Bainimarama fans scoff at Gillard elevation

 Voreqe Bainimarama supporters have been quick to see hypocrisy in the appointment of Julia Gillard as the new Labor Party leader and the Prime Minister of Australia. 

Postings on Bainimarama's Facebook today showed hardcore followers scathing of the decision to replace Kevin Rudd with Gillard. 

Aggrieved supporters said Gillard was voted in an MP not PM.

They also said Australia has been harsh with its criticism of  the Bainimarama regime and the coups, but it, too, is commiting the same crime.

A sample of the comments:

1) It's a joke, not politics. Just like when G.W Bush was installed as President by his wealthy supreme court judge mates despite losing the election. Democracy? Cruel joke is what it is. I wish Australia had a Military commander with half the heart and patriotism as Frank.  

2) They can't even get their politics right and they wana teach us how to run our country.  

3) So what sanctions could we place on them?  

4) The change was done with no guns, but roses. Smooth transition! I dont suppose anything will change in their policy towards our current administration. For what its worth, Jillian Gillard is a lawyer by profession. C'mon Fiji. Lets press on! 

5) Sooooooooooo. Australia is no exception to coup after all!

6) Clean up your own back yard Australia before barging with ours. 

7) They should keep their head in there own business and leave Fiji business to us Fijians.

Bailed Nadi prophecy pastor and tourism boss to appear again in court

The Nadi pastor behind the Wednesday disaster prophecy has been granted bail by the Suva Magistrate Court.

So, too, has the tourism boss and the head of the Fiji Rugby Union, accused of forwarding the controversial email to stakeholders.

Both Rev Laione Nacevamaca and Bill Gavoka have to appear again in court tomorrow. 

Nacevamaca and Gavoka are charged with one count each of malicious act under Section 15 of the Public Order Act.

The Nadi pastor prophesised in an email there would be an earthquake and a tsunami at half past two yesterday. 

A 4.7 magnitude quake was recorded at 10.16am yesterday morning between Fiji and Tonga but there was no tsunami.

A number of people were reported to have believed the natural disaster warning, including Rabi Island where locals took to higher ground.

Workers in Suva also left their jobs to go home because of the pending disaster.

The Public Service Commission permanent secretary, Parmesh Chand, says civil servants who deliberately missed work because of the prophecy will be disciplined. 

He told the Fiji Times the Commission is collecting data from ministry heads on the absentees. 

"I can't reveal information on the absentees but we are collecting data," he said.

Photo: Nacevamaca and Gavoka's supporters at court.-Source FBC

Small quake rattles Fiji but far bigger issues are at play

The illegal government of Fiji must be thanking Mother Nature  the 4.7 magnitude earthquake that occured today did not trigger a tsunami.

Imagine the furore that would've caused.

Voreqe Bainimarama tried to squash the 'predictions' of the Nadi pastor, Rev Laione Vacevamaca, who said an earthquake and tsunami would hit Fiji today, at half past two.

There was no major earthquake but the Mineral Resources Department confirms a small quake at 10.16am but said it was too deep to generate a tsunami.

The quake was centered between Fiji and Tonga and was not felt in Suva.

Many dismissed Nacevamava's predictions as drivel but there were willing ears. Reports say on Raabi Island, preparations were made for emergency shelters with people moving to higher grounds.

Funerals in other parts of Fiji were cancelled while in Suva there were reports of some workers leaving their jobs and heading home at noon.

The military regime pretended today's earthquake didn't happen and the media went along with it. Only the Fiji Times reported that a quake had struck but there was no tsunami.

Nacevamaca is tonight in police custody, along with the head of Fiji's Rugby Union, Bill Gavoka, as police investigate who else spread the pastor's original email. 

The pastor's warnings and today's quake could've been a coincidence. After all, there have been plenty of quakes in the Pacific region, of late.

Many Fijians have, of course, turned to God as they search for a way back to democracy. With the nation's prediliction for superstition and Christianity, Nacevamaca had a ready made congregation.

It remains to be seen how vengeful those with feet of clay will be, as they seek to put the dissidents in their place.

Photo: Bill Gavoka - in police custody since Sunday.

Rev Nacevamaca's 'disaster' letter

The letter by Reverend Laione Lutumaimuri Nacevamaca, of the Kuriako's Christian Centre in Nadi, that led to Bill Gavoka being spoken to by police today.

Nacevamaca's email predicts that Fiji will suffter a horrific natural disaster tomorrow, June the 23rd:

Warning!!!
Dear friends. Greetings in wonderful name of Jesus. Please read on, be calm cool and collected. DO NOT PANIC. The purpose of this letter is to move you to preparation. Those who are prepared will have confidence when the coming events happen.


You have about 3 months, 15 days from this date (08/3/10) to prepare yourself and your family especially for those who live in Fiji.


I am Rev.Laione Lutumaimuri Nacevamaca the senior pastor of Kuriako's Christian Centre, Nadi Airport and Superintendent of Kuriako's Church of God in Christ Fiji.An Author, missionary Bible school administrator and Lecturer. Have been in the Christian ministry since 1975.I function in the ministry office of pastor, prophet and teacher as in Ephesians 4:11.A Bible College and Seminary graduate with DIp.Th Bre, MABS Degrees married with 4 children.


The brief of biodata above is to help you know that I am well balanced as a person and as a Christian brother. In obedience to the Lord God Almighty, I am releasing with love and compassion, this message to you for the first time in writing.


DISASTER


Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets.(Amos 3:7)...Toward the end of last year (AD2009), the Nadi Weather Office predicted 11 tropical cyclones during 2009-2010 Cyclone season which will end in April 2010.This prediction moved me to predict Fiji. I received an answer from the Lord God saying...


"The predicted cyclone will come, but a more devastation disaster will hit Fiji in June, 2010.Earthquakes and waves will hit the entire land from all directions. After the waves, strong winds and rain will follow."


I talked to the Lord God some more, asking for more details for June 2010 disaster. On the 23rd day of November, 2009 the word of the Lord came to me saying...


"This time in June 2010, the disaster will hit Fiji. It will be chaotic, catastrophe that Fiji has never experienced before."
Immediately I looked at my cell phone clock, it was exactly 2:30pm.My friend the coming disaster will hit our island nation, Fiji on the 23rd day of June, 2010 at 2:30pm:
23rd June, 2010 at 2:30pm


This is the date and time. Mark to your calendar. Add it to your prayer lists. Get right with the Lord God!!Prepare yourself for it. Be familiar with the disaster DISMAC advices, and follow them.


I do not know how long the hit will be, but we all know that the aftermath will be longer. Prepare for food, water, etc.Learn from the little ants and prepare in the summer for the winter.


The Holy Bible says in Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secrets to his servants the prophesy".
The Lord God has revealed this and it is my responsibilities to warn you. I have been releasing this message orally, until this one in writing for the first time.


The Confirmation
"So that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses"
(Matt 18:16 NIV)


Early February 2010, an American based prophet released a prophesy from the Lord through his TBN television program. Part of his prophesies are as follows:
"a disaster will hit the South Pacific in June 2010 especially the islands if Fiji.An earthquakes will begin in the Western Coast of America, will cut across the Pacific Ocean and hit Fiji whose surrounding reefs will be peeled off of their foundations, casts into the air before they hit the water again. The hit of the sun will cause the moon to spill things like water into the ocean. Some of which will hit Fiji."


Compare this prophecy with mine and you will understand why Fiji will get hit from every direction. This prophet until that prophecy has never heard of Fiji or been to Fiji. His prophecy confirms the message given to me in Fiji, on November, 2009.I have never met this American prophet or known to him. Again the Holy Bible says in Matt.18:16,
"So that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses".


The message has been established by the mouth of two prophets. Take heed therefore my friend!! As I write this part of the message, the Anointing from the Lord, is heavy on me. Tears begin to fill my eyes. The word of the Lord God is assuring me saying, "Son it will happen as I told you. Tell my people to prepare themselves".


I am always touched by the pains and the losses of the disaster victims. The Lord God Almighty also, cares for you and has revealed this; months before it happens to give you time to prepare yourself and your family. Please I beg you in Jesus name to take heed and move to prepare yourself.


Thank you dear friend for taking steps to prepare yourself and your family; I am truly honored to remain.
Your Sincerely In Christ,
Koseni,Levusasa Savunawai II
P.O. Box 10396, Nadi Airport, Fiji Islands.


Habakkuk 2:3-4
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it will linger, wait for it, it will certainly come and will not delay...but the righteous shall live by faith.-Matavuvale

BW Holdings Ltd's road to more than $1million from collapsed NBF

Part Eleven of a Special Report by VICTOR LAL

In her recent speech to the Fiji Institute of Accountants the former High Court judge Nazhat Shameem, who in the 1990s as head of the DPP had a monumental fight on her hands to bring to justice those involved in the National Bank of Fiji Loans Scam, recalled the Reserve Bank of Fiji report on the NBF which put losses through reckless lending without security at $220 million (in fact $372million) in 1995.
  
Shameem reminded the accountants of the words of the late Savenaca Siwatibau, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank, who said this of the ill-fated Bank: “The board of the NBF by all accounts was not up to the onerous tasks which fiduciaries are expected to discharge. While there were members of the board who had the required technical skills, the board as a whole appeared not to fully understand what was going on and was certainly not strong enough to guide, direct, and control the activities of management.  Or if they actually were aware of the dangerous trajectory of the bank to its ultimate destruction, collectively they were not strong enough to act decisively and firmly to avoid that certain fate.”
  
She went on to cite three authors who attempted to explain the collapse of the NBF. Doug Munro, Michael White and Roman Grynberg, in the preface to their book “Crisis: Collapse of the National Bank of Fiji” published in 2002, were even more severe.  Pointing out that the NBF Crisis which came in the midst of the Asian financial crisis resulted in one of Fiji’s worst recessions post-independence, they said: “It must be added that the NBF crisis was not the only financial scandal in Fiji’s recent history, only the most serious.  

Also under siege in 1995 were the Fiji Housing Authority, the Fiji Development Bank, the Fiji Broadcasting Commission, the Fiji Public Service Credit Union, the Public Trustee’s Office, and the Methodist Church; while in 1997 the police were investigating corruption in the Customs Department, the Housing Authority, the Companies Office and the Registrar-General’s Department.  To all appearances, a culture of mismanagement and corruption was not confined to the NBF but widespread.”


Shameem once again reminded her audience that very few charges were laid in any of these cases.  With the exception of the Housing Authority, charges which were laid were dismissed for want of evidence.  The only convictions in the NBF investigations were set aside on appeal on the ground of unconstitutional delay. The delay in investigation and prosecution had been caused by inadequate laws, insufficient police resources, antiquated court procedures (Fiji still had the old-fashioned oral preliminary inquiry) and an untrained judiciary.
  
Despite the obvious failures of the justice system in the NBF crisis, the laws were not reformed, she told the accountants, continuing: “Post-2000, we experienced the Agriculture scam.  Whether it was a case of political corruption, or financial opportunism and greed, or simply shocking public financial mismanagement, the jury is still deliberating.  However the tax payers lost $18 million in a period of 2 years.  

The money was never recovered. And still there was no law reform.  What can be said about such political obstinacy in the face of blatant corruption? Grynberg, Munro and White called the fiasco a case of complete institutional failure.  But such failure still fails to explain the lack of subsequent legal or institutional reform.  Even if the law creating corruption offences was too hard to reform (and I don’t believe that this was the case), at least institutional steps could have been taken to strengthen the institutions charged with the legal and fiduciary duty, to deal with the crisis.  No such steps were taken. The situation was ripe for another financial scam - a scam such as the Agriculture scam.”  
  
While agreeing with Shameem regarding the NBF, I don’t believe that the laws then available to her were the only factors that failed her; it could be the powerful individuals, provincial councils, and institutions that were either directly or indirectly involved in obtaining those loans that stood in her way from bringing anyone to justice in the NBF Loans Scam. In the later part of the series, a more clearer picture will begin to emerge, as we try to put ‘faces’ to the names of individuals and companies (for example as I have  already done in the case of Vakatora Holdings Ltd) on that 1996 NBF Debtors List, something Grynberg, Munro and White did not attempt in their book.
  
As they explained themselves: “Our analysis has certain clear and in many cases self-imposed limitations that ought to be made explicit to the reader. This collection of papers is not a behind-the-scenes expose of the events. The authors have relied almost exclusively on the public record, that is, the press, parliamentary debates and public reports. We never sought access to privileged or confidential documents, and when the occasional such item became available to us we declined to use it. Neither have we systematically interviewed the dramatis personae. 

Many of the key players we did not approach at all…To repeat, we used only what information is in the public domain or that individuals freely discussed with us – and we have drawn our own conclusions accordingly. As will become evident to the reader, the weight of publicly available evidence is such that simply to document the public record and to draw reasonable influences was sufficient for the purposes of a first reporting of events. However, what is available in this work is the closest the public of Fiji is ever likely to receive to an explanation and accounting of what was the largest known financial scandal in the history of Fiji and the Pacific Islands.’
  
The three authors continued: ‘Reliance on the public record and a concentration on ‘visible’ events have naturally imposed limitations on our research and the results. Lack of access to loan files, Cabinet papers, and the departmental correspondence of government means that there must be substantial gaps in our analysis. It has meant that we are unable to link specific loans with corruption, incompetence or disregard for prudent banking practices. Not that we set out to do this. Nor have we attempted to unravel what the editor of one of Fiji’s monthly magazines described as ‘a linked system of corruption, cronyism, nepotism and abuse of office, where everybody looks the other way’. In this area we have simply quoted the views of the government, the parliamentary Opposition and the media.”
  
The authors also paid tribute to the journalists: “We, and all those who are victims of this economic disaster, are eternally grateful to those courageous journalists who reported the NBF saga more fully than the government or the bank would have liked and who stood their ground when elements in government went on the counter-offensive. We also salute the many individuals who fought back when the government, bent on punitive retribution, was contemplating the muzzling of the press.”     
  
According to the authors: ‘Although the public record has some noticeable gaps, we nevertheless feel that this seeming disability has been an advantage…In a sense we are glad that we cannot test the propriety of individual loans, although we do hope that our book will cause renewed discomfort to culpable individuals. It is also impossible to avoid identifying key individuals within the NBF, some of whom we have had occasion to criticize. That said we suspect that many individuals will be mightily relieved not to find their names in the index of this book…We realize that this book will meet with a mixed, and in some quarter hostile, reception in Fiji. It is, after all, on a controversial topic and there are those at high levels in government and state who have benefitted from the financial imprudence of the NBF and the incompetence of those overseeing bank regulation in Fiji.”
  
Some, the authors, noted, “Will feel that we have not gone far enough in ‘pointing the finger’ and identifying guilty individuals; others will be incensed that we wrote the book at all. The Fiji public has been asked to accept, after all, that it is ‘water under the bridge’. 

Having lived so long in Fiji, we are perfectly aware of the prevalence of extreme sensitivity towards criticism, especially criticism offered by ‘outsiders’, however sympathetic they may be. The competence, motives, integrity and professionalism of the critic will all be called into question in some quarters for that is the stock response to criticism. In reply, we point out that when all is said and done, the NBF saga continues to be a major public issue on which proper disclosure and rational discussion are both necessary in the interest of avoiding any perpetuation or repetition of such doubtful conduct.’
  
Like my recent critics, Grynberg, Munro and White attempted to answer the same question: ‘There are also those who will ask why this matter should be discussed at all so long after the event. Indeed, much of what has already been said should explain the motivation for this work. The public of Fiji may never know whether the collapse of the NBF was the product of massive malfeasance by the bank and its clients and/or simply incompetence and cowardice from the regulatory authorities. 

This is the range of explanations, and this book is motivated by concern that such a massive amount of the nation’s resources was taken from its people without any proper accounting, let alone justice for the victims. At the heart of this was the feeling shared by the authors at the time of the NBF crisis that this event was a watershed in Fiji’s history. Without wishing to pre-empt the conclusion of this book, we may state here that the NBF crisis served as a most public example of the worst economic abuses of the post [1987] coup era.’
  
In 2002 Grynberg, Munro and White wrote in their book: “Six years after the collapse of the bank there has still been no public inquiry nor has anyone ever been punished for the NBF disaster. No Reserve Bank governor has resigned; no auditor-general has been dismissed and no politician or finance secretary’s career has been truncated directly as a result of the crisis…” 
  
In 1995, the post Rabuka coup Minister of Finance Berenado Vunibobo, later Frank Bainimarama’s representative at the UN, had dismissed the collapse of the NBF as ‘water under the bridge’ but to his credit, he later did inform Parliament that “No loan defaulter will be forgiven or forgotten”.
  
For many years now I have been gathering materials on individuals, provincial councils and companies who borrowed from the collapsed NBF, and hope the expose will fill the gaps left by Grynberg, Munro and White in their book “Crisis: The Collapse of the National Bank of Fiji.” After all, they never identified the doubtful debtors from 1995/1996 as contained in the NBF’s Debtors List. To quote Vunibobo, ‘No loan defaulter will be forgiven or forgotten’. So far, I have identified some of the borrowers: Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Inoke Kubuabola, many of Kubuabola’s co-conspirators from the 1987 coups, including two former Attorney-Generals, Kelemedi Bulewa and Qoriniasi Bale; the Methodist Church, the Vakatoras, the Druavesis’ etc, etc. 
  
In the opening series I recalled Shameem’s assertion that what was supposed to be an affirmative action program to advance soft loans to the disadvantaged indigenous population was in fact a slush fund for the privileged, many of whom were not even indigenous? In order to identify those companies on the NBF Debtors List, I had to search its directors in the records held by the Registrar of Companies in Fiji. 
  
It was the only way to identify the i-taukei from the non i-taukei, the powerful from the ordinary borrower. The ROC also yielded the names of individuals who either personally or through front companies and provincial councils borrowed loans ranging from thousands to millions until the NBF collapsed spectacularly in 1995, with the taxpayers having to foot a bill of $327 million. 
 
BW Holdings Ltd
 
In the 1996 NBF List of Doubtful Debtors the above company was listed as having borrowed $1,146,012 from the collapsed NBF. In targeting the big borrowers, it was imperative that I went behind the scenes, to find out who were its directors, and the nature of their operations. BW Holdings, as we know, was one of the road builders (the other was Standard Concrete Industries) which was granted contract in July 2006 to complete road building project that was abandoned unfinished by a Chinese company Covec from mainland China. Covec had been given the contract worth $US41million to build major roads in my maternal homeland of Tailevu in 2001. But the company made little progress, blaming Fiji’s weather conditions and the local workforce for the delays.  
  
A search in the ROC reveal that BW Holdings has a mortgage with the Westpac Banking Corporation of Suva of a fixed and floating charge dated 30th of August 2008 of $2,1129,000 (Two Million One Hundred Twenty-Nine Thousand Dollars – Company Number 5267). In its annual return up to 31 March 2000, it gave the company’s registered office as follows: Vishnu Deo Road, Nakasi and P. O. Box 2449, Government Buildings, Suva. The number of shares of each class taken up at the date of this return was 100000; Class: $1 ordinary shares fully paid. And the total amount of indebtedness of the company in respect of all mortgages and charges with the Registrar of Companies under the Companies Act was $1,577,449. 
  
The Company directors were listed as follows: Bimla Wati Narayan (26 Sri Raman Place, Tamavua, Suva; number of shares held by her was 50,000; and Uday Narayan (P O Box 2449, Government Buildings, Suva); number of shares held by him was 50,000. The Secretary to the company was signed off as Gardiner Henri Whiteside of G H Whiteside and Co. In the 1995 annual return of the company and its share capital the company’s registered address was as follows: Office of Vishnu Prasad & Co, 4th Floor, Pacific House, Butt Street, P. O. Box 1396, Suva.
  
In a Civil Appeal in the Fiji High Court between B.W. HOLDINGS LIMITED and PROPERTIES PACIFIC (FIJI) LIMITED, Justice John E Byrne, has shed more light on the company in its ruling of 3 February 2009. “Will the Appeal be Rendered Nugatory? In my Judgment the Appellant (BW Holdings) has not shown any good reason in its Affidavit in Support of the Motion to show how the appeal will be rendered nugatory if a Stay of execution is not granted. One of the directors of the Appellant, Ugesh Narayan, states in an Affidavit sworn on the 22nd of October 2008 that the Appellant is a substantial Company with assets in excess of $11,000,000.00 and numerous contracts in train valued at about $17,000,000.00. 

He then appears to contradict himself by saying that if the Respondent tries to enforce payment of the Judgment sum this may lead to the Appellant losing all its assets, contracts, employees and be forced to shut down. Therefore the refusal of a Stay will prejudice his company entirely. In paragraph 11 of the Affidavit he says that the effect of a refusal of a Stay will have the possible result of acting as a catalyst to prematurely trigger facilities which would not be able to be realized but for the Judgment. I simply cannot understand this last sentence.

I fail to see how a company which claims to be worth millions of dollars will be so adversely affected by having to pay an amount of less than three quarters of a million dollars if its claims to the value of its assets are correct. In fact the Appellant concedes this because in paragraph 9 of his Affidavit of the 27th of October Mr Narayan says that his company is in a position to satisfy the Judgment sum in the event of the appeal failing. These are not Mr Narayan’s exact words but I consider this to be the only meaning of them in paragraph 9.”
  
The BW Holdings and Pacific Properties (Fiji) Ltd had gone to court over alleged breach of agreement over the sale of property, as outlined by Justice Bryne: “In exchange for Lots 1, 2 and 3 being leasehold property situated at Viria Road, Vatuwaqa covered in LD Ref. No. 7/6/59 which the Defendant had agreed to sell to the Plaintiff through a Sale and Purchase Agreement executed between them on 26 August 2003, the Defendant in lieu thereof agrees to provide the Plaintiff with Lots 1 and 2 which are shaded on the Map attached to these Terms of Settlement whose total area will amount to 1.5 acres after survey, which the Plaintiff now accepts on payment of the purchase price of $264,000.00.” 

After lengthy legal submissions Bryne had dismissed the application for a Stay of an Ex-tempore Decision of Justice Jitoko in the High Court of Suva, delivered on 25 September 2008 when Jitoko had assessed damages pursuant to a breach of Agreement between the Appellant and the Respondent. The Agreement was sealed by Order of the Court on 31st August 2007.

On the social front, it seems BW Holdings have been generous with their millions; sponsoring the Fiji Golf Club Fletcher Cup, and in February 2010 BW Holdings generously donated $20,125.25 to the Foundation for the Education of Needy Children (FENC), with a commitment of $20,000 per annum over the next four years. The Government of Fiji provided the initial seed funding of $200,000 to FENC, whose website states as follows: “The Foundation for the Education of Needy Children in Fiji (Fenc Fiji) is a voluntary, non-political, not-for–profit, cause-oriented organization, registered under the Charitable Trusts Act (Cap 67) of Fiji.” 
  
Its objective is to help the children of the poorest of the poor families in Fiji; and has stated that “Fenc Fiji will seek excellence in regard to quality and standards of its service delivery; practice sound governance, and transparency and full disclosure to all its stakeholders”. One of the key stakeholders of Fenc Fiji, among others, includes the Government of Fiji, particularly the Office of the Prime Minister. Bainimarama launched FENC in March 2010.
  
FENC’s Board of Trustees are listed as follows:  Teresa Apted - Director, Apted Ltd; Ratu Jolame Lewanavanua - Chairman, Lomaiviti Provincial Council; Nazhat Shameem - Barrister and Solicitor (she donated $2,000 to FENC); and Vindula Naidu - Retired Secondary School Principal. FENC’s headquarters is listed as Senate House, Parliamentary Complex, Veiuto, Suva. In Australia, FENC’s contact person is the former diplomat Robin Nair who had a brief tryst in the post Bainimarama regime, and the contact person in New Zealand is John Samy, the architect of the Peoples Charter For Change, Peace and Progress (NCBBF).

The chairperson for Fenc Fiji is Loraine Tevi, another member of NCBBF. Samy donated $2,000 initially to FENC, with a promise of another $2,000 annually for the next nine years. There were other generous donors, with Ratu Epeli Ganilau’s daughter Adi Koila Ganilau McBride making a donation of $8,7000 to FENC. Like BW Holdings Ltd, Epeli Ganilau was listed as having borrowed $631,594 from the NBF.
  
Fenc Fiji is registered as a Charitable Trust on 4 October 2009, which means it falls within the ambit of Section 17(5) of the Fiji Income Tax Act and is exempt from tax.
  
What has Fenc Fiji, a charitable trust, got to do with the collapse of the NBF? The answer simply is, NOTHING. I decided to include it because in the course of my investigation into BW Holdings, it emerged that it made an initial donation of $20,000, with a commitment of another $20,000 for the next four years, to FENC. I also found it ironical that by sheer coincidence Shameem happens to be one of the trustees of Fenc Fiji, to which BW Holdings made the donation and has committed itself to further financial support. We may recall her uphill fight to bring to justice the NBF defaulters.
  
I am not sure if BW Holdings ever cleared its loan to the NBF, for the company has not replied to my e-mail regarding its debt of over $1million to the collapsed bank. If BW Holdings has not settled its loan, than it becomes imperative for a Commission of Inquiry into its loan dealings and a retrospective decree to re-coup from it the $1million loan, to be set aside for the poorest of the poor, who were deprived of $327million of taxpayers’ money with the collapse of the NBF.
  
I also notice that the Fiji National Provident Fund on 11 May 2010 had publicly identified BW Holdings on its official website among one of the many companies who had not paid its FNFP contribution: “B W Holdings Ltd: January 2010 to March 2010.”
  
But what about BW Holdings Ltd’s $1, 146,012 loan from the collapsed NBF? To repeat Nazhat Shameem, who has noted that what was supposed to be an affirmative action program to advance soft loans by the NBF to the disadvantaged indigenous population was in fact a slush fund for the privileged, many of whom were not indigenous and some of whom were cronies of people in authority. 
  
In the words of a great Muslim sage: “Say what is true, although it may be bitter and displeasing to people.”

Editor’s Note: We will continue to reveal debtors names, which includes those of high chiefs, politicians, Indo-Fijians, business houses, including individual supporters of the present illegal junta in Fiji. If you or your family has paid back the NBF loans, please provide Victor Lal with evidence. He can be reached at vloxford@gmail.com

Retrial over dead police officers deferred

The re-trial of three men alleged to have shot dead two Police officers during the 2000 upheaval has been moved to the 12th of July as one of the accused is still at large.

Leone Lautabui, Semesa Roko, and Jonasa Tonowai are charged with the murder of Policemen Raj Kumar and Joela Weleilakeba in Sawani in 2000.

The office of the Director of Prosecution had applied for an application to carry on with the case but this was objected to by Legal Aid.

Judge Justice Daniel Goundar denied the application, saying that the DPP should file a proper application.

Judge Goundar also told the court that the case could not proceed without one of the defendants present in court.

Semesa Roko did not turn up to Court today. -Fiji Broadcasting Corporation

Barack Obama urged to condemn recent UN Fiji signing

The United States president, Barack Obama, is being asked to take a look at the crisis in Fiji.

The suggestion has come from Luvei Viti (Children of Fiji), who've organised a petition calling on President Obama to help the people of Fiji.

The petition urges Obama to condemn the recent signing by Fiji's United Nation representative, Peter Thompson, of diplomatic relationship under UN agreement with Cambodia and other similar states which have records of coup-de-tat-ism, human rights abuse, military dictatorship and abrogation of rule of law and constitution.


Below is some of the text from the petition, which you will find online at the address at the end of posting:

"The situation in Fiji has gone on for too long and the degree of abuse or other maltreatment by this illegal regime must not be measured against other countries and the United Nations must bear in mind the Deed of Cession agreements that occured between Fiji's forefathersl where it secured their livelihood, their land and their traditions and culture. 

"For a group of settler societies to now come in and dictate via the coup leader, who is half Fijian and does not have much respect for the Indigenous Fijians Traditional Culture as was seen when he threw the 'valued Tabua or whales' tooth' back to his own Chiefs from his village in Kiuva, who went to ask him to end the Fiji saga. This in itself is a sign of arrogance and disrespect to the Fijians and their culture let alone his High Chief who Bainimarama had been noted to have commented, saying the Fijian people are 'stupid'.

"As Fijian citizens, we have grave concerns for Fiji and the people by the prolonged state of Public Emergency Regulations, the silencing of seasoned and long-serving, trustworthy, respected, and democratically-elected leaders who now are being warned that they may not be able to run for the next parlimentary elections scheduled, too far away in 2010, a total of 08 years approx of Fiji being under military dictaorship. 

"We ask how can United Nations and the International Community not step in to assist the Pacific Island Forum within Fiji's Regional Neighbors and the Commonwealth who have publicly shown their position in not supporting the current Fiji illegal regime by suspending Fiji's membership. The question we ask, why then does the United Nation and other International Communities are standing back and allowing the current illegal regime in Fiji under the coup man, Bainimarama to have a free reign of Fiji until 2014 which is looking very bleak at this point in time.

"Assistance are being given as we write by some International bodies to Fiji, and we now beg you all to reconsider your positions and try and view Fiji's problems taking a 'bottom-up approach' and assist in facilitating a qucik return to democrcay and rule of law. We believe the United States Government has the power to put pressure on other International Communities and in this instance United Nations in order that Fiji and its people may once again live in freedom and have the liberty to freely elect those they they wish to represent them in government and also reinstate the Fijian Great Council of Chiefs as these are the hallmarks of our Fijian Cultural tradition of which we are known for. 

"Reforms on land must not take place until a properly elected government is in place as this illegal regime are bent more towards the capitalistic and individual needs being forced by some in the Indian segment of our Fiji socitey. Thre is an urgent need to restore liberty, freedom and removal of threat to freedoms of speech and expression and the rights to fair judicial process, transparency, and legal representation.

"As echoed by our fellow cambodians who are also fighting for similar rights we urge you Mr President to please speak up on behalf of our Fiji people because by your silence will mean continuous suspression of our basic and fundamental rights as free citizens of Fiji nation that once knew the beauty of Pacific Way which is now so abscent in our midst. Without your intervention some of our parents and grandparents and even mothers and fathers will never again taste that freedom. 

'We beileve the United States is a powerful Nations and your Government is long reknowned to uphold its long-cherished values of freedoms of speech and expression and the rights to an independent and impartial judicial process, equality before the law, and legal representation.

"We again seek your urgent help, Mr. President, to take a strong position and indicate or make a supporting robust statement against the the recent signing and aligning of Fiji together with other States that have questionable values on Human Rights and Rule of Law as well as upholding true democratic values which have seen Fiji moved upward at one point to be on par with nations around the world in its commitment to establishing economic growth that is conducive to the needs and culture of the Fiji people taking into account the signing of the Deed of Cession in 1874 where Fijian or First Nation People were given the understanding that their Lands, their Customs and Traditions will be forever protected."

Stop The Supression of Human Rights, Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Association: A Fijian Petition to President Obama.http://www.petitiononline.co.nz/petitio...

'Momi Bay must be developed'

The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation is quoting the illegal regime's attorney general as saying the failure of Momi Bay’s developer Matapo Limited to pay up its debts to the Fiji National Provident Fund prolonged FNPF’s ability to sell the property to another interested developer.

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum made the comment as the Momi Bay Development Decree came into effect on Friday.

Sayed-Khaiyum says because of the challenge by Matapo, the government has stepped in to ensure the property is developed which will create employment and contribute towards the growth of the economy.

“Given the fact that Matapo is challenging various issues by FNPF, which would see a very protracted, battle if you like, that would not have benefited anybody in Fiji, it made it imperative that Government have this specific decree to be able to expedite the process to be able to regularize the process.”-FBC

Sayed-Khaiyum: Media decree still going ahead but some amendments

The Fiji Sun says rumours the Fiji Media Industry Development Decree will not go ahead have been rubbished by Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

The rumours have been linked to some staff of the Australian-owned Fiji Times, which is the news organisation most likely to be affected.

This is because of restrictions on foreign ownership and control of Fiji media outlined in the original draft of the decree.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the consultation process has been completed, amendments are being made and the final decree is being readied for promulgation.

“It will be ready as soon as possible,” he said.

There will be some amendments following the consultations and submissions, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum confirmed.

When asked what these might be, he said he could not elaborate at this stage.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum confirmed the consultation process had now been completed and as soon as they completed the amendments the decree would be promulgated.

Two areas that are widely expected to be amended are lessening of the penalties on individual journalists and a more inclusive membership of the authority set up under the decree.

There were numerous submissions on these issues during the consultations.-Fiji Sun

Fiji Times says TIB CEO and GM sent on leave

The Fiji Times is reporting that two executives of the Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau, including the chief executive of the trade organisation, have been sent on leave.

CEO Annie Rogers and general manager Tupou Raturaga "have taken one week leave" as of yesterday to allow for a quick audit of FTIB's financial and various other systems.

The paper says the head of the Industry and Trade Ministry, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, confirmed the leave on Friday, saying there were various audit queries taking place within the FTIB and this needed to be cleared out accordingly.

"They are audit queries. They pertain to financial matters and various systems and processes that have been in place and this is essentially to clear that up. It is something that obviously has needed addressing."

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said officials from the Auditor-General's office and the Ministry of Finance would conduct the audit within a week.

"We expect the report to be handed in by the 27th of June. The are some anomalies regarding processes and systems which need to be cleared."

The Fiji Times says several attempts to obtain comments from Mrs Rogers and Mrs Raturaga yesterday proved futile but they were expected to resume work on June 28.

It says the newly-appointed FTIB chairman Adrian Sofield, who was appointed on June 10, is the executive chairman.-Fiji Times

POSER: Is this the same Adrian Sofield who was struck off by the Fiji Institute of Architects for trying to bribe the Mayor of Suva back in the nineties?