- STUDENTS TO BENEFIT FROM SQUATTER UPGRADE PROJECT – School students in the Nadovi area in Cuvu, Sigatoka will be major beneficiaries of the Cuvu Squatter Upgrading Project.
- NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR ORDER OF FIJI – Nominations are being sought from members of the public, private organizations, civil servants and business organizations for the Order of Fiji under the Fiji Honours System.
- ASCO MOTORS SUPPORTS AGRICULTURE SHOW – The Ministry of Agriculture received a timely boost this week for the 2014 Central Division AgricultureShow when Asco Motors presented a cheque of $5000 as a show of its support.
- FIJI TRAINS SPECIALISTS IN GEO – PORTAL AND GEOSPATIAL DATA MANAGEMENT – In its efforts to ensure better coordination of information during natural disasters the Fijian Government is conducting a three – day training for officers from the National Disaster Management Office around the country.
- DONATION TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES – The donation of 600 sewing machines from the Government of the People’s Republic of China to the Ministry of Women will be to empower women and support their families economically.
- MINISTRY URGES PARTNERSHIP WITH WOMEN GROUP – The Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni has urged the Dorcas Welfare Organisation to partner with the ministry in efforts to help the disadvantaged.
- KOREA OFFERS FIJI DISASTER MANAGEMENT TRAINING – Korea has offered Fiji three places for a training workshop to be held in November this year as part of capacity building for the nation’s disaster management.
- MEDIA AND RED CROSS LINK VITAL DURING DISASTERS – The Fiji Red Cross Society director-general Filipe Nainoca says the society needs the media to disseminate information about its services during natural disasters or emergencies.
1 STUDENTS TO BENEFIT FROM SQUATTER UPGRADE PROJECT
School students in the Nadovi area in Cuvu, Sigatoka will be major beneficiaries of the Cuvu Squatter Upgrading Project.
The Nadovi Primary School area is always prone to flooding during very heavy rain and has become a problem for students and teachers.
Nadovi Primary School headmaster Sashi Kumar said the upgrade of roads and drainage systems were much needed development projects.
“The school was affected in the flood of 2012 and the school compound usually floods during very heavy rain therefore we are happy the upgrades will stop the problems during future adverse weather conditions.”
Since 90 per cent of students are from the Nadovi area Mr Kumar said developing the roads and protecting the school from floods would have a great impact in their education.
Sixteen-year-old student, Wainikiti Basiyalo of Cuvu College, expressed her appreciation for the efforts of Government in improving their livelihoods.
“The improved roads will definitely help many students who travel daily to school and the better drainage systems assures us that our school compounds will not flood,” Ms Basiyalo said.
District Advisory Councilor, Umesh Lal highlighted the existence of a working committee since 1973 has been pleading with recent governments to upgrade the area and now they are happy the Bainimarama Government’s heard their plea.
The project that will include better roads, better drainage, improvement of sewerage, water and fire emergency services will cost $3.6million benefitting 105 families.
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2 NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR ORDER OF FIJI
Nominations are being sought from members of the public, private organizations, civil servants and business organizations for the Order of Fiji under the Fiji Honours System.
The Fiji Honours System was created in 1995 to provide for the establishment of Honours and Awards in Fiji tocelebrate outstanding contribution by Fiji Nationals towards promoting positive attitudes in our Nation and highlights a sense of unity in our multicultural society.
The Order of Fiji recognizes outstanding contribution of Fijians who deserve to be recognized for their contribution in building a better Fiji.
The deserving nominees are considered and verified by the Chancellor of the Order of Fiji, His Excellency Ratu Epeli.
Individuals nominating for the 2014 Honours and Awards must not nominate themselves, however they are encouraged to nominate someone in the community who they know deserves to be awarded for their contribution or service to the country and humanity at large in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group.
People will be appointed under the Order of Fiji in one of the following divisions:
1. The Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF) foreminent achievement and merit of the highest degree for service to Fiji andhumanity at large.
2. The Officer of the Order of Fiji (OF) for distinguished service of a high degree to Fiji and humanity at large.
3. The Member of the Order of Fiji (MF) for meritorious service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group.
4. The Medal of the Order of Fiji (MOF) for service worthy of particular recognition. The system also recognizes specific acts by individuals who risk their own lives in a selfless way in order to save or attempt to save the life of another in Fiji.
The Awards for Civilian Bravery is awarded foracts of bravery in circumstances worthy of recognition in the interests of Fiji.
Nomination Forms and Guidelines on how to prepare nominations are available from the
Honours Secretariat at the following address:
The Secretary,
College of Honour
Government House
P O Box 2513
Government Buildings
SUVA
0r email: alena.mataitoga@govnet.gov.fj
Nominations for the Order of Fiji close on Friday 26th September and the awards will take place in November, 2014.
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3 ASCO MOTORS SUPPORTS AGRICULTURE SHOW
The Ministry of Agriculture received a timely boost this week for the 2014 Central Division Agriculture Show when Asco Motors presented a cheque of $5000 as a show of its support.
Chief executive officer Jai Kumar said Asco Motors was very proud to assist and be a partner with the Ministry of Agriculture.
“This is the third consecutive year we have been sponsoring the Agriculture Show and we are content in helping the ministry with equipment and assisting in any way we can,” Mr Kumar said.
“We look forward to continue working together to help grow the agriculture industry in Fiji.”
Permanent secretary Ropate Ligairi thanked Asco Motors for its kind sponsorship.
The Ministry of Agriculture earlier this year planned to host the Agriculture Show in all four geographical Divisions.
The North and the Western Division Agriculture Shows have been completed and the Central Division Agriculture Show will be held this Wednesday, September 10 at Syria Park, Nausori and closes on Friday, September 12.
The Minister for Youth and Sports, Commander Viliame Naupoto will officially open the show.
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4 FIJI TRAINS SPECIALISTS IN GEO – PORTAL AND GEOSPATIAL DATA MANAGEMENT
In its efforts to ensure better coordination of information during natural disasters the Fijian Government is conducting a three – day training for officers from the National Disaster Management Office around the country.
This is to better equip officers on data management.
The workshop, facilitated by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP), is aimed at assisting officers on how to install and operate a geo-portal for disaster risk management in Fiji and to show how geospatial data can be used for integrated disaster related information management.
“This training will help develop a group of experts who can enable a smooth operation of a national geoportal for Fiji and strengthen their capacity to use geospatial data for disaster risk reduction,” said UNESCAP Pacific Office.
deputy head David Smith.
“ESCAPis proud to be partnering Fiji and will support the Government of Fiji in its endeavor to improve the management of disaster impacts and to get assistance to those in need more effectively and efficiently and above all, get that assistance to those in need as quickly as possible.”
A geoportal is a type of web portal used to find and access geographic information (geospatial information) and associated geographic services via the Internet.
The training is on the back of an earlier training held earlier in the year.
“The first training workshop served to raise Fiji policy-makers’ awareness and understanding about the high potential and benefits of space technology and GIS applications for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development,” Mr Smith said.
NDMO director Manasa Tagicakibau said the training would be beneficial to Fiji and Government was committed towards building specialists in disaster risk management.
“This training will be beneficial to Fiji as Government hopes to build capacity in ensuring the best services to the people during disasters,” Mr Tagicakibau said.
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5 DONATION TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES
The donation of 600 sewing machines from the Government of the People’s Republic of China to the Ministry of Women will be to empower women and support their families economically.
Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni said the donation of the sewing machine achieved new breaking grounds and provided a meaningful engagement with Fijian women all around the country.
“These machines will benefit rural-based women’s groups, peri urban and informal settlements based dwellers,” Dr Luveni said.
“Through the sewing machine programme, children from underprivileged families have been assisted with new school uniforms made in their homes.”
Sharing similar sentiments, Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Huang Yong said thisdonation would help hundreds of women achieve self worth through creative work, and benefit hundreds of families and thousands of Fijians people.
“This is very good co-operation in this field and we hope to strengthen our partnership in the future and the Chinese Government is always willing to provide assistance within its capability for the welfare of Fijian people,” HE Huang said.
“Women’s work is vital for the country and this is related to stability and harmony of the society which is symbol of the civilisation.”
Meanwhile, ministry has assisted more than 1700 women’s groups with 2800 sewing machines, 20 straight industrial machines and five overlooks donated by theChinese Government and other donor agencies.
These machines will be distributed to women groups in the provinces of Ra, Ba and Nadroga/Navosa.
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6 MINISTRY URGES PARTNERSHIP WITH WOMEN GROUP
The Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni has urged the Dorcas Welfare Organisation to partner with the ministry in efforts to help the disadvantaged.
Thecall was made during a prayer vigil attended by 200 women at the Lower Civic Auditorium.
Dorcas is the welfare arm of Seventh Day Adventist church, which assists the disadvantaged through social work and care through its 350 church-bases spread throughout the country.
“I appreciate the representation of Dorcas in our Women’s Advisory Committee. In the progress of providing empowerment for the women of Fiji, my ministry through the network of more than 1700 women’s groups has developed a network that can enable women’s groups to incorporate the assistance from theministry,” Dr Luveni said.
The minister highlighted that as of August 22 this year, there were 592 Food Voucher recipients, children assisted under the Care and Protection Programme is 5504 and there are 10,839 recipients of the Social Pension Scheme.
The scheme is a new initiative by the ministry where every person 70-year-old and over, not receiving any form of superannuation, is entitled to receive $30 month.
From 2015, the pension will be increased to $50 a month.
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7 KOREA OFFERS FIJI DISASTER MANAGEMENT TRAINING
Korea has offered Fiji three places for a training workshop to be held in November this year as part of capacity building for the nation’s disaster management.
The training will provide technical expertise for Fiji in attaining data and developing its own geo – portal.
The training, scheduled to take place in Korea, will involve Fijian disaster management officers learning how to design and build Fiji’s first ever geo – portal – a website which uses space technology in reducing the impacts of natural disasters.
Korea has developed a new project proposal on building geospatial information system in the Pacific region and will host a training programme in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
“We are inviting three Fiji government officials to the training programme for three weeks which will be held in Korea in November,” said Korean ambassador to Fiji Seong –in KIM.
The announcement was made at a three – day workshop which began today in Nadi and is attended by the disaster management officers from around the country.
Mr KIM said relationship between the two countries strengthened the co-operative partnerships including the field of science and technology over the last few years.
“This underpins the strong relations between our two countries and will be further enhanced through our collaboration in the field of disaster risk management,” he said.
“The in – depth training undertaken by the Fijian Government will contribute to the two countries partnership in the field of science and technology and geospatial information system through enhanced capacity knowledge of space technology applications.”
Through the training, the two countries will become an important cornerstone to foster a group of specialists in Fiji to help promote Fiji’s disaster risk management and sustainable development in the future.
National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) director Manasa Tagicakibau welcomed the offer by the Korean Government saying it will greatly assist Fiji in disaster risk management.
“There is no doubt that space technology and space technology applications allow us to manage disaster impacts more effectively by monitoring the development of disasters and the impacts they have,” Mr Tagicakibau said.
“More generally these space technology applications can help in overcoming geographical remoteness and isolation and help link Pacific island countries with each other and with Asian neighbours, We are grateful to the Korean Government for its offer to include Fiji in this training.”
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8 MEDIA AND RED CROSS LINK VITAL DURING DISASTERS
The Fiji Red Cross Society director-general Filipe Nainoca says the society needs the media to disseminate information about its services during natural disasters or emergencies.
Members of the media and government information officers attended a one-day workshop organised by the Fiji Red Cross this morning.
The theme for the workshop was “Fiji Red Cross Society’s Humanitarian Role in today’s Changing Environment.”
“There is always a need to for us to link with media agencies during disasters so we need to explain what we are doing and how we work to the grassroots people,” Mr Nainoca said.
“During disasters we usually work very closely with Government because this is our responsibility. We are auxiliary to the public authorities. It means that we are a helping hand to the Government of the day during any disaster.”
Mr Nainoca said the Fiji Red Cross was not a non-government organisation because it is an auxiliary to Government.
“Which means it is a non-profit organisation auxiliary to Government for humanitarian services,” he said.
The Fiji Red Cross was happy with the response from members of the media attending the workshop.
“We hope members of the media and the Fiji Red Cross will always work together in disseminating information during emergencies,” Mr Nainoca said.
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