Bula
Three stories make the front page of The Fiji Times for Thursday, April 3.
It was a good day at the office yesterday with the chief-of-staff and her team coming up with some interesting content. So we have some good stuff in the inside pages as well!
The Lens@177: Managing editor digital Anish Chand was in the Capital City for The Lens@177 with former chief justice Daniel Fatiaki. You can watch their interview on our social media handles Facebook and Youtube, and on www.fijitimes.com It was emotional, and powerful!
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Inside: Check out these sections inside: News/ Letters to the editor/ People/ Business/ International News/ Backtracks/ Comics/ Horoscope/ Crossword/ Classifieds/ Sports.
Synopsis
One for all, all for one!
PUBLIC Works Minister Ro Filipe Tuisawau is not happy with the rate of progress of infrastructure upgrade works in the maritime areas. That’s a good thing! Being unhappy that is!
In fact for those directly impacted by this, it is frustrating.
It can be very stressful and adds up to more challenges.
It impacts their lives, yet for some, it is the norm now.
Such pressures inch out a sense of uncertainty, anger and a lack of confidence in systems that are supposed to make their lives better.
They slow down progress to a large extent.
According to the minister, the ministry was looking to revive depots on maritime islands to allow for the regular maintenance of infrastructure on the islands.
His comments come as poorly maintained roads on Rotuma were blamed for some major challenges faced by Rotumans.
Poor road conditions forced truck operators to stop servicing schools recently, leaving students stranded.
Ro Tuisawau confirmed a team departed Suva for Rotuma last week with staff and equipment to fix the roads on the island.
Overall, he said he was not happy with some of the progress.
“So, all the entities working under me, they need to up the level of service in terms of timing and efficiency and effectiveness of delivery.
“I met the FRA (Fiji Roads Authority) board and also the senior management and expressed to them we need to improve on these things, especially maintenance, and ensure the facilities are standard in terms of the facilitation of travel of our people.”
That’s the way to go!
In fact questions will no doubt be asked about processes and systems in place. And how things were done in the past.
It seems, for many of these affected islanders, it is a bit like out-of-sight, out-of-mind!
That shouldn’t be the case.
In fact every Fijian deserves to be treated fairly and equally.
That means infrastructure development must be embracing of the needs of all.
So if such work has not been carried out well over the years, we should be questioning those responsible about what they were doing.
It is when people accept such things as a normal part of their lives that we must be concerned.
It is encouraging that the minister has placed staff on notice and wants to see an improvement in service delivery. In fact, those who are trying to beat the system, and are not prepared to do their work, must be held up to scrutiny. They must be accountable for their action.
It is now about holding power to account.
It is unfortunate that people have to suffer. However, it is good that this is being raised now, and action is being taken to address concerns. That’s the way to go!
