The Fiji Times » Opinion

Editorial comment – Working together

It’s good to note that Acting Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu does not want a “Band-Aid solution” to the Nabua crisis. He has also promised to take instigators to task. His comments come in the wake of the latest brawl involving youths from Nabua this week. He has instructed his operations team to find a permanent...

Fijian salt making – 50-year-old traditional knowledge revived

In December 2019, UNDP Fiji through the Accelerator Lab Pacific embarked on an experiment to understan d the interplay between traditional knowledge, cultural identity and climate resilience. Our research indicated that resilient communities used traditional indigenous knowledge as a foundation for decision making and in some communities the lack of codification and diffusion of this...

Letters to the Editor – April 16, 2021

New rugby era Until I depart, I will strongly hold on to my belief that one of our future Flying Fijians squads will lift the William Webb Ellis trophy. I hold similar sentiments regarding the Paul Barriere trophy. With the super news of Fiji Drua’s inclusion in the Super Rugby competition, I would lift a...

The fragility of bubbles

The phrase “travel bubble” gets thrown around a lot these days. It has been in circulation since mid-2020 when global tourism and tourism-dependent economies started sitting down to plan recovery programs after the pandemic fallout. Closer to home, the long-awaited trans-Tasman travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia has now been announced amid some eager...

Letters to the Editor – Thursday, April 15, 2021

Game time I agree with Joe Rodan — the general manager sales and corporate affairs of Paradise Beverages that our national 7s side needs quality opposition, as it races against time to prepare for this year’s Tokyo Games. The national 7s side was taken to the wire during the 45th Fiji Bitter Marist 7s tournament...

Editorial comment – What a moment for Fijian rugby!

Yesterday’s announcement by the governing Fiji Rugby Union that we have been given the greenlight to be part of the Super Rugby competition from next year is like a breath of fresh air. It’s arguably the best news that has ever come out for Fijian rugby. In fact it will certainly inch out emotional reactions,...

Editorial comment – Time for some tough calls

THE revelation that the World Health Organization has advised countries to continue with the AstraZeneca vaccine will no doubt serve to dispel rumours, and concern among sceptics, to some extent. The vaccine, according to the WHO, has saved millions of lives and prevented serious illness. This comes in the wake of concern raised by cases...

Letters to the Editor – April 14, 2021

Rama, like the old wine That Navua v Ba soccer match action photo on the front page of The Fiji Times (12/04) taken by veteran photographer Rama was simply superb. In one shot he captured three determined players battling for possession and the referee on the spot right on top of the action. Rama, like...

Editorial comment – Reopening our border

The revelation that the Australian government insists it needs to be confident that COVID-19 is suppressed in Australia before opening quarantine-free travel to Fiji is interesting. In a sense though, sceptics would think it was to be expected. It’s probably a good thing too they might add, especially when we are COVID-contained right now. In...

Letters to the Editor – Tuesday, April 4, 2021

That special picture Sometimes, we see The Fiji Times photographers taking hundreds of photos at sporting events and we wonder where they all go. I will tell you, check out this photo of Nadi’s Napolioni Dawai’s photo taken by our The Fiji Times photographer Baljeet Singh. (ST 11/04). Napolioni’s eyes tell you he was focused....

Editorial comment – April 12, 2021

It is encouraging to note that Minister for Youth and Sports Parveen Kumar has directed some of his staff to visit youths of Nabua in Suva, who were involved in the Easter weekend brawl. It’s the way to go. There has to be a concerted effort to get to the bottom of this issue. In...

Industrial fishing – ‘An issue woefully neglected by the media’

WHEN the BBC made a film about the crisis in our oceans, it somehow managed to avoid naming the greatest cause of their ecological destruction: the fishing industry. The only significant sequence on fishing in 2017’s Blue Planet II was a heartwarming story about how kind Norwegian herring boats are to orcas. It presented industrial...

Letters to the Editor – April 12, 2021

Discovering Fiji As usual, John Kamea’s The Sunday Times feature “Discovering Fiji” always brings to the fore, often forgotten and sometimes not so well-known pieces of our colourful history. The piece titled “Waqa sa Vuka” in ST 11/04, was an interesting one on our aviation history. It’s a real pity that the Kingsford-Smith Pavilion that...

What’s not to like about Easter

Rain Most of the Easters I remember involved seriously wet weather. That may be why I remember those particular Easters, but there seems an awful lot of them. The one burnt forever into my mind is the time my mother must have got stuck with me in a small caravan on a beachside campground that had absolutely nothing to...

Farewell Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

As tributes and condolences poured in the wake of the announcement of the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, we are left to ponder on the very important issue of life itself. Speaker of Parliament, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau said it was a great honour to have served as Equerry for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth...

Letters to the Editor: Sunday, April 11, 2021

Joy over Levuka trip I am happy that a government minister visited Ovalau and the Old Capital to see the sinkholes and potholes on the roads. My government cares and visited to see the issues faced by its people after so many letters in The Fiji Times by concerned citizens. I am sure the roads...

OPINION: Women not left behind

The the tail end of a difficult year, an organisation at the frontline of providing a safe pathway for women who survive violence was at the brink of not being able to deliver critical services. The organisation Voice for Change which is based in Jiwaka Province, Papua New Guinea, operates in an extremely difficult environment that is remote and...

OPINION: Adopt stronger laws

Whenever national cybersecurity policy is discussed, the same stories come up again and again. Whether the examples are called acts of cyberwar, cyberespionage, hacktivism, or cyberterrorism, they all affect national interest, and there is a corresponding call for some sort of national cyberdefence. Unfortunately, it is very diffi cult to identify attackers and their motivations in cyberspace. As a result, nations...

Editorial comment: Decision time

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama labelled it an injection of hope. The PM and his wife Mary received their AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations at the Republic of Fiji Navy Stanley Brown Naval Base in Walu Bay, Suva this week. “Being vaccinated is our duty to keep our loved ones safe and set Fiji on a path to...

Changing lifestyle

A healthy diet helps to protect against malnutrition in all its forms, as well as a range of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other conditions. However, increased production of processed foods, rapid urbanisation and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns. People are now consuming more foods high in energy, fats, free sugars and salt/sodium, and many people do...

The Pacific food revolution for your eyes

It was a great surprise and honour that Gordon Peake approached us to be the guinea pigs/first interviewees for Devpol’s inaugural “Memorandum of Understanding” podcast. Gordon and podcast curator Julia Bergin have since encouraged us to buck the “literary silences” and write about development in an engaging manner. “Use your zestiest voice” was Gordon’s advice to us as we started piecing...

Talanoa: Dreams can come true

Bula readers! Today marks the 100th day of the year and if you have any personal goals to achieve whether it be health, academic, career, or even sporting, today is a great day to start living those dreams towards success. Talking of personal goals, this week, a relative of mine contacted me from Australia and was feeling rather depressed as he had just celebrated...

Tribute to Prof David Harrison

Professor David Harrison passed away on the morning of April 6 2021 in a London hospice with Senimili Kamikamica, his loving wife at his side. He courageously fought a debilitating cancer for a number of years. He is remembered with respect, admiration and fondness as a great scholar, teacher, mentor and thesis supervisor. He is known for his independent and...

Repeated denial of march permits

Lately applying for a permit to march by the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) has become a bit of a joke. Everyone expects the applications to be refused. For whatever reason, the Police will consistently deny FTUC and by extension the public the right to exercise the right to peacefully march and protest. So this makes us ask where the Fiji...

The impact of COVID-19 on primary health care

Primary healthcare (PHC) became a core policy for WHO in 1978 with the Alma Ata Declaration. There have been rapid changes seen in health status and trends, demography, socioeconomic trends, governments and WHO’s priorities and their ways of working inclusive of guidance, technical and professional support while pandemics evolved. Primary care by non-governmental organisations (NGO) and the private care (PC) have increasingly developed in the...

Opinion

17th April

Letters to the Editor – April 17, 2021

16th April