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Board approves relief package for employers
THE Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) board has approved a relief package for employers. Fund CEO Jaoji Koroi said they understood the situation facing employers and the challenges for them to comply with the laws...
Timely boost for work done by NGOs and social enterprises
NGOs and social enterprises supporting vulnerable communities to cope with the COVID-19 crisis through upskilling, providing financial education and creating income generation opportunities, received a boost in the form of computers and IT equipment from the ANZ Bank yesterday. The four organisations — Rise Beyond the Reef, Pacific Blue Foundation, Empower Pacific, and Quantum Space...
Airbus says to shed 15,000 jobs
TOULOUSE/PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus on Tuesday unveiled plans to shed around 15,000 jobs including 900 already earmarked in Germany, saying its future was at stake after the coronavirus pandemic rocked the air travel industry. Europe’s biggest aerospace group said it would cut some 5,000 posts in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain, 1,700 in...
1st July
Ryanair expects to fly 4.5 million passengers in July
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ryanair <RYA.I> expects to fly more than 4.5 million passengers in July as it returns to a more regular schedule with 40% of its usual capacity for the peak summer month, it said on Wednesday. While that would be a drop of almost 70% from July last year, it would be a...
PM Bainimarama opens new $142k boardroom for Fiji Rice
Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has assured farmers that the Government remained committed to assisting them. In opening the new board room at Fiji Rice Limited mill at Dreketi in Macuata, Mr Bainimarama said they would assist by tapping into new innovations and they would explore new ways of serving the agricultural sector and hardworking...
FTUC-FCEF sign bipartite initiative to support redundant Fijian workers
The Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) and the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation (FCEF) have signed a bipartite initiative to support redundant workers in micro businesses. Called the Transition to Business (T2B) initiative, the project targets redundant formal sector workers who have started potentially scaleable businesses and build their capacities to sustain their micro businesses...
COVID-19: ILO reports 400 million people lost their jobs worldwide
A total of 400 million people lost their jobs worldwide between April-June due to COVID-19, states the International Labour Organisation. And 93 per cent of the world’s workers continue to live in countries with some sort of workplace closures, the ILO stated in its latest “ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work”. “The highly...
Air France aims to cut more than 7,500 jobs between now and 2022: BFM TV/AFP
PARIS (Reuters) – Air France <AIRF.PA> wants to cut more than 7,500 job positions between now and 2022, reported BFM TV and Agence France Presse on Wednesday, citing trade union sources. Air France is preparing voluntary layoffs in response to the coronavirus crisis, Chief Executive Ben Smith told Reuters on May 7, as he announced...
Motibhai hands over food packs to FRIEND food bank
Motibhai Group of Companies has donated 100 food packs towards Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises & Development (FRIEND) Fiji’s food bank. The food packs contain a range of products including nutrition bars for children. “FRIEND has been trying to assist those most in need with food supplies,” the organisation stated on its social media post...
Fiji’s central bank predicts further contraction of local economy
The Reserve Bank of Fiji predicts a further contraction of the economy this year as a result of the significant decline in tourism activity and its knock-on effects to the rest of the economy. In its June economic review, the central bank noted that given the weakening domestic economy, overall labour market conditions had worsened...
All government issued mobile phones must have careFIJI app
All government issued mobile phones and phones used by statutory bodies funded by Government must have the contact tracing app, careFIJI. Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum told a National Budget consultation in Nadi last week that this decision was made by Cabinet when approving the careFIJI app. “The higher the uptake, the better it is,...
30th June
Combined rice harvester provided for Bua farmers
Rice farmers in Bua on Vanua Levu have considered themselves blessed after Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama provided them with a combined rice harvester that will reduce time and labour. Vunivau Rice Farmers Association president Suresh Chand said it was the best gift they received from the Government. “All our lives we have done manual harvesting...
FNPF declares 5 per cent interest; $286m to be credited to members’ accounts
The Fiji National Provident Fund has declared an interest rate of 5.0 per cent for the financial year ending June 30, 2020, despite facing a tough investment and operating environment. FNPF chief executive Jaoji Koroi announced today that this would lead to $286.2million being credited to more than 388,071 members’ accounts at midnight tonight. “Therefore,...
Fuel and LPG price increases from tomorrow
Consumers can expect to pay extra for gas and certain fuel prices from tomorrow. According to a statement from the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) today, it had determined the new regulated prices of unleaded petrol, premix, kerosene, diesel and LPG for July 2020. The commission stated the new fuel prices and LPG prices...
ATS organises workshop for terminated employees
Air Terminal Services PTE Limited is organising a one-day workshop for terminated employees who may be interested in starting their own small businesses. In a bulletin to all staff, ATS states it recognises the difficult situation “we all are facing during COVID-19 period” and that the company would like to assist its former staff”. Former...
Germany to sever ties with accounting watchdog after Wirecard scandal
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government plans to terminate its contract with the country’s accounting watchdog after payments company Wirecard filed for insolvency last week in one of Germany’s biggest fraud scandals, a government official said on Sunday. Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported earlier on Sunday that the Justice and Finance Ministries would on Monday...
‘Miller not prepared for crushing season’
The National Federation Party says it’s now obvious that the Fiji Sugar Corporation was not prepared for the start of the 2020 crushing season. Party vice president Davendra Naidu has accused FSC of negligence after the Lautoka mill failed to start as scheduled and the Rarawai mill was plagued with breakdowns. “This is nonsense. FSC...
Australia PM says reopenings of internal borders will support jobs
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said the reopening of state borders will support jobs growth despite a fresh outbreak of the coronavirus in the country’s second most populated state. South Australia and Tasmania states have in recent days confirmed their borders will reopen in late July. Queensland state expected to...
Pepsi joining Facebook ad boycott, FOX Business Network reports
(Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc <PEP.O> will stop advertising on Facebook Inc <FB.O>, FOX Business Network reported https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/pepsi-facebook-ad-boycott on Sunday, citing sources. The halt on advertising will run through July and August, the report said. Sources described the move as a “global boycott” on placing Facebook ads, the report said. PepsiCo did not immediately respond to...
Association writes to PM in hope for talks
The Fiji Cane Lorry Transport Association has written to the Prime Minister and Minister for Sugar, Voreqe Bainimarama, stating their outrage at the treatment they are getting from the Fiji Sugar Corporation. President Jitendra Singh told this newspaper it was their wish that the Prime Minister direct FSC management to sit down with them and...
Replacing boiler fan to cost $1m
Replacing a damaged boiler fan at the Lautoka sugar mill will cost $1 million, says Sugar Ministry permanent secretary Yogesh Karan. Mr Karan said he had been receiving updates from Fiji Sugar Corporation on the repair works since the Lautoka mill aborted its scheduled 2020 season opening last Friday because of damage to the fan....
Metal bar in conveyor belt halts crushing for days
A piece of metal bar found lodged inside the carrier conveyor belt was the reason the Rarawai mill stopped crushing from Friday night until late Saturday afternoon. Permanent secretary for Ministry of Sugar Yogesh Karan said Fiji Sugar Corporation updated him on the breakdown that saw more than 300 trucks laden with cane lined up...
29th June
Oil falls in second straight session as virus cools demand
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices fell for a second straight session on Monday as coronavirus cases rose in the United States and other places, leading countries to resume partial lockdowns that could hurt fuel demand. Brent crude <LCOc1> dropped 66 cents, or 1.6%, to $40.36 a barrel by 1150 GMT while U.S. crude <CLc1> was...
Under Armour to discontinue record apparel partnership with UCLA
(Reuters) – Athletic apparel maker Under Armour said on Saturday it will discontinue its partnership with UCLA – a 15-year, $280 million accord announced in 2016 that was billed as the largest apparel deal in the history of American collegiate sports. The University of California, Los Angeles promised to fight the move. The Baltimore-based company...
$620k payout to leasing tenants for use of property for Nausori airport extension
Government has paid $620,000 in compensation to nine leasing tenants and their families who had willingly given whole or part of their leased properties for the Nausori International Airport extension project. Speaking during stage two of the compensation payout in Nausori on Friday, Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Jone Usamate called on those receiving...
28th June
Pakistan’s national airline moves to assuage concern over pilots’ licences
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan’s national airline has written to foreign missions and global regulatory and safety bodies, assuring them it has grounded all 141 pilots suspected of obtaining licences through unfair means, the carrier’s spokesman said on Saturday. The move looks to assuage concerns after Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Friday...
ATS jobs up for grabs
Air Terminal Services (Fiji) PTE Ltd has advertised 106 positions, almost one week after terminating the contract of 285 workers on June 19. Those wishing to apply for these jobs are being asked to submit an expression of interest with ATS. “All former ATS employees must have completed their clearance formalities if they wish to...
Canefarmers to pay annual premium of $52
Two hundred and thirty-nine sugarcane farmers who were part of the Sugar Cane Growers Fund (SCGF) bundled insurance cover will now be required to pay the annual premium of $52. The SCGF had been paying the premium since July, 2017 to FijiCare Insurance Ltd. “SCGF undertook to pay the premium until 30th June, 2020 and...
UK ready to quit EU on ‘Australia terms’ if no Brexit deal, PM Johnson says
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will be ready to quit its transitional arrangements with the European Union “on Australia terms” if no deal on their future relationship is reached, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday. Britain left the bloc on Jan. 31. A transition period, during which Britain remains in...
Delta to warn pilots about possible furloughs, offers early retirement
(Reuters) – Delta Air Lines <DAL.N> said late on Friday it will soon send warning notices to about 2,500 pilots regarding possible furloughs at the airline, as the industry takes a huge blow after the coronavirus pandemic slashed air travel demand. “In an effort to best prepare our pilots should furloughs be needed, Delta will...
