The Jet Volume 7 Number 13

FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
SEPTEMBER 2015. ISSUE 72
www.thejetnewspaper.com
50 CENTS
Local Talent Praised in

Movie Premiere
By
KATHRIN
KRISHNA
A red carpet movie premier
for the movie Twisted Families
witnessed the talent that locals
may have in future movies.
The premiere, at Village 4,
was screened in Lautoka on
August 20 and attracted a large
turnout.
Locals who attended the
movie were impressed and full
of praise for the movie and what
it depicted.
Director Divesh Pratap Singh
said that the movie was shot in
New Zealand with local talents
like renowned businessman
Jagdish Punja taking up a major
role.
Mr Punja is also well known
for his singing talent.
Dream Productions Public
Relations Manager/Actor Jagdish Punja said that the movie is
about a Fiji Indian Punjabi family and that the story is based on
The cast of The Twisted Famiies at the SSS Manhao Hotel in Nadi. Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI.
a lot of actual events.

The movie is a roller-coaster
ride having its ups, downs, funny
moments, sad moments, romantic moments and its todays story. This is based on a lot of true
events, Mr Punja said.
The lead role, Aman, said that
the movie was very close to his
heart and portrayed a timely
message to the societies.
I fell in love with the script
when I first read it because its a
story that happens everywhere,

where two people fall in love
with people who are by culture/
society not meant to be. I chose
to act in this movie because I
wanted to portray the message
of accepting others by the means
of movies, he said.
Mrs Vibha Patel, after watching the movie said that she was
impressed with the overall movie production.
I liked it actually, I think the
characters did justice to their

role and it was different compared to the other movies that I
have seen as the movie had a variety of emotions, she said.
The major sponsors for the
movie were SSS Manhao International Hotel, Captain Cook
Cruises, Pacific Island Air, Punjas, P. Meghji, Tappoo, Denarau
Water Sport, BBC, Govinda Vegetarian Restaurant, Curry House
and Maya Dhaba.
The story relates to how some

families reject the background of
either the boy or girl intending to
marry one of their children.
It goes on to send a message
to every one of the consequences this could end with because
of the feelings parents have towards their childrens choices.
The movie is presently bieng
screened at Village6 and Village
4 cinemas.
www.epapergallery.com/thejet
FROM THE DESK
Laisa a Shining
Example
Laisa Lawelua is a shining example of people who
have achieved success from
humble beginnings.
The Nadi businesswoman, who operates Sweet Laisas Restaurant, has shown
that hard work does indeed
pay off.
The restaurant, situated
in Martintar is fast becoming
a stop for people who crave
for Fijian food done like nowhere else.
From selling roti parcels
and pies at Nadi airport, the
Oneata native has come a
long way.
Her drive to achieve a
better life has seen her secure work on super yachts
as chef, chief stewardess
and deckhand.
Despite an ongoing hip

injury, Laisa has overcome
all odds to creating Fijian
food with a difference while
maintaining the taste which
has become synonymous
and unique with her restaurant.
Along with her husband
Eroni, Laisas own chefs
produce dishes that would
be the envy of many big hotels and resorts.
Its fusion with international food is generated from
her strive for excellence in
the taste of Fijian cuisine.
Her customers will vouch
for that.
CHARLES CHAMBERS
THE JET is Fijis first community newspaper published bi-monthly

by YOURSPACE LIMITED from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.
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: SAMUEL SHANKAR
EDITOR/ NEWS
: CHARLES CHAMBERS
PRODUCTION
: MUNAUWAR KHAN
NEWS
: SERELISONI MOCEICA

: KATHARIN KRISHNA
ADVERTISING
: MARGARET NAQIRI

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Climate Change Continue to

affect Pacific Islands
Climate change is affecting the smaller Pacific Islands with some beings threatened of being overcome by the rising
sea level.
The Prime Minister has taked the initiative to spearhead this fight along with the Pacific neighbours to campaign
gainst bigger economies that are directly causing gobal warning.
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
Nadi a City by 2017

By SERELISONI MOCEICA
Nadi will be a city by

2017 and this is a dream
come true for the towns
Chamber of Commerce
and Industry.
NCCI president, Dr
Ram Raju said the news
was gladly received by
the Chamber after the announcement was made
by the Minister for Local
Government, Praveen Bala
recently during the Special
Administrators and Chief
Executive Officers Forum
in Nadi.
Mr Bala said Nadi town
was on its way to meeting
all the requirements needed to become a city by the
due time.
According to the Minister, the town area has
been extended to reach
the required population of
20,000.
I have been advised
by the Nadi CEO Robin Ali
that most of the work has
The aerial view of Nadi which is to become a city by 2017.Photo: SUPPLIED.
been done in this regard,

Mr Kumar said.
Dr Raju said numerous meetings have been
held in the past revolving
around this issue.
This means that Nadi is
finally poised to be one of
the most important centres
in Fiji as well as the Asia
Pacific Region, he said.
The NCCI president said
the city status will further
encourage investors to
take opportunity of development opportunities
which will enhance business growth.
Nadi Town Council and
NCCI had engaged in several forums, discussions
and resolutions that we
were supportive of since
it has all the merits rather
than demerits, Dr Raju
said.
Wonderful and exciting times loom ahead and

augurs well for the overall
economic growth of this
country.
The Chamber however
said there were issues
that still needed to be addressed such as littering,
stray animals, the beautification of the town area
and others.
Marie Wins Hibiscus, Ready for National Pageant

The beautiful and emotional Marie Fall took the
Hibiscus crown home on
Saturday night after the
competition wound down
to the last night at the FDB
Foreshore in Suva.
The leggy eighteen-yearold model with maternal
links to Nakasaleka, Kadavu charmed the crowd and
judges with her winning
smile and her responses to
the final public judging.
After
acknowledging
her mothers support, Ms
Fall said she would try her
best to do Suva proud as
the Hibiscus was popularly
known as the Mother of
all festivals.
The Miss Carpenters
representative said she
would make Suva city
proud at the upcoming
Miss Fiji pageant in Nadi.
Queens from pageants
around the country will
compete for the title later
this year in the jet set town.
The Miss Fiji pageant
winner will represent the

country at the annual
South Pacific pageant.
Previously, Seasea Misiki was crowned Bula Festival Queen and Ms Fall is the
second Queen crowned.
The two will wait for other
yet-to-be crowned winners from districts around
the country.
Nadi Bula festival chairman Mohammed Hafiz
said that Nadi was prepared to host the pageant after the announcement was made by
THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Minister for Local Government, Praveen Bala at the

crowning of Miss Bula.
Ms Fall however was
shocked and teary eyed as
she took the stand after her
name was called out as Hibiscus queen.
Suva City Councils
Sarah Vamarasi was first
runner up as well as Miss
Charity and Mr APCOs
Tevita Tobeyaweni was
crowned Hibiscus King.
Miss Hibiscus 2015, Marie Fall after the crowning
Photo: SUPPLIED.
ADVERTISEMENT
LOCAL NEWS
Rotary Club
for Abandoned
Couple
By SERELESONI MOCEICA
Senior
citizens,
Jai
Prasad, 68 and Pushpa
Wati, 67 were pleasantly
surprised after the Nadi
Rotary donated about $500
worth of groceries to the
family.
Members of Nadis Rotary Club responded to the
plea of assistance from this
elderly couple who were
abandoned by their children.
Items including a gas
stove and tank, groceries,
clothing and linen, mattress, crockery, pots and
pans were delivered during a visit made to the

couple who now reside at
Sabeto.
The couple had nowhere to go and had no
belongings so Rotary had
to immediately step in to
assist with the resources
that were available to
us, said club president,
Hemant Kumar.
The couple has also
been allocated a piece of
land in Sabeto to live and
farm on to help them provide for their daily needs in
the future.
Rotary club members
gathered the items and vis-
Nadi Rotary club members with their gifts to the couple.

Photo: SUPPLIED
ited the couple in Sabeto.

The Prasads were forced
to relocate after their children left them homeless
more than a week ago.
$5.77M Facility to Accommodate

Female Inmates
By KATHRIN KRISHNA
A new facility to cater
for the increasing problem
of overcrowding of female
inmates is set to be open
soon.
Overcrowding at the
Womens
Corrections
Centre was a major issue
for prison inmates.
The $5.77 million facil-
ity which is yet to officially

be opened in Lautoka will
help solve this issue.
Fiji Corrections Service
Commissioner
Lieutenant Colonel Ifereimi Vasu
said that overcrowding
was a major problem that
the FCS Suva Centre was
facing and the Lautoka
Womens Corrections Centre would help solve this
issue.
As a consequence, this
has resulted in the mixing of convicted female

inmates, with those on
remand as there was no
separate facilities for the
latter, even though one for
males was opened in 2013
adjacent to the womens
centre, he said.
The project will include
the construction of buildings, quarters, road works,
fencing, CCTV, electricity
and water connections.
The senior citizens have

begun farming the land allocated to them by planting cabbage, beans and
herbs to provide for their
basic daily meals.

In a recent statement,
the Rotary Club of Nadi is
also organizing applications for welfare payments
with the Ministry of Social

Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation.
Sugar Bill Amendment

By KATHRIN KRISHNA
Parliament has decided
to amend the Sugar Industry and the Sugar Cane
Growers Fund Bills.
This after the Attorney General Aiyaz SayedKhaiyum moved for the
amendments last week.
The amendment would
mean an overhaul of the
Board of the Sugar Cane
Growers Council as the
Sugar minister would be-
come the sole authority to

appoint members including the chairperson.
The AG said this was
also good news to the
farmers who would cease
to pay any fee to the Growers Fund.
But it means they have
to be financially prudent,
he said adding the Council
would have to provide a
budget to the Government
who will cater for all administrative expenses.
The AG said amendments provided in the Bill
will ensure that the new

Board functions productively.
He also said the changes to the Sugar Industry
Act which comes under
amendments to the Bill
would also ensure that
sugar cane growers were
fairly represented in the
SCGC .
This fact would mean
that issues would be better
addressed.
A total of 31 members
of parliament voted for the
amendments.
Kumar Receives
Timely Assistance
By KATHRIN KRISHNA
Give Clean water is a
Non Government Organization which aims to provide clean drinking water
to people living in communities which do not have
access to clean drinking
water.
The group is made up
of 13 dedicated individuals
who have the heart to provide clean drinking water
to the less fortunate.
Amanda. L. Mineer, the
President and Executive
Director for the organization said with a rise in
water borne diseases, the
group aimed to provide
clean water for the villag-
ers who were prone to water borne diseases.

We install water filters
in the villages to help with
water quality problems,
she said. She also mentioned that the water filters
which were used were
very easy to clean and was
an opportunity for the recipients to make the most
of it.
The simple water filters
can be installed in individual homes and rain water,
borehole water, well water
and even river water can
be filtered to use later, she
said.
Krishna Kumar, a resident of Aralevu, Nadi was
one of the fortunate ones
to receive the filter during
the current dry spell.
We have water disruptions at our place and we

normally resort to rain and
river water during these
times. Now, since we have
a water filter, we can make
use of it and have clean
drinking water for all our
family members, all thanks
to Give Clean Water, he
said.
Give Clean Water, has
worked with local communities in Fiji for the past
7 years mainly in Viti Levu
and has been working
very closely with the local
health department, identifying areas which have typhoid, diarrhoea outbreak
and has installed water filters in these areas.
New School for Yasawa

The people of Yasawa, especially those who live in
the northern islands of the group will benefit from
the opening of a new secondary school.
This was mentioned by Education Minister Dr Ma
hendra Reddy recently.
The kumar family with the volunteers from Give Clean water in Aralevu Nadi.
Photo: KATHRIN KRISHNA.
Residence Recieve Clean Water

Give Free Water, an NGO has started helping
people in remote areas access clean water.
The organization began last week distributing fil
ters to Aralevu in Nadi.
Asinate in US Sevens Team

Another Serevi is making headlines. This time
Waisale Serevis daughter, Asinate has been se
lected in the US womens sevens squad. Asinate
began her rugby career with Howlers, with whom
her dad is a part of. Full story on back page.
LOCAL NEWS
Fiji Leads Charge to Cut

Carbon Emissions
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Fiji and its Pacific neighbours intend to lead the
charge for drastic cuts in
carbon emissions at the
World Climate Summit at
the end of November.
The comments were
made by Prime Minister
Voreqe Bainimarama during the Forum for IndiaPacific Island Cooperation
(FIPIC) held in Jaipur, India
on August 22.
We have precisely 14
weeks to persuade the industrial nations to put our
survival before the wellbeing of their carbon polluting industries, Mr Bainimarama said.
He asked Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to
stand with Fiji and its island neighbours.
To side with us rather
than with what I have
called the Coalition of the
Selfish.
Those nations who are
putting their interests before the interests of those
of us who are most vul-
nerable to climate change

the Small Island Developing States, Mr Bainimarama said.
All around us in Jaipur
are reminders of Indias
glorious past and the contribution it has made to the
development of human civilisation.
But tonight, we look
to the future and the role
India is destined to play in
forging a better world for
all mankind. And especially the role it can play in the
Pacific to improve the lives
of all our people, Mr Bainimarama said.
Prime Minister Modi,
you have the great honour
to lead the worlds biggest
democracy and a major
power on the global stage.
We in the Pacific look to
India to take a greater lead
in resolving the great challenges of our time, which
is why Fiji is strongly supporting Indias bid to become a Permanent Member of the United Nations
Security Council.
For our part, we have
the great honour to again
engage with you face to

face to discuss ways in
which we can strengthen
Indias engagement with
our region and our people, Mr Bainimarama said.
He said as part of the
global heritage, the Pacific
belonged to the world but
it was also our home.
And we insist that it be
respected.
Our people should never again pawns or victims
of disputes between the
great powers.
Mr Bainimarama said
the Pacific needed to be
kept peaceful and its pristine environment protected for all time.
For the ocean that sustains us to have its resources utilised in a sustainable
manner and to remain a
sanctuary for the enjoyment of Pacific peoples
and visitors from around
the world for generations
to come, he said.
Mr Prime Minister,
we all have our individual challenges as Pacific
Small Island Developing
States but some of these
are common to us all, Mr

Bainimarama said.
He said population
growth was placing an
unprecedented strain on
island environments. He
added there was a need
for urgent individual and
collective action to prevent
the unsustainable use of
resources on land and at
sea.
Mr Bainimarama said
the most pressing issue
faced and the one that
required the most urgent
response was the grave
threat posed to Pacific Island countries by the rising sea levels and extreme
weather events caused by
climate change.
We are all suffering in
the Pacific to a greater or
lesser extent. But in the
case of three of our nations Kiribati, Tuvalu and
the Marshall islands their
very existence is threatened. And unless the industrial nations agree to
binding cuts in carbon
emissions to arrest the current level of global warming, these nations are des-
The Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. Photo: SUPPLIED
tined to sink beneath the

waves and disappear off
the map altogether, Mr
Bainimarama said.
What will happen to
their citizens is one of the
great challenges the world
will face. Fiji has offered
permanent sanctuary to
the citizens of Kiribati and
Tuvalu, our nearest neigh-
bours. But all this presents

a range of logistic and legal
challenges which the international community needs
to address, Mr Bainimarama said.
PIDF Plans for Irresponsible Policy Making

Future Role
Cause of Global Problems
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
The University of the
South Pacifics School of
Government,
Development and International
Affairs (SGDIA) recently
organised a diplomacy
roundtable on the emerging role and future of the
Pacific Islands Development Forum.
Speaking at the event
held at USPs Laucala
Campus in Suva, Interim
Secretary-General of PIDF,
Mr Amena Yauvoli told
members of the diplomatic corps and staff and
students of USP that PIDF
was distinct from other
regional organisations, in
that it was a multi-sector
and a multi-stakeholder
organisation operating at
national, regional and international levels.
With respect to the future of PIDF, Mr Yauvoli
mentioned the organisations upcoming annual
event which was the third
PIDF Summit scheduled
from September 2-4 at the
Grand Pacific Hotel.
The Summit will see
the recruitment of a new
Secretary-General and the
adoption of some policies
and guide to human resources and finance policies, he said.
With the theme of
Building Climate Resilient
Green Blue Pacific Economies, Mr Yauvoli was confident PIDF would be a new
organisation internationally, with the signing of its
new Charter that would
take the organisation to a
new level.
Another major highlight
of the event wouldl be the
signing of a Declaration
on climate change, which
according to the Interim
Secretary-General, was a
major diplomatic step on
the road to the Climate
Change Conference in Paris in December.
Mr Yauvoli told the audience at USPs FBE lecture
theatre that the diplomacy
roundtable provided a
good opportunity for many
people to know the current
and future role of PIDF and
Pacific Regionalism.
USPs Coordinator of
Postgraduate Studies in
Diplomacy and International Affairs, Associate
Professor Gregory Fry highlighted that the roundtable
was part of the schools
outreach activity which
sought to involve ambassadors, international agencies, regional institutions
and NGO representatives
on key issues of interest to
them.
PIDF is a relatively new
organisation which has a
number of innovative facets including its focus on
green growth, sustainable
development and inclusion of non-government
organisations and private
sector, he said.
This, he stated generated a lot of interest among
international
observers
and staff and students of
USP on how PIDF had been
working since its inception
in 2012 and what its future
plans are in implementing
its commitment to green
growth.
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Dame Meg Taylor said it

has been seen globally that
the consequences of irresponsible and shortsighted
policy making resulted
crumbling
economies,
massive job losses, and
even regional disintegration.
Dame Taylor, the Secretary General of the Pacific
Islands Forum Secretariat
made the remarks during
the Comprehensive Consultations on Pacific Trade
held at the Shangri-La Resort on August 20.
Regional economic integration including through
trade-led growth that is
sustainable and which
reaches all our people remains a high priority for the
Forum, Dame Taylor said.
We are committed to
achieving improvements in
our collective wealth and
prosperity, and positive
growth in our region.
Trade and commerce
must be undertaken in a
responsible and inclusive
manner.. The very opposite
of what we are promoting
in the region. Your role as
vigilant observers, committed practitioners, and
diligent policy makers is

important.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the
backbone of any economy,
and more so in the Pacific
islands.
Business
structures
that allow our smaller and
micro-businesses to flourish as part of our efforts to
distribute wealth equitably
in the Pacific islands are
an important component,
Dame Taylor said.
Our geographic isolation and the associated
high cost of participation
in international trade are
our major structural constraints. The consultations
earlier in the week have
discussed how more efficient, transparent and predictable border procedures
will create an enabling environment for cross-border
trade and investment that
would significantly benefit
countries and businesses
of all sizes, but most notably for SMEs.
She said another highlight had been the opportunities available for
increased trade within the
region, and also for the
region to engage in SouthSouth trade that had been
growing significantly. This
was an area of trade that
she strongly encouraged

the traders to pursue.
I recognise that discussions on trade in our
region have not been without controversy. But in my
visits to Forum member
countries and in my meetings with Leaders, economic development remains uppermost. And our
Leaders have consistently
agreed on the fundamental contribution of trade to
economic growth.
Let me assure you that
the regions drive for economic growth and trade
is very much grounded
in sustainable economic
growth and an inclusive
process. This includes ensuring that our women, our
youth and our actors in the
informal sectors are part
of inclusive solutions for
growth, Dame Taylor said.
In a broader context,
Dame Taylor
Pacific Leaders have instituted an inclusive Framework for Pacific Regionalism through which we are
able to invite every individual and community from
the Pacific to voice what
they think should be the
priorities that our Leaders
need to focus on, Dame
Taylor said.
Smith Bets On Fiji

The national Flying Fijians squad has been named and
predictions are pointing to the team emerging from
the pool of death alongside Australia. Former Wallaby
Greg Smith is one betting on this.
LOCAL NEWS
Rakhi a Festival of
Love and Protection
Sigatoka Sand
Dunes Charity
Benefit a Success
By MARGARET NAQIRI
The Sands of Time charity benefit that was held at

Shangri-Las Fijian Resort
and Spa last weekend was
a great success.
The
Sigatoka
Sand
Dunes is Fijis only National
Park and is shortlisted as
a World Heritage site by
UNESCO. It is a unique site
which combines a landscape found nowhere else
in Fiji or the region.
Sigatoka Sand Dunes is
the most visited of the National Trusts eight sites and
is the flagship property on
Viti Levu.
Chairperson for National
Trust of Fiji Robin Yarrow
said that the Trusts overriding objective for this
important site was one of
continuous improvement
to ensure all visitors, residents and tourists alike,
had an enjoyable, meaningful and safe experience.
Tourists in particular
are increasingly interested
to learn about Fijis rich
heritage much of which
makes us stand-out as different from competing island destinations. Satisfied
visitors will support this
endeavor, grow and sustain our economy and also
assist with enhancing our
other less accessible heritage sites, he says.
The National Trust of Fiji
was grateful for the recent
government grant which
had funded their Visitor
Centre extension.
We are fortunate to
have
such
wonderful
friends at Shangri-Las
Fijian Resort and Spa, together with their Bilo Bar
Club The National Trust
is especially grateful for the
significant cash donation
by the Club as well as for
those in-kind that the Club
has facilitated from various
business houses, towards

our gate and fence project, which we are all here
to support this evening,
he conclude.
Shangri-Las
Fijian
Resort and Spa General
Manager Craig Powell
said that they intended to
raise the standards of the
facilities in general, so
the site could achieve the
status of a World Heritage
Site.
This will not only preserve its place in Fiji for
future generations but
will also turn into a world
class tourist attraction,
showcasing our culture
and history, as the site
provides significant clues
to the earliest human
presence in Fiji. This was
discovered by a team of
archeologists in the late
1980s.
In addition we will enhance its existence as a
place of education for our
children and the community and testament to this,
is the number of school
field trips that the Sand
Dunes
accommodates
throughout the year.
Mr Powell thanked the
chief guest the Turaga
Na Kalevu Ratu Kinijoji
Navono Vosailagi for accepting the invitation in
his first official capacity
as the paramount chief of
Nadroga.
He also thanked His
Excellency the President
Ratu Epeli Nailatikau,
Barry Hancock, Lata
Yaqona, the Trustees of
the Bilo Bar and Davui
Club for making the trip
to be with them and for
the generous donation of
FJD$30,000 from the club
to go towards the perimeter fencing that was now
under construction.
A total of $24,000 was
raised on the auction
items alone and over
$40,000 on ticket sales.
By KATHRIN KRISHNA
Raksha Bandhan is a
Hindu Festival that celebrates the love and duty of
protection between brothers and sisters.
Raksha Bandhan in
Sanskrit literally means
the tie or knot of protection. The word raksha
means to protect and the
word Bandhan is the verb
to tie.
This tradition of Rakhi
was brought to Fiji by the
indentured labourers and
since then, it has been
observed throughout the
month of August.
Usually the sister per-
forms a prayer session

and ties the rakhi on her
brothers wrist which signified the love and her best
wishes for his long life.
In return, the brother
ritually pledges to protect
and take care of his sister
under different circumstances.
The festival is also observed between cousins
or distant family members sometimes between
biologically unrelated men
and women.
The festival brings together men and women
from different religions,
diverse ethnic groups and
ritually emphasizes harmony and love.
Sweets Prepared for Raksha Bandhan.

Commisioner Western Manasa Tagicakabau (Middle) with

participants of the workshop at Hexagon Hotel, Nadi.
Ximon Shankar and Samantha Shankar during the Rakhi festival at their Nadi Home. Photo: KATHRIN KRISHNA.
Make my Day
The President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau Shares a l ight moment
with Turaga Na Kalevu, Ratu Kinijoji Vosailagi.
Picture by: MARGARET NAQIRI.
Gala Night to raise

Funds
Women of West (WOW) are spearheading initiatives
to assist locals suffering from mental health. A gala
night is planned for September 5 at the Sheraton on
Denarau where proceeds will go towards this worthy
cause.
New Public Holiday

Fiji will have a new public holiday next year. Constitution Day was passed in parliament and will be an addition to other public holidays being observed in Fiji
TO ALL COUPLES: If you

cry every day in your relationship, sit down.take
a deep breath and think
did I marry a human or an
onion.
I asked my trainer which
machine I should use at the
gym to impress beautiful
womenhe pointed outside and said the ATM machine.
Husband takes wife to

a dance club and theres a
man on the floor giving large
break dancing, moonwalking, back flips, the works.
Wife turns to the husband
and says See that guy? 25
years ago he proposed to me
and I turned him down. Husband says Looks like he is
still celebrating.
A Southern state trooper

was asked on an exam: what
would you do if you had to
arrest your own mother. In
the blank he wrote Call for
back up.
There are approximately

1,010,300 words in the English language but I still cannot string enough words
together to properly express
how much I want to hit you
with a chair.
How do you know when

a man is about to say something smart? He starts by
saying My wife once told
me..
A state trooper pulled

over an old man for speeding. The officer said to the
man if you can give me an
excuse I never heard before
Ill let you go. The old man

said to the officer several
years ago my wife ran off with
a state trooper and I thought
you were him trying to bring
her back to me. The officer
said slow it down and have
a nice day.
Your birthday is the one
day in the year that people
you never talk to on Facebook post on your wall.
I never knew why women

love cats. Cats are independent, they dont listen and
they dont come in when
you call, they like stay out
all night and when they are
at home they like to be left
alone and sleep. In other
words every quality that
women hate in men they
love in cats.
LOCAL NEWS
New Public Holiday for Fiji
There will be a Constitution Day from September 7
beginning next year.
This was proposed and
passed during a motion by
the Attorney General, Aiyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum this week.
The A-G had moved
that the Speaker consider
the Employment Relations
Promulgation Amendment
Bill 2015 and during the motion also proposed the new
holiday.
The Bill also proposes a
new public holiday which
will be called the Constitution Day which is the 7th of
September where people
will get to know the merits of the Constitution, Mr
Sayed-Khaiyum said.
He said many countries
had a Constitution Day as
they hold the Constitution in
high regard.
It will be ingrained in our
society, the A-G said.
The Attorney General
said there was a need to
create awareness about the
Constitution.
Trade and Industry minister, Faiyaz Koya said the
Constitution was for all Fijians and there was a need to
uphold it.
Members of the Opposition argued against the Bill
and with Kini Kiliraki adding that there was a need to
establish a holiday for the
indigenous population.
He said the holiday for
the Indigenous could be
marked for August 10 which
is also the World Indigenous
Peoples Day.
The Bill was passed despite strong criticism from
members of the Opposition.
The Attorney General Hon. Aiyaz Saiyed Khaiyum presenting the constitution to a diplomat. Photo: SUPPLIED.
Ministers Visit Brings Relief to

Senior Citizens
The Ministry of Women,
Children and Poverty Alleviation has urged families
to establish a strong family foundation, through
nurturing the values of respect and care for senior
citizens.
The advice came from
the Minister for Women,
Children and Poverty Alleviation, Hon Rosy Akbar, in
light of the recent reports
highlighted regarding the
welfare of senior citizens.
Aligned to the Ministrys caring approach to
senior citizens, Minister
Akbar visited the elderly
couple in Sabeto on Saturday 29th August 2015.
Mr Jai Prasad,68 and
his wife Pushpa Wati 67
thanked Mrs Akbar for
the visit and assistance
provided to them. This followed an assessment carried by the Ministry and
the couple were approved
to be assisted through the
Poverty Benefit Scheme.
The Ministry will continue to reach out to senior citizens in such cases
to ensure that their welfare and wellbeing is not
compromised in any situation, Mrs Akbar said.
We have continued
to reiterate on the need
for families address such
issues through care, understanding and communication process. For
the ministry, ensuring the
safety and wellbeing of
the senior citizens has always been of great importance- and we will go out
of our way to assist them
in every way possible,
Minister Akbar said.
However, Minister Akbar has called on stakeholders to practice more
responsibility
when
reporting such cases
through media. During the
Ministers visit and findings, it was revealed that
the couple was not aban-
doned by their children

and the story had been exaggerated.
Upon the Ministrys assessment of this case, it is
found that the couple had
left because of a family dispute. They left by choice
and certainly not abandoned as mentioned in
some of the initial reports.
Its essential in such cases
to ensure sensible reporting through providing thorough assessment of the
cases before drawing to
any conclusion.
Upon our discussion
with the family, the sons
have assured their support for their parents. Any
issues concerning families are sensitive and if not
handled with care, it could
further damage relationships among families,
Meanwhile, Minister Akbar also visited 85 year old
Sheema Chand Reddy, a
senior citizen who was allegedly assaulted in Nadi
last month.
Minister Akbar said
the Ministry in partnership
with Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) will
take appropriate measures
to increase public awareness on the issue.
The Ministry through
National Council for Older
Persons (NCOP) is focused
on creating an inclusive,
supportive, an enabling
environment for senior citizens. Any matters concerning the welfare of senior
citizens, should be treated
with urgency and as such
the Ministry will continue
to increase its reach out
to the ageing population.
They should not and will
not be neglected and forgotten for they have contributed towards the development of our nation,
Supervisor of Elections at Fiji Elections Office, Mohammed Saneem.

Photo: GOOGLE
Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Hon Rosy Akbar with Mr & Mrs Jai Peasad. Photo: SUPPLIED.
(From theleft) The 85 year old Sheema Chand Reddy having a onversation withHon.RosyAkbar.. Photo: SUPPLIED.
LOCAL NEWS
Bainimarama Upgrades
Radio Broadcasting
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Radio broadcasting will

be modernized soon to
that will see an increase information being accessed
by Fijis remote islands.
The
upgrading is being done on
existing medium wave AM
infrastructure and transmissions, which was not
commercially viable business but which has much
greater access than FM
broadcasts.
The Prime Minister
Voreqe
Bainimarama,
while launching the upgrade said this was the
only way which provided
remote communities with
a signal strong enough to
carry radio programming.
Through this upgrade,
the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation will be able to
provide clearer and more
dependable programming
to Fijians in maritime areas
and improve the overall
quality of radio coverage
for all Fijians. Indeed, I am
told that on a good day this
signal could be picked up
even in New Zealand, Mr
Bainimarama said.
The project was made
possible by the assistance
of the Japanese Government in the form of a $14.5
million grant.
Fiji is eager to access
the top-of-the-line equipment and technology pro-
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama with the Japanese Ambassador to Fiji, Takuji Hanatani after signing the deal for the project for rehabilitation of the medium
wave radio transmission. Photo: PAULINI RATULAILAI of Fiji Sun
vided to us by the Japanese Government.

Not only are we getting technology capable
of reaching the furthest
reaches of the country but
it will provide the entire nation with a reliable service
for many years to come,
Mr Bainimarama said.
He said Fiji and Japan
shared a strong commitment to democracy and
public participation whereby both countries understood that access to infor-
mation was a fundamental

requirement of a functioning democracy.
Access to information
is the life blood of a nation. It saves lives when
we can boost our disaster
and emergency readiness
by broadcasting national
warnings of natural disasters.
It helps close the gap
between those living in remote parts of Fiji and the
big islands, and promotes
greater economic oppor-
tunities by putting them on

equal footing.
It improves the quality
of our education by bringing everyone the latest
technical and scientific information. And it is an important tool in enabling Fiji
to reach its true potential. It
improves the quality of our
democracy by providing
equal access to information, as well as the right to
equal opportunity and substantive justice contained
in our Constitution, Mr
Bainimarama said.
A raft of programming
has been introduced that is
relevant to modern Fiji and
especially our young people. And the Government
especially
appreciates
those home-grown programs like Bati Ni Tanoa,
Fijian Smiles, talk back
shows and community
programmes that are not
only highly entertaining but
are bringing us even closer
together as a nation, he
said.
No matter where you

are, my Government wants
you to stay up to date with
the most relevant news
and all the latest developments in Fiji and overseas.
And we are committed to
delivering this service to
you wherever you live, Mr
Bainimarama said.
Online Genetric
Training Available Soon
The Edulink II-funded
LifeLongLearning for Energy Security, Access and
Efficiency in the African
and Pacific Small Island
Developing States (L3EAP)
project announced the decision to produce an online version of a generic
training course in energy
that will be available to all.
The
announcement
was made during the third
L3EAP project meeting
held in Mauritius on 10-11
July this year.
The 3-year project, currently in its second year,
is being undertaken by a
consortium of three universities from Germany
(Hamburg University of Applied Sciences), Mauritius
(University of Mauritius)
and Fiji (The University of
the South Pacific).
The generic course in
Energy Access, Security
and Efficiency (EASE) is for
energy practitioners ranging from high-level government decision-makers to

non-governmental organisation staff.
The course will provide
training in the essentials of
energy production and use
in the African and Pacific
Small Island Developing
States. The moodle-based
course will be made available online to the global
readership via the Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU) that is being
developed by the City of
Hamburg in Germany.
The meeting also agreed
to develop short workshopbased courses for special
individual needs of the
consortium members, including a course in energy
consultancy and financing.
Associate
Professor
at USPs School of Engineering and Physics, Dr
Anirudh Singh said that
the demand for a readilyavailable course in energy

had been felt in the region
for a long time, especially
within the energy departments and other government institutions working
on energy.
He said a course was
needed to train and upskill
mature students already in
the workforce and the perennial issue was the lack
of access to students for an
appropriate course at USP
and other institutions.
The L3EAP project focuses on efficient methods
of using clean and affordable energy and is being
undertaken by a global
consortium of universities,
consisting of HAW Hamburg, Mauritius, PNG UNITECH and USP.
According to Dr Singh,
the project which began
in 2014, has had tremendous success in both its
Consortium member s at the Mauritius conference in July.

Photo: COURTESY USP
networking and outreach

events as well as its core
task of developing energy
courses.
Project L3EAP has
an active involvement of
students through its Students Volunteer Scheme,
designed to provide them
with some real-life experience in workshop organisation and project management, he said.
One of the decisions
reached at the meeting in
Mauritius, was to hold the

end-of-project conference
in Fiji, and to vigorously
pursue the networking
aims of the project.
The three-day conference, dubbed the International Conference on
Sustainable Energy for All
(SE4ALL) Energy Access,
Security and Efficiency in
the African, Caribbean and
Pacific SIDS will be held in
early July 2016.
Dr Singh added that the
planned conference will

provide an opportunity to
discuss the progress made
so far in providing energy
access to all Pacific communities since the announcement of SE4ALL
initiative by the Secretary
General of the UN in 2012.
q PRESS RELEASE
LOCAL NEWS
Expect More Cold

Nights Ahead
Stock up on blankets
and socks as more cold
nights are expected for the
division.
This was confirmed by
the Fiji Meteorological Services weather forecast.
The extra cold conditions are a result of the
wind flow from the South
according to the FMS.
Fine weather is forecasted for Nadi and the

rest of the western division.
However for Votualevu
resident Nanise Gavidi,
the cold nights meant
more family time.
We have just been
heading straight home after work, no one feels like
going out anywhere so its
just DVDs, blankets and
sleep for the whole family Ms Gavidi said.
FMS said the dry condi-
tions will also continue as

showers will be few and
far in between.
The outlook for the rest
of the week is fine weather
for the jet set town.
The Centre has forecasted rough seas as a strong
wind warning remains in
force for all Fiji waters.
LOCAL NEWS
New Olympic Size Swimming

Pool for Lautoka
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Citizens of Lautoka can

look forward to the construction of an Olympic
size swimming pool once
approval is given by Government.
Lautoka City Council
CEO Jone Nakauvadra said
the council was presently
putting everything on paper before seeking governments approval.
Mr Nakauvadra said the
proposal will be sent to
government once everything was documented
and wait for approval.
The swimming pool,
which will be opened to
the public at a fee, will be
built on a space in the Botanical Gardens near the
childrens park.
Our commitment is
there to build the swimming pool, he said.
Meanwhile work on the
new look Churchill Park
was ongoing with earth
works presently being
Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Rosy Akbar while meeting with
the senior citizens of Chanel Home of Compassion in Tamavua, Suva. Photo: SUPPLIED.
The example of an olympic size pool which is expected in Lautoka.

INSET: Works in progress at Churchill Park in Lautoka Photos: SUPPLIED
done.
Once we complete
this, then we will start on
the turf around October,
Mr Nakauvadra said.
The embankment will
initially be grass with plans
later to provide cement

seating.
The park will also boast
a new international standard athletics track while
facilities at the ground will
also be bolstered up.
This project is being

funded by the council and
unlike the national stadium which is run by the Fiji
Sports Council, our work
is ongoing when funds are
available, he said.
The construction of the

open market is at the finishing stage with the opening scheduled for next
month.
Mr Nakauvadra said the
other major project pres-
ently underway in the sugar city was the construction of Tappoos building.
Work is progressing
well here, Mr Nakauvadra
said.
New Secondary School Digicel Launches

for Yasawas
Samsung Galaxy Note
5 First in Fiji
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
The Yasawa group of islands will have its second

secondary school.
This was confirmed by
Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy following
his visit to two schools in
Northern Yasawa.
The new secondary
school is to be built on the
northern most islands in
the group.
Yasawa presently has
only one secondary school
Yasawa High School situated on Naviti Island and
students living further up
in the group have to travel
by boat or board at this
school.
With the establishment
of the new secondary
school, islands like Matacawalevu, Tavewa, Nacula
and Yasawa will find it easier to travel to.
The Minister met with
the Tui Drola, Ratu Epeli
Vuetibau to discuss the
way forward for the new
Junior Secondary School.
The Northern Yasawa
has six rural island Primary Schools whom at
most time face difficulties
in sending their children
to further their secondary
education in the mainland
of Viti Levu and Yasawa
High School as it was uneconomical for them.
Yasawa Islands. Photo: GOOGLE
I thank the Tui Drola

for his vision to expand
education here in Northern Yasawa. This is what
we are working towards,
to ensure that every Fijian
student access education
and pursue their dreams in
life, Dr Reddy said.
This is a new model
where there is resource
optimisation. The Primary
School and Junior Secondary School will share
infrastructure such as the
Library, IT Lab and playground. The Junior Secondary School will have
Years 9 and 10 from 2016.
We will provide
$100,000 to establish the
new secondary school in
Nacula to assist students
in this part of Yasawa. Our
Asset and Monitoring Unit
is currently working on
beginning construction of
the new classrooms in October this year and we will
have the school operate in
2016, Dr Reddy said.
The Tui Drola, Ratu
Epeli Vuetibau expressed
his appreciation and said
this was great news for the

community of Northern Yasawa as they will now have
a Secondary School close
to them and their children would stay with them
while attending Secondary
education.
In the past parents paid
hefty amount of money to
send their children to get
secondary education and
at times some dropped
out of school because their
parents could not afford
to pay their travelling and
other relevant expenses
to stay with relatives in the
mainland of Viti Levu. I
am indeed thankful to the
Prime Minister, Minister
and the Ministry of Education for this approval as this
will greatly assist our children access Secondary education, Ratu Epeli said.
This initiative is in line
with the governments
national strategic plan to
make education accessible and affordable to every
Fijian student.
10 THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Digicel has introduced

the new Samsung Galaxy
Note 5 smartphone the first
in Fiji.
This is yet another
first for Fiji as we unveil
the new Samsung Galaxy
Note 5, Digicel Fijis Head
of Marketing, Ms. Sheryl
Singh said.
We have been at the
fore-front of cutting edge
technologies and the next
is now for our customers to
enjoy, she said.
This handset is great
value and if youre looking
for a phone with a large
screen, the Galaxy Note 5
is by far the best choice for
you. It represents cutting
edge technology.
The phone has gorgeous metal and glass
designs, offer fast performance and long battery
life and capture excellent
photos, Ms Singh said.
The Galaxy Note 5
comes with a stylus pen
which will make writing
texts and emails easier.
The S Pen feels natural and
the multi-window feature
is useful as it allows you to
open more than one app
at a time in a split screen
view.
The Galaxy Note 5 is the
best looking Note phone
Samsung has ever made.
It has smooth metal edges

and a glossy glass curve.
The phone is incredibly
light and thin. The phone
offers sharp and crisp displays and renders colours
vibrantly.
The latest addition in
the Samsung Galaxy Note

series was launched last
month and will be selling
at Digicel stores for $2,499.
q PRESS RELEASE
The new Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Photos: GOOGLE.
ADVERTISEMENT
11
TWISTED FAMILIES PREMIER
Twisted Families Movie

Premiere Night in Pictures
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Twisted Families premiere night at Village 4

certainly created a buzz
amongst the invited guests.
The film, shot in New
Zealand, featured local
businessman Jagdish Punja.
The movie was based
on family reactions and attitude towards children, especially during times when
courting and marriage in-
tentions are in the air.

The cast of the film
were on hand to greet and
mingle with the guests and
on the other hand it was an
occasion for the locals to
get up close and personal
with the stars.
About 200 people turned
up to the premiere night
and socialized with a lot of
refreshments and pictures
taken with the stars.
The pictures featured on
this page clearly depicted
the mood of the evening.
Glimpses from the premiere. Photos: MARGARET NAQIRI
LOCAL NEWS
Sofitel Fiji Ambassadors

Walk for Cure Kids
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Staff of Sofitel Fiji Resort

and Spa would have to be
one of the best looked after workforce.
Amongst other benefits they receive from being employed by this renowned resort, the staff s
health is probably the main
look-out for the hotel.
With that in mind Sofitel
recently organized a walkathon was the culmination
of its Ambassador Wellness Week.
This was done with
the aim of improving the
health and wellbeing of
the resorts staff.

Resort staff brought
their families along as they
joined resort guests for a
Walkathon for Cure Kids
on Saturday 28th August on
Denarau Island.
Fifty walkers set off from
the resort for a 5km circuit
of Denarau Island early
that morning, led by Sofitels general manager Alan
Burrows and included
some resort guests.
Sofitel Fiji through its
parent company, Accor
Hotels, has been a longterm partner of the charity
Cure Kids in Fiji, and this
was a new fund-raising initiative in aid of this charity,
with the dual purpose of
getting the staff and their

families involved in a fitness activity.
The resorts annual Ambassador Wellness Week
featured activities such
as medical and dental
checks, donating blood,
breast checks and pap
smears, sandwich bar for
lunch, HIV Aids and cancer
awareness presentations,
and a make-up sale and
demonstrations.
Last week also saw the
launch of a 3 month weight
loss challenge, which has
had 50 participants sign up
to get in shape for the festive season.
Ambassadors who participated in the Walkathon
Participants after te courtesy the walkathon organised by Sofitel. Photos: SUPPLIED.
for Cure Kids had sought

sponsorship from family
and friends, and the fundraising total from this event
for Cure Kids is expected
to reach $1000.
Mr Burrows stated the
walkathon was a great way

to start the weekend and
would become a fixture on
the resorts annual ambassador calendar of events. It
is great to encourage our
staff and their families to
come together for a good

cause and also improve
their fitness at the same
time.
Sofitel Fiji Brightens The Day of Nadi District School

Junior Students
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Classroom environments
plays a major role in either
the advancement of childrens learning capabilities
or its detrimental.
With this in mind Sofitel
Resort revitalised Nadi District Schools junior classrooms in a refurbishment
project and the look of
happiness on the childrens
faces following their two

week break said it all.
As part of the resorts Corporate Social Responsibility
program, ambassadors from
the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa
took over the classrooms at
Nadi District School during
the recent school holidays
with the aim to complete
the refurbishment project to
enhance the learning environment for the children.
The team of ambassadors
were led by members of the
resorts engineering team,

who spent the school holidays water blasting; painting
walls, the roof of the 4 classroom block and classroom
furniture.
They
also
installed
new blackboards and pinboards, purchased a steel
storage cupboard and new
teachers chair and desk for
each of the four junior classrooms.
Then staff then completed minor repairs work,
purchased new computer

desks and chairs for the
teachers resource area, and
built a roof over the schools
new recycling centre which
the resort set up in April during their annual Planet 21
celebration.
The $10,000 project was
funded through guest donations to the resorts community charity fund, which has
also seen the resort donate
sports equipment and recycling resources to the school
earlier this year.
The resorts General Manager, Alan Burrows, was on
hand to see the excitement

in the students faces as they
returned to their new-look
classrooms on Tuesday, and
experienced the gratitude of
the teachers who appreciated the make-over to brighten up the classrooms.
Finishing touches to the
walls were provided by students from the International
School Nadi, who also visited the school during this
project to paint murals on
the classroom walls.
Mr Burrows stated that
August had been a month of
action for the resort to follow
through on some community partnership initiatives,

through this school project,
along with the resorts staff
Walkathon for Cure Kids and
donation of new bedding to
Loloma Home.
Guests from Sofitel Fiji
Resort and Spa were invited
to visit Nadi District School
as part of the resorts guest
activities program, and the
resort wass proud to support
this local primary school
where many students have
parents working at Sofitel or
one of the other Denarau resort properties.
Neil Diamond Tribute

Rocks Sofitel
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Sofitel Resorts ballroom was transformed

into the Greek Theatre
and the memories of music legend Neil Diamonds
Hot August Night seemed
a reality.
Tribute artist Gary Ryan
of England, with the huskiness of his voice reminiscing the music icons
unique singing style sent
the guests back in time
with renditions of Diamonds hits.
Diamonds captivating
performance at the Greek
Theatre in Los Angeles in
August 1972 and the same
concert recorded on the
old long playing records as
an album titled Hot August
Night still lists as one of the
artists most rousing performances.
For those who had
grown up alongside Diamonds music, this was
the closest they had got to
witnessing the superstar
perform.
Hits such as Red Red
Wine, Sweet Caroline,
Cracklin Rose, Song Sung
Blue, Soolaimon, I am..I
said, Solitary Man and
Crunchy Granola Suit had
those present thinking the
70s never went anywhere.
Sofitels Director of Sales
Neil Diamond show at Sofitel. Photos: SUPPLIED
and Marketing Michael Bell

was very pleased with the
success of the show, and
the prospect of what the
future could present to this
renowned resort.
We were delighted
with the turnout at our first
ever Tribute Night here at
Sofitel Fiji, Mr Bell said.
We had nearly 200
guests dancing the night Guest enjoying the moment at the
away to the hit songs of the Neil Diamond show at Sofitel.
legendary American artist, he said.
Mr Bell said the resort Ryans caliber as a tribute
had brought Ryan to Fiji artist.
I had used him a numand his performance was
the stepping stone for ber of times in various hoother such concerts in the tels in the United Kingdom
and every time he perfuture.
He said the tribute art- formed the event was sold
ist was reputed to be one out, Mr Bell said.
Following the sucof the worlds top Neil Diamond Tribute Artists and cess of Saturday night, we
travels the world perform- would look to do further
tribute nights during the
ing as the superstar.
Mr Bell knew too well of coming year he said.
13
TOURISM
Visitor Arrivals Hit New Record

By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Fiji set another record in

tourist arrivals in July this
year.
This new record surpasses the 2011 July figure
by 10.3 percent and 12.3
percent higher than July last
year.
Of the total number of arrivals, visitors from Australia
and New Zealand made up
65 per cent of the total.
The increase in visitor
numbers to Fiji continued to
soar to new heights as a result of strategies developed
and intensively implemented by Tourism Fiji in its key
source markets to increase
and diversify Fijis tourist
base.
The latest provisional
figures released by the Fiji
Bureau of Statistics (FBoS)
showed that visitor arrivals
for July 2015 have reached
a new monthly record of
79,494 surpassing the previous high of July 2011 by
10.3 percent.
The July 2015 arrivals figure is 8,678 or 12.3 percent
higher than that of July 2014.
As a result, the total
visitor arrivals for the first
seven months of 2015 sits
at 415,011, an increase of
35,584 or 9.4 percent compared to the same period in
2014.
According to FBoS figures, New Zealand has seen

a prevalent increase with 16
percent more arrivals compared to the same month
last year. Australia has had a
6.8 percent increase. Australia and New Zealand make
up almost 65 percent of total
visitor arrivals.
The increases are followed by the Pacific Islands
of 1,710 (54.5 percent), the
United States of 880 (13.2
percent), China of 754 (27.3
percent), Other Countries of
156 (43.8 percent), Canada
of 108 (8.5 percent), South
Korea of 49 (10.4 percent),
and Japan of 32 (6.1 percent).
Tourism Fiji Executive
Chairman, Mr Truman Bradley says the growth in the
provisional figures released
by FBoS was in line with the
visitor arrivals targets set by
Tourism Fiji.
The positive trend to our
visitor arrivals is a reflection
of the elbow-greasing done
by our team across our key
markets to ensure more
and more people want to
keep coming to our country,
as well as the efforts of the
Government to put in place
strategies to boost the tourism industry and our economy.
Mr Bradley explains that
the opening of new flight
routes to Fiji from Australia
and New Zealand, visitor
friendly immigration poli-
cies, the Tourist Tax Refund

Scheme, putting in place
innovative investment policies, and improvements to
the infrastructure are just
some of the strategies that
helps us attract more people
to Fiji.
The current provisional
figures for the first seven
months indicate that we
have achieved almost 58
per cent of our visitor arrivals target in a good way. The
industry is expected to peak
in the next three months
and as a result we expect
to achieve our target and
give the much needed boost
to the Fijian economy, Mr
Bradley says.
Meanwhile, Mr Bradley
added that the arrival of
the first New Zealand B787
Dreamliner to Fiji in October
is expected to further boost
tourist numbers from New
Zealand which has the
second highest visitors to
the country.
We have a total of 72,870
New Zealanders visit the
country from January to July
2015 and we expect to see
continuous inflation in those
numbers. The arrival of the
Dreamliner is one way for us
to be able to do that and the
Tourism Fiji team will be deploying campaigns to leverage the profile of what will
be another historic moment
for Fijis tourism industry, he
said.
Tourists arrive at the Nadi International Airport. Photo: SUPPLIED.
Touring on the Segway

The Segway Hire is a fun
and unique way of touring
at the Robinson Crusoe Island.
Brought in by fly boarding couple, Tyce Winkler
and Shaye Felsch, the ride
is part of their Hydro Sports
package that was recently
introduced at the Resort.
Its fun, easy to operate
and guests here are able to
have their own individual
tour with a guide to check
out the beauty of the island, Mr Winkler said.

We want to be able
to provide a unique way
of touring that people are
able to take on their own.
According to the couple,
the ride is fast becoming a
popular avenue for tours
on the island.
It keeps you balanced
and moves with you, easy
to steer to whichever direction you want to go, Mr
Winkler said.
The Resort has special
guides that help you tour
around the island on the
The segway ride.

Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI
Segway ride.
The Hydro Sports package also includes fly boarding and jet ski hires.
Street Poll: What do you think of the current developments in Nadi?
Julian Smith
Martintar
Julian Smith, Martintar
The developments are good
for the city-to-be. The face for
the new city.
Mohammed Nabi
Sigatoka
The flow of traffic should be
lighter now with the new roads.
No more getting stuck in traffic.
Naushad Ali
Nadi
The new buildings and
hotels and even the roads will
mean more investment for the
town which in return will create more jobs for us.
Nilesh Chand
Lautoka
The developments will
make Nadi look even better
now. New roads should be
able to make travelling in and
around Nadi a bit easier in
terms of traffic.
Salote Wedlock
CAAF Compound
They should be able to
make Nadi look good and
another tourism attraction.
Ashneel Kumar
Navakai Nadi
It is good for the people of
Nadi because it is a tourist town
and I think there should be
more developments.
TOURISM
Tourism Operators Fly Boarding Into A

Promotion in
Whole New Level
New Zealand
By KATHRIN KRISHNA
Fijian tourism operators

from around Viti Levu were
part of a successful weeklong road show across New
Zealands four major cities
where they had the opportunity to market their products
directly to more than 230
Travel Agents.
The Around Viti Levu
Roadshow was organised
by Tourism Fijis New Zealand Regional Office and
attracted ten industry operators a group of nine resorts
and Fiji Airways who presented their products to a
selection of Travel Agents
from
Auckland,
Christchurch, Hamilton, and Wellington between recently.
Tourism Fijis Regional Director New Zealand, Wayne
Deed says the road show
enabled Fijian operators to
present a variety of tourism
products on Viti Levu to encourage New Zealand consumers to disperse and seek
new experiences.
The road show is an
important element of the
work that we do to raise
the profile of the Fiji brand.
Through the event, Tourism

Fiji is able to have increased
destination
awareness
of Viti Levu as well as increased product knowledge
of the front line agents that
are present, Mr Deed adds.
The need to organise and
coordinate the roadshow
was further highlighted during the Fijian Tourism Expo
held in June this year, when
buyers from New Zealand
expressed their amazement
with the range of properties
and activities that Fiji had to
offer.
To ensure that the road
show met everybodys expectation, Tourism Fiji New
Zealand provided all the
logistical arrangements for
the week and delivered an
engaged audience to all the
venues for the local tourism
operators to engage with.
Radisson Blu Fiji Resort
Director of Sales, Ms Suzie Jones, who attended
the road show, shared how
impressed she was with the
execution of the event by the
Tourism Fiji New Zealand
team. She emphasised that
such an event was invaluable to the Fijian tourism
operators.
One of the most important aspects of this road
show is getting to the coalface the actual agents that

book. We talk to our Product Managers in the main
wholesaler market of New
Zealand and they know our
product well but being able
to present to the agents that
actually talk to the clients is
a huge benefit, Ms Jones
says.
Sigatoka River Safari Managing Director, Mr Jay White,
who was also present at the
Roadshow in New Zealand,
shared similar sentiments.
It was definitely beneficial being able to speak with
the front line sellers in New
Zealand and provide them
with the accurate and latest information about what
to do when holidaying in
Fiji, adding that the feedback from those who attended the Roadshow was
extremely positive and they
loved knowing what their
guests had on offer for their
time in Fiji.
We look forward to another 2016 Roadshow and
we would like to thank everyone at Tourism Fiji New
Zealand Office for their assistance in making the event
such a success.
In a spectacular fuse of
technology and tradition,
guests at Robinson Crusoe
Island Resort were treated
to the worlds first ever fly
boarding fire dance.
The fireworks display
over the sea was the culmination of entertainment provided by the staff members
to guests on the island last
week.
Fly board product owners
Shaye Felsch and TyceWinkler said fly boarding was an
exciting new adventure wa-
ter sport and the couple was

proud to have introduced it
to the Resort.
This is fly boarding taken
to a whole new level and we
aim to produce something
thats never been done before, Ms Felsch said.
She said the product
was new in the country and
would definitely attract a lot
of interest.
Fly boarding is the inthing right now back home
and it has always been our
aim to bring it over to Fiji,
the Queenslander said.
Attached to a jet ski, the
fly board is a water jetpack
that fits like shoes and pro-
pels the wearer out of the

sea and into the air.
The Resorts Operations
Manager Phil Andrickson
said the water sport was a
unique addition to the activities available at the Resort.
Were very proud of being the first to actually witness the combination of fly
boarding and fire dancing
and a staff member has
been trained for this, so this
is a big moment for us, he
said.
Mr Andrickson was adamant that the water sport
would attract more visitors
to the Resort.
Tyce and Shaye Winkler with their fly boarder and a staff from Robinson Crusoe
Photo: MARGARET NAQIRI.
15
ADVERTISEMENT
LAUTOKA CAMPUS
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
CONTINUING & COMMUNITY EDUCATION (CCE) COURSES
Programme
Target Group
Course Content
Duration
Fees
Remarks
Professional
Development
Training (PDT)
Those in
workforce
wishing to refine
their personal and
work skills
Professional
Management Skills
Communication Skills
Customer Management
Skills
Leadership &
Management Skills
CT to WLT
8 Weeks
$1100
Classes are held

on Saturday from
9-3. Also offered
in outer districts.
Sigatoka:
September/
October
Workplace
Leadership
Training (WLT)
Those appointed
or getting ready
for leadership
positions
Staff Welfare & Safety

Human Resource
Management Skills
Leadership &
Management Skills
CT to PDT
8 Weeks
$1350
Classes are held

on Saturday from
9-3. Also offered
in outer districts
Ba/Tavua:
September/
October
Caregiving
Fundamentals
Homecare
workers or those
pursuing a career
in caregiving/
those seeking
alternative
employment here/
abroad
110 hours of classroom

theory, skills
demonstrations
First AID/CPR Training
40 hours of practical
Day- 7
weeks
Evening-9
weeks
$900
Only offered in
Lautoka
School students
and adults
Fundamentals of IT
MS Word 2010 (Intro)
MS Excel 2010 (Intro)
MS Power point 2010
(Int)
Internet & Email
48 contact
hours
$800
Can be delivered
in any district
if there are 20
participants per
group.
School Holiday
class starting 18
August
Certificate II
in IT
Those wishing
to use computer
skills in the
workplace/
Study effectively
Day & Evening

class options
Summer class on
demand
MYOB
People using
MYOB.
Those wishing to
acquire MYOB
skills to add
value to CV and
employability
MYOB for Beginners

MYOB Intermediate
MYOB Advanced
2 days per
stage
$250
per
stage
Can be delivered
in-house or on
demand.
Saturday &
Evening class
options
Train The
Trainer (TOT)
Suitable for
teachers,
Government
workers, private
sector
Stage 1- The Practical

Trainer
Stage 2- Facilitation
Skills
Stage 3- Advance Trainer
2
Saturdays
per stage
$220
per
stage
Can be delivered
in any district
if there are 20
participants
These courses are ongoing at USP Lautoka Campus. However, interested persons in other Western
districts are encouraged to liaise with your networks and collect expressions of interest. You can then
contact the undersigned for scheduling of training and other logistics.
To obtain the enrolment form and for further information, contact Rajendra Singh, el: 666
6800; fax: 6667133 or email: rajendra.singh@usp.ac.fj or Babita Sharma; email: Babita.Sharma@usp.
ac.fj or enquire at the USP Lautoka Campus, Western House, corner of Vidilo Street, Lautoka or visit
our website: www.usp.ac.fj/lautoka
OHS MODULES 1 & 2 TRAINING

Acquire knowledge and skills in identifying hazards, assessing and controlling risk and in contributing
to occupational health and safety management in your organisation. It is mandatory in Fiji under Legal
Notice 169 section 7(1) that OHS special training should be provided to health & safety reps and
committee members in every work place. Safety at work is everyones concern.
Learning outcomes
1.
At the successful completion of the training participants will be able to:
2.
Explain the roles & functions of OHS representatives and the committee.
3.
Demonstrate the use of workplace arrangements to resolve workplace health & safety issues
4.
Describe methods used to identify workplace hazards & assess their risk factors.
5.
Apply OHS technology & communication skills
6.
Identify the relevant OHS regulations & codes of practice
Target Group
Training content
This training is open for all interested
1.
OHS act 1996 application
individuals.It is also available for in-house
2.
Workplace arrangements
training delivery
3.
Establishment of OHS reps & committees
Training will also be delivered in
4.
Functions of the OHS committee
other districts of the Western Division
5.
Managing OHS The 6 steps approach
on demand. Interested persons are
6.
Current OHS regulations
requested to liaise with your networks
7.
SMART audit
and collect expressions of interest. You
8.
Accident investigation & reporting
can then contact the undersigned for
9.
Hazard identification & risk assessment & controls
scheduling of training and other logistics.
10. Hazardous substances
Dates, Days & Time
Applications Due
Date
Venue
Fee
Saturday 5 September
9am 4pm
28 August 2015
USP Lautoka Campus
$320
To obtain enrolment form and for further information, contact: Rajendra Singh; tel: 666 6800;
fax: 6667133 or email: rajendra.singh@usp.ac.fj or Babita Sharma Email: Babita.Sharma@usp.ac.fj
or enquire at the USP Lautoka Campus, Western House, corner of Vidilo Street, Lautoka or visit our
website: www.usp.ac.fj/lautoka
TOWARDS EXCELLENCE IN LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE CREATION
Explosion rocks warehouse at U.S. military base in
Japan
An explosion rocked a warehouse at a U.S. military base
in Sagamihara, Japan, but there were no reports of injuries, Japanese fire officials said on Monday.
The local fire department said it received a call just after
midnight of an explosion at a U.S. Army depot where it
said dangerous material is stored and sent firefighters.
REUTERS
North, South Korea holds marathon talks in bid to
end standoff
Top aides to the leaders of North and South Korea negotiated overnight and into Monday morning in a marathon bid to try to ease tensions involving an exchange of
artillery fire that has brought the peninsula to the brink
of armed conflict.
The rare and unusually long meeting at the Panmunjom
truce village inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) began
on Saturday evening, shortly after North Koreas deadline for Seoul to halt anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts or face military action.
The North had deployed twice the usual artillery strength
at the border and had more than 50 submarines away
from base, the Souths defense ministry said on Sunday.
REUTERS
Rapper Khalifa handcuffed at LA airport
Rapper Wiz Khalifa was handcuffed and then released
by U.S. Customs officers after refusing to stop riding his
hoverboard at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said on Sunday.
A video on Khalifas Instagram site shows three U.S.
Customs and Border Protection officers pinning Khalifa
to the floor on Saturday and telling him to quit resisting.
I didnt do nothing, Khalifa tells them. What you want to
do? Put me in jail because I didnt listen to what you say?
REUTERS
Seven killed as jet crashes into cars at UK airshow
A jet aircraft ploughed into several cars on a busy road
near an airshow in southern England on Saturday, killing
at least seven people, police said.
The vintage Hawker Hunter fighter jet crashed onto the
A27 road, close to an airport in Shoreham where the
airshow was taking place, near the south coast city of
WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF
Brighton.
All those who died were on the road at the time of the
crash, police said, adding that it was possible more bodies might be found overnight and on Sunday. The pilot is
in a serious condition in hospital. REUTERS
Australian shares set to fall after slump on Wall St
The Australian share market is set for another heavy selloff, following steep falls on European and US markets on
Friday night.
The benchmark ASX 200 already lost 1.4 per cent on Friday to close at 5,215 after a key index showed Chinese
manufacturing had its sharpest contraction last month in
more than six years.
That triggered a 4.2 per cent slump in the main Shanghai market and 5.4 per cent dive in Shenzen, defying recent government t efforts to stem the losses with stock
purchases and selling bans on some shareholders. ABC
News
US airman nabs train hijacker
A US passenger who tackled a gunman on a train from
Amsterdam to Paris said survival instinct led him to react.
Off-duty US airman Spencer Stone said he had just woken from a deep sleep when he saw the gunman and
moved to restrain him on Friday.
His friend, Alek Skarlatos, a member of the US National
Guard, said the gunman appeared to have no training.
French authorities say the suspect, Moroccan national
Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25, has links to radical Islamism. BBC
NEWS
Typhoon claims lives in Philippines
Ten people have been killed as Typhoon Goni dumped
torrential rain in the northern Philippines, triggering landslides and floods, officials say.
Several were killed when houses were submerged under
rocks and mud. Others are reported missing in flooded
areas.
Thousands of people have been evacuated to higher
ground and some domestic flights were cancelled.
At one point, Typhoon Goni was packing winds of winds
of up to 195km/h (121mph). BBC News
Swiss planes collide
At least one person has been killed after two small planes
collided in mid-air during a show in northern Switzerland, police say.

The accident happened at around 9.30am GMT last
weekend at Dittingen, near Basel.
Swiss media say one of the pilots managed to escape by
parachute and came a day after a military jet participating in a show crashed onto a busy road in the south of
UK. BBC News
Tony Abbott to visit Eddie Mabos grave
Tony Abbott will today become the first prime minister
to visit the grave of land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki
Mabo on remote Murray Island in far north Queensland.
The Prime Minister arrived on the Torres Strait Islands
overnight to begin his annual week-long trip to a remote
Indigenous community.
Today he will visit the grave and be greeted by Mr Mabos
family members and community representatives.
JULIE Bishop blast ALP
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has called on Opposition
Leader Bill Shorten to show leadership after Western
Australian Labor politicians retweeted appalling jokes
about former SAS soldier and Liberal Party candidate Andrew Hastie.
He was not on the scene at the time and revealed on
Saturday that he has been cleared of any wrongdoing by
the Defence Force. One officer is still under investigation
over the incident.
On Saturday, Western Australian Labor politician Darren
West retweeted a tweet saying :A chopper with Bronny
in comes in to land & heres Hasties chopper, to chop off
your hand!. SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Irishman in coma after punch
An Irishman who is in an induced coma in hospital after
a fight in Bondi Junction was the victim of a one-punch
attack, police will allege.
Jason Cierans, 29, was found unconscious and bleeding
from the mouth just after 1am on Saturday when police
were called to the Tea Gardens Hotel in Bronte Street
following reports of a brawl.
On Sunday, 30-year-old Argentinian national Adrian Gabriel Martinez appeared in Parramatta Bail Court charged
with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm over the attack.
Music to Your Ears
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Peni Nabainivalu and

his group of serenaders
have established a big following at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi.
The Mataso native from
Rakirakis renditions of
original Fijian songs which
they have blended into
their harmonious voices
has captured the hearts of
many.
Such is the popularity of their music that civil
servants, top business
executives and ordinary
workers make the Tanoa
International a stop whenever they were in Nadi.
Nabainivalus
silky
touches to the guitar and
keyboard were derived
from his love for music
and learning by listening.
The father of three children, Pauliasi, Yvonne and
Patrick and grandfather of
Patricia is sought after during his annual leave from
work to place at weddings,
company parties and village fundraising events.
Born in Lautoka, the
53 year old attended the
then Lautoka Fijian School
(now Delana Primary) before going back to his village in 1970 to carrying on
his primary education.

Nabainivalu was then
sent to his mothers village
of Dalomo in the Yasawa
Group where he continued
at Bukama Primary School
and then on to Yasawa Junior Secondary School in
Naviti.
While staying with his
parents at Mataso, his father Tevita Laulau bought
him a wooden ukele with
strings made up from fishing lines, beginning his
adventure into the music
world.
Later at Yasawa Junior Secondary School he
along with other students
started music classes but
far from what normal music lessons taught.
Our teacher used to
ask everyone to play one
song and that was what
our music class was, he
said.
The first band he joined
was at Tokoriki Island Resort in the Mamanuca
Group in 1990.
He was bandleader
and his back up group included Semi Komai, who
hailed from Koro Island
and a landowner Jonasa
Ramase.
Nabainivalu then moved
across to Matamanoa Resort and teamed up with
Semi, and Saimoni from
Viwa Island.
He spent two years there

and landed a job at the
newly opened Sonaisali
Resort and played there for
four months before moving back to Matamanoa.
He later left Matamanoa and came back to
the mainland and stayed
at Tuvu, between Ba and
Lautoka and during this
time met up with again
with Mr Stein, who owned
Matamanoa and Tokoriki
and his son in Lautoka and
he was asked to return to
the island.
During this time at
Matamanoa, he met Irene
Chambers, who was working in the boutique there
and they later married.
In 1993 Nabainivalu
moved to Tanoa International and played alongside local musicians Josua
Gagalia, Peniasi Ravusana,
Jjone Saukuru and Akariva
Yameyame.
I have been at Tanoa
since and the way the hotel management and owner Mr Yenkat Reddy and
his son Rohit have looked
after me and my family has
made it difficult for me to
leave, he said.
I am thankful for their
kind generosity, especially
when my wife fell sick
and the management staff
travelled down from Nadi
to Lautoka to visit her, he
said.
Presently at Tanoa the
trio includes Peceli Nasau
from Savusavu and Sabeto
villager Atunaisa Rasea.
At one stage he teamed
up with Semi Nailaulau
from Drauniivi village and
Rasea, both of whom who
had previously played at
Raffles Gateway.
At that time at Tanoa,
their instruments were an
acoustic guitar, an electric
guitar and ukele but this
changed six years later
when new instruments
including a keyboard was
purchased by the hotel.
The band was also taken to Samoa to play at the
Tusitala Samoa Hotel and
also travelled to American
Samoa where they entertained the locals there at
the McDonalds anniversary.
I love playing easy listening music and people
like it because after a hard
day or weeks work it takes
away the stress, he said.
I play old Fijian music
the way it is and do not
change it, he said.
Nabainivalu has a love
for the music of Jale Mareyawa, the late Sakiusa
Bulicokocoko, Rootstrata,
the Old Timers, Kula n
Friends, Joe Beraki and
Marika Tawakelevu among
a few.
Peni Nabainivalu with granddaughter Patricia. Photo: SUPPLIED
Under the name of Vunivadra Serenaders, Nabainivalu alongside Nasau and

Josua from Natalau put out
their first disc which has 16
songs that is fast selling because of the old Fijian hits.
On those that venture
to Tanoa to listen to their
music, Nabainivalu said
whenever these avid followers come from Suva to
stay in Nadi, they were up

at the hotel the first night
and until they left.
I usually ask them why
they didnt stay at the hotel
they were booked in and
listen to the house bands
there, they said our music was more relaxing, He
said.
17
LOCAL NEWS
Uncle Tom and Pauline
Uncle Tom loves his

music and it is this love
that drives him to share his
music in the streets of Nadi
town every afternoon.
The popular Nadi musician confesses that he is
married to his guitar after
his wife passed on sixteen
years ago.
My guitar is named after my wife, Pauline who
passed on about sixteen
years ago, said the 62 year
old diehard musician.
Uncle Tom as he is popularly known or Thomas
Christopher Dean said he
began playing guitar at the
tender age of twelve.

This is my life, I grew
up with music, my family
loves to sing and I myself
cant stop singing, you will
never find me without my
guitar, Uncle Tom said.
Uncle Tom is originally
from Tailevu and moved
to Nadi thirty years ago. He
has five daughters and a
son and lives on his own as
his children have all married and moved away.
The musician said his
music took him around the
country as he moved into
band after band plying his
trade.
Uncle Tom started out
with the Exodus, a local
Fijian reggae band that
performed in the 1970s in
Police Initiative for

Human Rights
Police officers need to
respect human rights and
perform duties within the
ambits of the law.
This was the stand taken by police officers in the
western division as they
finished a series in training
workshops organized at the
AFL Academy in Nadi last

week.
The sergeants, corporals
and constables were from
Ba, Rakiraki, Tavua, Nalawa,
Namarai and Vatukoula and
are part of steps taken by the
Fiji Police Force to build a
culture of respect.
Police Officers are confronted with human rights
24 hours and are constantly
Suva.
We used to play at the
Golden Dragons and then
I moved on to the Quickenders and played at the
Oakley nightclub back
then in Nausori, he said.
Uncle Tom said growing up with a musical family fueled his passion often
skipping school to take his
guitar to his familys cassava patch to play in Tailevu.
I listened to my mother
playing the ukulele and
taught myself the guitar,
he said.
Every time I get together with my two brothers, we will sing, we have
about 11 guitars between
us as we all share the love
for music, even though
they have their own jobs

he said.
The music enthusiast
sings songs from the 60s,
70s and the 80s and his favourite genre of music is
the blues.
You should all come
around and watch me
play, make song requests
and Ill sing them for you,
Uncle Tom said.
You will get swept away
by the small man with the
big voice as he stands outside MH Supermarket with
his Pauline.
met with challenges and

shortfalls which is why
training on human rights is
essential for the Fiji Police
Force, said Divisional Police
Commander West Senior
Superintendent Marika Yalimaiwai.
He said a change in
mindset was needed to ensure that officers applied the
law according to principles
of human rights.
It is good and healthy for
the Fiji Police Force to be exposed to human rights and I
thank UNDP for their funding support and SPC RRRT
for facilitating this weeks
training.
United Nations Development Programme representative Sonja Bachmann
acknowledged the initiative
taken by the Police.
We are encouraged by
the enthusiasm and engagement of the Fiji Police Force
from the Commissioner of
Police level down to the divisional level, which is important to progress on effective
policing in line with human
rights standards and human
dignity, she said.
The workshops were organized in collaboration with
the UNDP, Secretariat of the
Tokoriki for Bigger

and Better Things
Tokoriki Island Resort
has confirmed another
five mission dollars extension to its current facilties.
This was revealed by
Chairman Andrew Turnbull as the Resort celebrated its 20th anniversary last
week.
According to Mr Turnbull the resort will close
down in January 2016 for
renovations to begin.
We will be spending
probably about $5 million
because we are redoing
the whole main complex,
he said.
Renovations also include a new jetty and helipad, new bar and refrigeration, kitchen, staff quarters
and 36 swimming pools
with one pool for each
bure.
The chairman also confirmed plans to build another four and a half star
sister resort exclusively for
couples.
Mr Turnbull is currently
looking at purchasing real
estate for this new venture.
Tokoriki Island Resort
is based in the Mamanuca group and opened its
doors in 1995
Mr Turnbull said the re-
sort now has a total of thirty six bure from the nineteen it began with twenty
years ago.
The chairman acknowledged the services provided by the staff and said
they were the resorts most
valuable commodity.
There is an old saying
here Arrive as a visitor and
leave as a friend and its
just so true. What makes
the difference is our staff
because we treat them like
family, he said.
Representatives
of
stakeholders of the tourism industry were part of
the celebrations on the island resort.
Uncle Tom playing guitar utside MH Nadi Store.

Photos: SERELISONI MOCEICA
Members of the Police gender training workshop and

facilitators in Nadi. Photos: SUPPLIED
Pacific Community Regional
Rights Resource Team and
the United Nations Office of
the High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
In a statement, the Police said the objective of the
training was to help officers

perform duties in compliance with the domestic legislative framework and also
in accordance with international human rights standards.
ADVERTISEMENT
19
BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD
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21
BUILDUP TO RUGBY WORLD CUP 2015 - COMPILED BY CHARLES CHAMBERS
Buildup To Rugby World Cup

McKee Confident Fiji Will Kevin Mealamu to Retire After
World Cup
Rise to the Challenge
Akapusi Qera captains
a Fijian RWC 2015 squad
that boasts an array of attacking talent even with
the loss of Napolioni Nalaga, who has failed to recover from injury in time.
Nalaga has been named
as one of seven non-travelling reserves.
However,
Crusaders
star Nemani Nadolo, who
missed Fijis World Rugby
Pacific Nations Cup 2015
title-winning
campaign
due to a leg injury, does
take his place in the squad
after undergoing a successful rehabilitation period.
Ben Volavolas impressive showing in the Pacific
Nations Cup has earned
the former Australia U20
international a call up
at fly-half where he will
compete with Lepani Boti,
Gabby Lovobalavu and
Josh Matavesi for the number 10 jersey.
Qera, who will be appearing in his third Rugby
World Cup, will be assisted by vice-captains, centre
Vereniki Goneva and hooker Sunia Koto.

I am very pleased to
announce a very strong
and experienced team
to represent Fiji at RWC
2015, John McKee said.
After the successful
Pacific Nations Cup campaign and current training
camp here in Fiji the squad
is working well towards
the challenges ahead in
the UK at RWC 2015.
Pool A is a very challenging pool and I have
every confidence that this
team will rise to the challenge and bring their best
game to every match at the
World Cup.
Challenges such as
those ahead of us bring out
the best in top competitors
and top teams.
With this talented
group of rugby players,
fiercely proud of representing their country, I believe
we have a team of players
who will bring their best
game to the biggest contest in international rugby.
Fiji face hosts England
in the opening match at

20:00 on 18 September at
Twickenham. They will
then tackle Australia 23
September, Wales on 1
October and Uruguay on 6
October in their remaining
Pool A matches.
Forwards: Lee Roy
Atalifo,
Isei
Colati,
Campese Maafu, Peni
Ravai, Manasa Saulo, Sunia Koto (vice-captain),
Tuapati Talemaitoga, Viliame Veikoso, Tevita Cavubati, Leone Nakarawa,
Api Ratuniyarawa, Nemia
Soqeta, Masi Matadigo,
Akapusi Qera (captain),
Malakai Ravulo, Netani
Talei, Dom Waqaniburotu, Peceli Yato.
Backs: Nemia Kenatale,
Nikola Matawalu,Henry
Seniloli, Lepani Botia,
Gabby Lovobalavu, Josh
Matavesi, Ben Volavola,
Vereniki Goneva (vicecaptain), Kini Murimurivalu, Nemani Nadolo,
Waisea Nayacalevu, Metuisela Talebula, Asaeli
Tikoirotuma.
All Blacks hooker Kevin

Mealamu has confirmed
he will retire after the
World Cup and take on a
two-year role as New Zealand Rugby ambassador.
Mealamus new brief
will see him focus on the
wider Auckland region and
community rugby, where
the game has battled to
hold ground in New Zealands largest city in recent times. Teenagers and
club rugby numbers show
a worrying decline in the
past 12 months.
Having earned widespread respect during
his time with Auckland,
the Blues and All Blacks,
theres no better man to
tackle those challenges.
Were delighted to announce Kevins appointment as a New Zealand
Rugby ambassador, NZ
Rugby chief executive
Steve Tew said.
Hes hugely respected
by not only our organisation, but the wider rugby

community. He has huge
mana amongst the Auckland
communities
as
well for everything hes
achieved and is the perfect
person to carry out this
role.
As an Aucklander,
Kevin is well aware of the
challenges we face in the
greater Auckland region.
Hes ideally placed to help
us encourage more players, coaches and referees
to embrace the game in
the region.
Mealamu, the 36-yearold 126 test veteran was
excited and humbled by
the opportunity.
Ive loved my time as a
rugby player here in New
Zealand and loved being
part of all the teams I have
represented, particularly
the All Blacks, he said.
While theres a little
bit more I want to achieve
Kevin Mealamu
this year before I hang up
my boots, its cool to know
that I am going to be still involved in rugby in this new
role.
Im grateful for the opportunity to support the
game which I love and
which has given me so
much and in my rugby
ambassador role I look
forward to giving back to
the game, to the Auckland
region, the wider community, and to New Zealand
rugby.
Italy Drop Veteran Lock

Veteran lock Marco Bortolami has been left out of
Italys final 31-man squad
for next months World Cup
in England.
The 35-year-old Bortolami is Italys most capped
player, along with captain
Sergio Parisse, with the duo
having each made 112 appearances.
Italy coach Jacques
Brunel also omitted inexperienced winger Michele
Visentin and flanker Robert
Barbieri.
It was very difficult to
communicate the decision,
especially when youve put
in as much work as the
lads have over the past
nine weeks, Brunel said.
So to tell several players
they were not coming to
the World Cup was particularly difficult.
Bortolami, who has
played in three World
Cups, has captained Italy

on numerous occasions
and is also an influential
presence off the field.
It will be a record-equaling fifth World Cup for his
Zebre teammate, flanker
Mauro Bergamasco. Samoa legend Brian Lima
is the only other player to
have achieved that feat.
Italy also named four
foreign-born players in
their squad - Australians
Luke McLean and Joshua
Furno, South African Quintin Geldenhuys and Fijian
Samuela Vunisa.
Italy plays Scotland at
Murrayfield on Saturday,
before travelling to Cardiff
for its final warm-up match
against Wales on September 5. The squad will return home before flying to
London on September 13.
Italy is attempting to get
through the pool phase of a
World Cup for the first time

in its history. It plays France
in its opening World Cup
match on September 19
at Twickenham and also
faces Canada, Ireland and
Romania in Pool D.
We know that it wont
be easy and that France
and Ireland, which are
above us in the rankings,
are favorites to progress
through the pool phase,
Brunel said. But we
mustnt forget that Italy
was able to beat both of
them in the 2013 Six Nations.
At the same time, we
cant allow ourselves to
underestimate
Canada
and Romania, two sound
teams that - like us - are
aiming to get a win against
someone whos above
them in the World Rugby
ranking.
Scalpers Re-selling RWC Tickets for $50,000

Rugby World Cup ticket scalping continues to
cause outrage in Britain
with a pair of tickets to the
final being touted for almost $50,000.
The opposition Labour
Party is putting heat on the
government with research
showing ticket prices on
the secondary market are
reaching 40 times their
original value.
Shadow Secretary of
State for Culture, Media
and Sport Chris Bryant is
on the warpath after England Rugby 2015 lobbied
with no success for legislation to outlaw resale except through official channels, as was the case for
the Olympic Games and
Commonwealth Games.
Britains new Consumer Rights Act contains a
clause that forced secondary sites to display detailed
ticket information and allowed governing bodies
to cancel tickets if they felt
they were being sold in
breach of terms and conditions.
But Bryant told the
Guardian newspaper that
the limited provisions in

the Act, used to monitor
ticket sales during the just
completed Ashes cricket
series, were not good
enough to discourage tickets being resold on an industrial scale because the
maximum penalty was just
over $10,000.
The government promised to protect the tournament from unfair ticket
touting but with less than a
month until the World Cup,
it is clear that fans are being ripped off left right and
centre and ministers are
doing nothing about it,

Bryant told the Guardian.
Rugby is crying out for
extra investment in pitches, coaches and kit but it
is a scandal that the government is allowing fans
to be charged 40 times the
face value of a ticket with
nothing going to the grassroots game, the players
or the stadia. That money
just goes into the pockets
of parasitical rip-off merchants who add no value
whatsoever.
A spokesman for secondary market leader Via-
gogo told the paper the

Rugby World Cup was the
most popular event it had
been involved with and
strongly defended its freemarket business model.
It is perfectly legal to
resell a rugby ticket if you
want to. We believe once
youve bought something,
whether thats a house, a
car, or a ticket, its up to
you what you do with it
and you should be allowed
to resell it at whatever the
market value is, he said.
Since the days of the
gladiators, people have
been reselling tickets to

sporting events. The difference is that since Viagogo introduced our safe
and secure marketplace,
nobody need now take
risks buying from classified
ads, auction sites, or even
worse from a shady character outside the venue.
Rugby World Cup organisers say the situation
simply emphasises their
warnings to buy from official outlets.
RUGBY WORLD CUP & LOCAL SPORTS
Wallaby Great Smith Wallabies Told of

Predicts England and Call-Ups by Special
Wales to Drop
Phone Call
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
Wallabies great George

Smith is happily playing the
Grim Reaper in the leadup
to the Rugby World Cup,
predicting heavyweights
Wales and England wont
qualify from the pool of
death.
The two northern stalwarts are grouped with
Australia, Fiji and Uruguay
with just two teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
Smith, the flanker with
111 tests to his name, boldly predicts Australia, the
Rugby Championship winners, and Fiji, the Pacific
Nations Cup champions,
will be the sides to make
the playoffs.
The 35-year-old Smith,
who played in the 2003
and 2007 tournaments and
had hopes of making this
years Australian squad, is
a World Cup ambassador
and in that role he issued a
dire warning to Wales and
hosts England.
Its going to be extremely competitive in, as
they say, the pool of death.
The English and Welsh,
from what Im led to believe, have been training
extremely well while Australia have won the Rugby
Championship. But I think
Fiji are going to go through

with Australia, Smith told
Walesonline.
He believed Fiji were
an improving side with a
knack of causing trouble
at World Cups, often at the
expense of Wales.
I played against a number of their players in the
French Top 14 last season
while I was with Lyon and
they are very good, Smith
said of the Fijian stocks.
Apart from in 2011, Fiji
seem to perform well in
World Cup tournaments.
They put the Welsh out in
2007 and nearly beat the
eventual champions South
Africa in the quarterfinals.
Anybody who underestimates Fiji will be in
trouble. I have known their
coach John McKee for a
number of years and have
been impressed in how he
brings players together and
manages them.
With Fiji that is the key
because when they are
happy they perform. John
is very good at that, as you
can see from the results
because they have performed well and improved
in the last couple of years.
And he said the Wallabies would do more than
just top the highly-competitive pool. He felt they were
good enough to go all the
way to the final and were
capable of lifting the trophy
By CHARLES CHAMBERS
for a third time.
I think they have prepared well and have got
the players to do that. They
The 31 players who
play well as a team and it will attempt to win a third
shows the respect the play- Rugby World Cup for Ausers have got for the coach tralia all learned of their
Michael Cheika that they selection with a phone call
all want to play for him, from a member of the WalSmith said.
labies victorious squad of
Hes a person who is 1999.
Australia coach Michael
a good man-manager and
Cheika
has selected a
tells the players straight.
31-man
squad
for Rugby
Thats what you like from a
World
Cup
2015
with
more
coach, some home truths
than
1,200
caps
in
total,
alrather than talk around a
though
there
is
no
place
for
problem.
He felt a solid lineout, second-row James Horwill
or scrum-half Nic White.
improving scrum and
In a special twist evback-row depth made the
ery member of the squad
Wallabies pack a threat was notified of their selecwhile they had different tion by a call from one of
combinations for different Australia victorious RWC
scenarios in their halves.
1999 squad with captain
He felt the Wallabies Stephen Moore getting the
success at the 1991 tourna- news from the man who
ment in England and the lifted the Webb Ellis Cup
1999 event in Wales was a that day in John Eales.
For three players
promising guide to the forMoore,
Adam Ashleytunes of the current team.
Cooper
and
Matt Giteau
I hope us winning both
(pictured)
it
will be their
previous finals on British
third
Rugby
World Cup
soil is an omen. Players
appearance
with
Giteau
will be aware of whats
a member of Australias
happened in the past and
side who reached the fitake motivation from that.
nal of RWC 2003 on home
I believe Australia will
soil only to lose 20-17 to
win the World Cup but I England thanks to Jonny
hope they arent facing Wilkinsons drop goal in
New Zealand in the final.
extra-time.
By contrast 13 players
in the squad, which has
a split of 17 forwards and
14 backs, will make their
Rugby World Cup debuts

at England 2015, including the likes of Hooper,
full-back Israel Folau and
centres Matt Toomua and
Tevita Kuridrani.
Only two members of
the squad have not feature in Australias Rugby
Championship
winning
campaign in flanker Sean
McMahon and prop Toby
Smith, the only uncapped
player selected.
Weve become a really tight group and it was
a very difficult process in
picking only 31 players,
but I know each player
selected will travel to England with the full support
of those team-mates who
wont board the flight,
said Cheika, who took over
as coach in October 2014.
Our primary focus
throughout the Super Rugby competition, The Rugby
Championship and Bledisloe Cup was to select a
balanced squad between
youth, experience and
form and this squad certainly delivers on this.
Its also important that
we select a squad that will
handle the tournament
play and our draw in particular at the Rugby World
Cup, as well as maintain
a strong competition for
places in the team.
The first part of the year
during the Super Rugby
season, we worked hard at
building relationships and
strong foundations, and
during The Rugby Championship we wanted to continue to improve and play a

brand of rugby that Australia could be proud of and
get every player contributing towards the outcome.
Its essential we continue to improve over the
next four weeks as a squad
and well be working hard
to make sure we deliver on
the qualities we want people to see in the Wallabies
team of 2015.
Australia will hold a
camp in Sydney this weekend and will then depart
for Indiana to prepare for
their match with the USA
Eagles in Chicago on 5
September.
An additional 10 players
will remain with the squad
until they depart for England on 13 September, in
RWC 2011 captain Horwill,
White, Sam Carter, David
Dennis, Tetera Faulkner,
James Hanson, Scott Higginbotham, Samu Kerevi,
Christian Lealiifano and
Taqele Naiyaravoro.
Australia begins their
RWC
2015
campaign
against Fiji at the Millennium stadium on 23 September, before facing Uruguay in Birmingham four
days later. They will then
face England and Wales at
Twickenham on 3 and 10
October with the top two
sides in Pool A progressing
to the quarter-finals.
Fiji Thrashes Nadroga Champions Again

American
Samoa
By KATHRIN KRISHNA
Fiji handed American
Samoa a 6-0 drubbing at
Prince Charles Park in Nadi
during a friendly international match recently.
American Samoa started off very strong but the
Osea Vakatalesau captained Fiji side soon put
paid to any intentions the
visitors had of winning the
match.
Fijis first goal came in
the 8th minute from the
boots Taione Kerevanua
and from then on there
was no looking back for
the side.
In a tense moment,
Fijis Kolinio Sivoki and
American Samoas Demetrius Beauchamp were

both red carded in the 31st
minute of play for dangerous play.
The two teams went to
the break with Fiji holding
on to the slender 1-0 lead..
In the second spell, Bas
prolific forward Malakai
Tiwa put Fiji further ahead
with a goal in 54th minute.
Fijis wonder boy Napolioni Qasevakatini added
to the scoring with goals in
the 61st and 80th minute.
Vakatalesau added to
American Samoas misery
with a 71st minute strike
and Tevita Waranivalu
ended the match with one
of his own in the 74th minute to seal the visitors fate.
The majestic Nadroga

team was too good for
their competitors from Namosi as they shut down
all of Namosis tricks and
successfully defended the
Skipper Cup 2015.
Nadis Prince Charles
Park was a sea of red and
white as supporters filled
up the pavilion and the
ground last Saturday at the
final of the competition.
One team wins and
the other loses, said Ilaitia
Tuisese, sponsor representative as he acknowledged
the players after the game.
The game began with
Nadroga putting the first
points on the board with a
successful penalty kick by
left wing Apenisa Waqatabu.
Namosi
responded
through the boots of Kitione Taliga as he also kicked
a penalty leveling the
points at 3 all.
Apisai Moimoi scored
Nadroga wing Apisalome Waqatabu in action. Photo: SERELISONI MOCEICA
the first try for the Nadroga

team and by halftime the
score was 28-10 to Nadroga.
Scuffles broke out between the players as Nadroga continued to pressure the Namosi boys who
fought nails and teeth to
get through the solid Nad-
roga defence.
Waqatabu was in fine
form as he ripped through
Namosi setting his teammates up for the tries that
were yet to come.
Namosi scored a few
more tries and Taliga
kicked in 3 more conversions with the teams final
score at 22 after a last minute try from the side in the

dying minutes of the game.
Nadroga took the Skipper Cup back home with
the final score at 59 points
to Namosis 22.
23
Page 23
Page 22
Rugby World Cup
2015 Buidup
SEPTEMBER 2015. ISSUE 72
The
Skipper Cup
Finals
50 CENTS
Tradition
Asinate Serevi in action. iNSET: The Serevi family in USA.

Photos: SUPPLIED.
The legacy of the Serevi name lives
on.
This time it is through the boots
of nineteen year old Asinate Serevi,
daughter of the worlds most famous
sevens rugby player, Waisale Serevi.
Asinate was recently picked as Centre for the United States Womens AllAmerican Under 20 team.
The Central Washington University
sophomore, along with fellow university team mate, Jenny Johnson played
a two match series with Canada in El-
lensburg, Washington recently wowing

supporters with her try scoring prowess,
as like her father.
She scored a hat trick against Canada
in the first game and has now become
one of the star players of the All American team.
CWU head coach Wil Snipe was immensely proud of the duo and said the
opportunity to play for the country augured well for them in terms of their personal growth and development.
Asinate was picked last year as the
universitys female fall athlete after she
beat seven other candidates from volley-
ball, cross country and soccer.

Then coach, Mel Delham said Asinates
size, innate handling skills and playmaking abilities were unique and made her a
threat with the ball in hand.
Delham said Asinate exemplified the
qualities of a great teammate and player.
The sophomore currently resides in
Seattle with her famous rugby family and
continues to play the game that sky-rocketed her father and family to fame, a feat
that has not gone unnoticed by her proud
father.
Its really cool she is on a full scholarship through womens rugby, the magi-
cian said in the Courier Mail.

He also commented on the development of womens rugby in Fiji.
Twenty years ago there was no rugby for women in Fiji because of our culture. It was unacceptable.
Now Fiji has a womens team that
can aspire to the Olympics.
Asinate has set the pace for young
Fijian women who dream of making it
big in rugby locally and overseas and reminds us that rugby is not only a game
for men,but for those who believed in
their will to make something of themselves.

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FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

SEPTEMBER 2015. ISSUE 72

Local Talent Praised in

a lot of actual events.

story that happens everywhere,

characters did justice to their

The story relates to how some

FROM THE DESK

Despite an ongoing hip

THE JET is Fijis first community newspaper published bi-monthly

Climate Change Continue to

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

Nadi a City by 2017

Nadi will be a city by

The aerial view of Nadi which is to become a city by 2017.Photo: SUPPLIED.

been done in this regard,

Wonderful and exciting times loom ahead and

Marie Wins Hibiscus, Ready for National Pageant

winner will represent the

THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

Minister for Local Government, Praveen Bala at the

THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

pans were delivered during a visit made to the

Nadi Rotary club members with their gifts to the couple.

ited the couple in Sabeto.

$5.77M Facility to Accommodate

ity which is yet to officially

has resulted in the mixing of convicted female

The senior citizens have

basic daily meals.

with the Ministry of Social

Sugar Bill Amendment

come the sole authority to

will ensure that the new

ers who were prone to water borne diseases.

We have water disruptions at our place and we

New School for Yasawa

THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

Residence Recieve Clean Water

Asinate in US Sevens Team

Fiji Leads Charge to Cut

nerable to climate change

engage with you face to

are common to us all, Mr

The Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. Photo: SUPPLIED

tined to sink beneath the

bours. But all this presents

PIDF Plans for Irresponsible Policy Making

Dame Meg Taylor said it

diligent policy makers is

she strongly encouraged

Smith Bets On Fiji

THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

The Sands of Time charity benefit that was held at

business houses, towards

forms a prayer session

Sweets Prepared for Raksha Bandhan.

Commisioner Western Manasa Tagicakabau (Middle) with

Gala Night to raise

New Public Holiday

TO ALL COUPLES: If you

Husband takes wife to

A Southern state trooper

There are approximately