently conducted an awareness session at Kalekana Settlement with Drug Free World Fiji and the Fiji Police Force. Manager people and culture Sanjay Kumar said being a corporate organisation, they were deeply...

‘Let justice, peace flow’

The Fiji Council of Churches together with youths from different denominations championed a clean-up campaign along the Nubukalou Creek in Suva yesterday. With the Seasons of Creation movement’s theme being “Let justice and peace flow”, the Fiji Council of Churches president Archbishop Peter Loy Chong said the campaign was to show the world the important...

‘Education is about partnership’

Education is about partnership, says Fiji National University acting vice-chancellor Professor Unaisi Nabobo-Baba. She said no one could work alone in addressing challenges the sector faced. “The problems of our time are multi-sectoral and multi-faceted,” said Prof Nabobo-Baba. “It will demand of us a very multi-pronged approach with partners coming onboard to work together to...

Intake policy for Year 1 students

The Education Ministry will allow further deliberations on the intake policy for Year 1 students. Education Minister Aseri Radrodro said despite the policy being endorsed by Cabinet, the legislation had received much criticism. “We have recently changed the intake policy for class one students whereby those that turned six years by the month of June...

PM’s agenda for peace

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka unveiled his vision of a new agenda for peace and said “we must consider the Pacific a zone of peace,” while addressing the 78th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. In his address, Mr Rabuka stated the world today was is full pain, mistrust, mysticism,...

Singh: No more unfair treatment

Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations Agni Deo Singh has given assurance to members of the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) that there will be no more unfair treatment while he is in the ministry. He highlighted this during the FTUC National Council Meeting in Suva yesterday. “We will make sure that all your...

Minimum wage rate review bid

Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) general secretary Felix Anthony says they will call for a review of the minimum wage rate to be around $6 to $7 an hour. While speaking to the media at the FTUC National Council Meeting yesterday, he said Fiji needed to move away from the mind-set of keeping minimum wages...

Tubuna committed to sharing document

The Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Sakiusa Tubuna says he is committed to sharing the Kauwai Communique from the 2023 National Symposium for Community-led Sustainable Environmental Initiatives, in Parliament. Mr Tubuna said he also wanted to champion the voices of communities at the national, regional, and global level, joining other voices...

Alleged arson attempt probe

Police are investigating if the person who fire-bombed the Totogo Police Station on Thursday was also involved in the alleged arson attempt on a fuel company terminal in Walu Bay in July. Police were not able to catch the person as no identity could be obtained from CCTV footage. Assistant Commissioner of Police Crime Mesake...

Ministries exchange knowledge

An event organised to involve interactive discussions with civil servants and speakers to create awareness of the capacity building opportunities available with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) was held in Suva yesterday. The 2023 KOICA Knowledge Sharing Forum (KSF) is an annual event to create a platform for KOICA alumni to share experiences and...

Aayad defies all odds

Five-month-old Aayad Ayeza Ali will now have a chance to live a longer and happy life after undergoing open heart surgery at the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital. Parents Saheban Ali and wife Razeena say they never lost hope despite being told by specialists, after relevant assessments, that their daughter’s life expectancy and chances of...

Our learning levels are low, says Kuruleca

We have low learning levels, says permanent secretary for Education Selina Kuruleca. She told the Fiji National Education Summit 2023 in Nadi that this was one of the main challenges that continue to affect Fiji’s education system. “We have literacy and numeracy challenges,” said Ms Kuruleca. “We have high fail levels in Year 8. “We...

Community hall in exchange for preservation of forest

American-based organisation Seacology has 28 community projects in the country, with the latest one on Rabi Island. Last week, the group gifted villagers of Uma on Rabi a newly built community hall. The group’s executive director Duane Silverstein said the community hall was in exchange of a program to preserve their forest. “Out of all...

High risk of dropout | Children failing in the critical category in LANA – permanent secretary

Low learning levels in early years will lead to school dropouts in higher levels, says Education permanent secretary Selina Kuruleca. She said this was found in data collected by the ministry which showed students who failed in the Literacy and Numeracy Assessments – LANA. “The low learning levels in early years flags potential failure and...

Local News

Tonga’s rusting iron avenue | 30,000 abandoned cars