Report Pacific Beat:
There are claims Fiji’s only remaining economic income, in the wake of the 2006 military coup, is from its struggling tourism industry.
The claim was made in a paper presented by the Lowy Institute, which has released its 2009 Pacific Islands Update report.
Just last month, the Governor of Fiji’s Reserve Bank claimed the global financial crisis has had a bigger impact on Fiji’s economy than any political developments.
Sada Reddy claimed the impact of the annulment of Fiji’s constitution and strict media censorship, had only a very minor impact on the local economy.
But Professor Ron Duncan of The Australian National University, the author of the Fiji Economic Performance and Investment report for the Lowy Institute, said the economy is in a terrible state
Prof Duncan said Fiji’s sugar and garment industries are both doing poorly right now.
“I think employment is down to around 4,000 or less in the garment industry,” he said.
“Exports are down because of the global economic crisis. Then there’s mineral water which was the main sales to the US, and of course that market’s in a bad way for many of these kinds of exports.” (20/10abc)
The management at a primary and secondary school on the Vanuatu island of Malekula sent 300 students home on Tuesday (October 20) following a protest by custom land owners.
The landowners closed down the school claiming the Government owes them 90 million vatu, or $USD940,000, in outstanding rent.
The Government is negotiating with the landowners to allow the children continue their studies.
The Director-General of lands, Russel Nari, said the government can’t release the money because the land is still in dispute and the issue is now before the land court.
Mr Nari said the government would pay it after the court confirms the true custom owners.
The present term is particularly important for many students because they have examinations which determine whether they can progress to higher classes next year.
MELANESIA: The biggest business investment in the history of the Pacific, the multi billion dollar liquid natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, is under fire from a leading Australian anti-poverty organisation.
The Australian newspaper reported that Luke Fletcher, the policy co-ordinator of Jubilee Australia, as saying it’s very likely the revenues will fall into a black hole of corruption unless the PNG government signs up to the World Bank-associated Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
He said Australia’s Export Finance Insurance Corporation is set to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in support for the project, but he is urging the Government to reconsider this because corruption could undermine the long-term economic benefits.
Mr Fletcher said there would also be environmental and social impacts.
The economic impact study for the project estimated very significant benefits but Jubilee said the extent to which this windfall will be distributed among the people is questionable.
Mr Fletcher said for years, the PNG economy has been dominated by large-scale extractive industry projects, and yet the country has seen very little genuine improvement in its standard of living.
He said that of the 7500 estimated jobs, only one fifth are likely to be filled by local PNG workers.
Oct 22: Fiji Times: ROTUMAN islanders have been without a boat service for more than seven weeks.
A contributor to the Rotuma Net website, John Bennett, of Suva, said the government vessel, Vatulawa, departed for Rotuma with fuel and provisions.
Mr Bennett said another government vessel, Raiyawa, had left for Rotuma on October 3 but halfway through its journey it started leaking.
“The vessel made a hasty retreat to Yasawa-i-Rara,” he said in his post.
“The vessel was able to return to Lautoka where passengers were offloaded.”
Transport Ministry spokeswoman Sainiana Waqainabete could not be reached for comment.
Islander Henry Enasio said water would be shut down within a week if no fuel is received.
Water Department spokesman Maika Nagalu confirmed the shortage of fuel on the island.
“But the engineers managed to ask a local trader for fuel on the understanding that it will be replaced once supplies arrive on the island,” he said.