McDonalds Nadi Re-opened.

President Reminds Senior

Pg. 5 Citizens of their Values. Pg 9

Municipal Councils Receive Police Acknowledge Public

Vacuum Cleaner Trucks.Pg. 8 Support. Pg. 12

2018 VOLUME 10 ISSUE 98 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

Weekly
Shrea Prasad. Pg. 13

RHUM-BA OPTIMISTIC
ABOUT 2018
By ANA SOVA

Fiji’s premier Restaurant, Bar and

social club, Rhum-Ba and Denarau
Yacht Club is optimistic over the tour-
ism sector outlook for 2018 saying it
will be looking at some major chang-
es that people can look forward to.
This is in line with market de-
mands and making sure improve-
ments are made from the last busi-
ness year said Managing Director,
Michael Dennis.
“We’re looking forward to the
New Year. For this year, we have
been working on a couple of things,
our main bar and restaurant, The
Rhum-Ba and we have our yacht
club venue which is mainly used for
events and functions,” Dennis said.
He said this year; the restaurant
is looking at introducing new dishes.
“Our new menu will be enhanc-
ing and improving the ways that we
use ingredients. We will be doing dif-
ferent dishes, service styles, drinks
and cocktails so that’s something
people will look forward to and try,” Customers enjoying their meal during an event held at the Rhum-Ba on Denarau Island, Nadi. Photo: RHUM-BA.
Dennis said.
He adds they’re looking forward The Rhum-Ba and Denarau Yacht and others. one of the best venues and value for
to hosting corporate events and pri- includes the International sailing
regatta coming in the middle of the Club has been a prominent place for Dennis said they are very happy money and service and we deliver a
vate events such as birthday parties, a lot of high-end events like the Mas- to have achieved that status and rep- high class service but with a family
wedding parties and business meet- year,” Dennis said.
“Every year we try and improve ter Class Fiji, Floating Art Exhibition, utation, however he maintains they casual approach so that anyone can
ings and events in the event space. Annual Fiji-New Zealand Marine cater for everyone. use our event venue.”
“We’re also looking forward to and make things better than the last
year.” Trade Day, The Chefs Table Event “I would like to be considered Continued on page 2
a number of sporting events which
www.thejetnewspaper.com www.scribd.com/thejet

“Fiji - the way the world should be”

“ You must be asking yourself as to what makes Fiji so special? Amongst many things, the
Fijian people is mainly what makes this tropical island so special when compared to other
FROM THE DESK places in the world.They are friendly, welcoming and gracious. Fiji has all of the requistes

A SAFER 2018
necessities for the typical tropical paradise, pretty much everything. The golden sun, sandy
beaches, sparkling blue water and tropical rainforest with activities ranging from diving,
snorkelling, jet-skiing and more”

As is the norm when we enter a new year we come up ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

Join the Conversation

with resolutions hoping to make our lives better, to eat less
or healthy, to exercise more, to avoid certain habits, etc.
What if we could all make a collective resolution or a
combined effort to contribute to making our country safer
in 2018?
Let’s practice caution and exercise safety in our daily
lives to reduce accidents, crimes and deaths. By ANA SOVA
Police Chief of Operations, ACP Rusiate Tudravu said last
year a total of 70 lives were lost on our roads alone, ten more This year, we encour- people or discuss events. thoughts and arguments in Since the opinion page
than the same period in 2016. age our readers to consider The letters appear on an extended form. has finite space, we ask that
He added 2017 was the highest number of road deaths writing a letter to the editor the opinion page in The Jet Obviously, we can’t run letters be limited to 350 to
recorded over a period of almost a decade. if there’s an issue impor- Newspaper — the paper ver- letters that are libelous or 400 words.
ACP Tudravu said based on the statistics; both drivers and tant to them. They can be sion and online. It’s a unique contain swear words or Letters to the editor can
pedestrians have an equal role to play in road safety which about issues reported on in space. While the rest of the other inappropriate content. be sent to news@thejet-
they have emphasized on numerous occasions. the newspaper, as well as newspaper deals with facts, We don’t run anonymous newspaper.com .
According to drowning statistics released by Police, 19 national news. In fact, they it’s a place where read- letters.
people were victims of drowning last year. This number has don’t have to be about is- ers who want their opinion We don’t run letters that
dropped compared to the 30 drowning cases in 2016. sues: some letters thank to be heard can offer their have obvious factual errors.

Rhum-Ba Optimistic about 2018

In a statistics on serious crimes (Non-Sexual Violence Of-
fences) released by the Office of the Director of Public Pros-
ecutions (ODPP), last year there were 24 people charged
with a total of 26 counts of separate incidents in December
alone.
The offences were aggravated robbery, aggravated bur-
glary, and theft, damaging property, assault causing actual
bodily harm, disobedience of lawful order, unlawful cultiva-
tion and criminal intimidation.
Of the 24 people charged, two were police officers.
If one thing we all have in common as humans is the
desire to live in safer homes and communities. So let’s look
out for our children and for one another.
Lest make our communities, our nation, the world a bet-
ter place than it was a year ago.
q ANA SOVA

THE JET is Fiji’s first community newspaper published weekly by

YOURSPACE LIMITED from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR: SAMUEL SHANKAR Cell: 9966115

SPORTS : LUKE NACEI Cell: 9516847
NEWS : ANA SOVA Cell: 7378722
NEWS : MARIA LAQETA Cell: 9216562
OFFICE PHONES : 6707075 / 6750443
EMAIL : news@thejetnewspaper.com
: sam@media.com.fj
WEBSITE : www.thejetnewspaper.com

COMPLAINTS: The Jet Newspaper continues to strive for excellence in

its publications, with this in mind we welcome all complaints and sug-
gestions from our readers. All such comments could be sent to
feedbacks@media.com.fj We thank you our readers for your valued
support towards The Jet Newspaper.
PRINTED BY MAX MARKETING - LAYOUT BY MARGARET NAQIRI

The Rhum-Ba and Denarau Yacht Club. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Send us your feedbacks or suggestions
to:
Continued from page 1
He said there is always
room for improvement and
the challenge for Rhum-Ba
feedbacks@media.com.fj is actually making those im-
provements.
“Improving our standard
of service, improving our
standard of food and bev-
erage and utilizing and also
creating more local prod-
ucts, for us as a business
to support local and have
a better business model,”
Dennis added.
He said being located at
the Port Denarau Marina has
been a great advantage to
the business and especially
to their customers.
“The advantage of being
located at the Marian is the
close proximity to accom-
modation, the view, there’s
nowhere else in Fiji that
overlooks the Marina as well
as the docks and the moun-
tains and everything else.
It has space and it’s acces-
sible,” Dennis said.
Reflecting on Fiji’s tour-
ism industry, Dennis said
“we have a great product,
Fiji is a great place but inter-
nationally as a country and
as an industry I think we
all need to work harder to
improve our standards and
pricing to remain competi-
tive in the international mar-
ket place”.

2 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

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Strike by some ATS Employees

Declared Unlawful
By ANA SOVA
The strike on December 16
by some Air Terminal Services
(Fiji) Limited employees was
declared unlawful by the Min-
ister for Employment, Produc-
tivity and Industrial Relations
in accordance with the Em-
ployment Relations Act 2007
(Act).
No supervised secret bal-
lot was carried out prior to the
initiation of the strike, as is re-
quired by the Act.
Furthermore, the unlaw-
ful strike has occurred while
a Settlement Agreement is
already in place between the
union and the employer.
As a result of the Settlement
Agreement, a notice of secret
ballot for strike received by
the Registrar of Trade Unions
could not be processed.
The Employment Relations
Act sets out a proven and ef-
fective framework for the
resolution of any workplace
concerns, and only within that
framework can issues be ef-
fectively resolved.
By failing to operate within
the framework, these employ-
ees have violated the law.
To totally circumvent that
process, especially in the
midst of holiday travel, is a
selfish act that was designed
to confuse and inconvenience
the travelling public, under-
mine the Fijian economy and
create job loss.
The Fijian people and our
visitors deserve better.
The Ministry has been giv-
en assurance that Air Terminal
Services Limited, Fiji Airways,
the Civil Aviation Authority of
Fiji and Airports Fiji Limited
are working closely together
to ensure minimal to no dis-
ruption of services. Visitors arrive as part of the Spirit of Sharing programme at Nadi Sangam School. Photo: SUPPLIED.

70 Lives Lost on our AG Condemns

Roads in 2017 Temple Vandalism
By ANA SOVA
Seventy lives were lost on
our roads in 2017 ten more
than the same period in 2016
according to Police.
Fiji Police Force Chief of
Operations, ACP Rusiate Tu-
dravu said as we begin a new
year they are optimistic that
people will adopt a change of
attitude about road safety.
Since 2008 the 70 fatalities
recorded last year is the high-
est number of road deaths
recorded over a period of al-
most a decade.
ACP Tudravu said based on
the statistics, both drivers and
pedestrians have an equal
role to play in road safety
which we have emphasized
on numerous occasions.
“Speeding continues to
be a major area of concern
and despite repeated calls to
adhere to the national speed
limits set out by authorities
the traffic infringement no-
tices clearly indicates blatant
disregard for the law which
needs to change if we are to
avoid accidents and fatalities
this year,” he said.
ACP Tudravu adds this
was evident during the first
15 day period of Operation Ya-
lodei whereby not than 1,700
speeding infringement notic-
es was issued throughout Fiji.
“We urge members of the
public not to look at the work
of traffic officers whether
they are conducting random
brethalysyer checks or radar
operations as an obstacle to
their travel plans but know
that they are conducting their
work placed to help keep you
safe and reinforce the issue of
safety,”
“Once we are able to work
together, only then we will be
able to prevent injury and loss
of life on our roads,” he said.

Seaplane Salvaged
Attorney General and Minister for Justice Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at the Maharishi Temple
in Votualevu. Photo: SUPPLIED.

By ANA SOVA

Just days before Christmas
the Maharishi Temple in Vo-
tualevu, Nadi was a target for
vandalism.
The Attorney General and
Minister for Justice, Aiyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum visited the
Temple.
His visit comes after a
number of Temples have
been desecrated.
Mr. Khaiyum has called on
culprits to stop the horren-
dous acts.
“We urge that this type of
behaviour be stopped. This
will not be condoned because
every Fijian should have the
ability to practice their faith
without any hindrance and
they should feel free to do so
particularly in a place of wor-
ship,” he said.
Mr. Khaiyum adds every
right-thinking Fijian should
not condone this and so the
Police are there now in large
numbers to ensure that they
carry out investigations prop-
erly.
Meanwhile, Commissioner
of Police Brigadier-General
Sitiveni Qiliho has warned re-
ligious intolerance will not be
tolerated.

Road Closure Notice

Turtle Airways Beaver seaplane is salvaged from Wailoaloa waters in Nadi. Photo: SUPPLIED.
By ANA SOVA
The Turtle Airways Beaver seaplane reg-
istration DQTAM belonging to Turtle Airways
Ltd of Nadi which sank in waters at Wailoaloa
Bay late December last year has been fully sal-
vaged.
All Engineering Limited and stakeholders
conducted the exercise.
A report of an aircraft accident was received
on Sunday, 24 December involving the Beaver
seaplane.
The aircraft was on take-off run from New-
town boat club base and was airborne before
losing altitude and subsequently force landing
into Wailoaloa Bay.
The emergency command operations cen-
4 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
tre at the Nadi Airport was immediately acti-
vated following the report from Air Traffic Man-
agement of the accident.
The Airports Fiji Limited rescue services
team was deployed to the scene followed by
relevant personnel from the Civil Aviation Au-
thority of Fiji, Airports Fiji Limited, medical
teams and the Fiji Police Force.
There were no casualties or injuries sus-
tained during the incident. The pilots and pas-
sengers were cleared by the medical team at
the site.
A full investigation by the Accident Investi-
gator is underway.
By MARIA LAQETA
The Fiji Roads Authority
advised travelers and motorist
to use Ratu Dovi Road (Centre
Point) and Jerusalem Road as
detour options to access onto
Ratu Dovi Road and to Ratu
Mara Road until finalising trav-
el plans.
Public were also advised to
take heed of the road closure
of golf link road from Nabua
Round about up to NIVIS Mo-
tors driveway from December grades to concrete pavement publics were asked to be pa-
20 to January 20 this year. will commence from Decem- tience during these important
As part of Suva Arterial ber 20. works.
Road Upgrade Project (SARUP Thus, Fiji Roads Author- Meanwhile, the Fiji Roads
01), phase three of Nabua and ity’s contractor China Railway Authority advised the public
Mead Road Roundabout up- Fifth Group will work to keep if needs arises, please call on
disruptions to a minimum and 5720.
www.thejetnewspaper.com LOCAL NEWS www.scribd.com/thejet

Mcdonald’s Nadi Reopened

By LUKE NACEI

McDonald’s Nadi restaurant had their soft
opening with a more modern concept after
undergoing a $2.5 million refurbishment.
This is the first ever refurbishment it has un-
dergone since it opened in 1996.
McDonalds Fiji Managing Director, Marc
McElrath said the need for this refurbishment
came about after competition from respective
restaurant came to par.
“The companies that come into the market
bring a lot of competition that makes us im-
prove and try to be better,” he said.
McElrath said Nadi is the second restaurant
with the McCafe built in store with Lautoka be-
ing the first.
“We focused on looking at our local cus-
tomer base and that is our core for the busi-
ness so we are trying to present modern facili-
ties for all our local customers in Fiji.
“The idea is to bring a new modern family
concept, a faster drive through system and ca-
fés to all our restaurants in Fiji.
The restaurant is committed to Fiji and its
economy and employing over 300 people in
their business.
The Saunaka based restaurant was sched-
ule to re-open on December 1st but was de-
ferred to a later date due to the delay in its
equipments.
However, the official opening he said will
be in January next year.
“Having other fast food restaurants brings
more variety for our customers at the end of
the day we just focus on our business.
In the pipe line
McElrath said they are actively looking for
new sights and new restaurants and are work-
ing on another sight in Suva as well up towards
Nakasi.
Adding on to their list of projects, he said
they have set eyes on refurbishing the two res-
taurants in Suva.
“Nakasi is a growing area with population
and a lot of development has been happening
in the area and population shift from Suva and
Nausori they seem to be moving towards there
for us we move to where the people are.”
A total of $5million dollar has been set a-
side to build an outlet in Nakasi.
“We are in the final stages of finalizing the
real estate deal and once that is sorted out
we can proceed to the next stage. Building a
restaurant takes a lot of time, not so much the
actual construction in of the terms of the real
estate, putting all the development planning
and getting all the approval from the Fiji Roads
Authority, Government, etc we need to make
sure that all that is in place before we start con-
structions and takes,” he said.
“We are just working on upgrading our
restaurants to make sure they are modern and
looking at a new for Nakasi,” he added. Staff of the newly refurbished McDonald’s Nadi Restaurant in Nadi. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Fiji Airways Opens Premier Lounge

By ANA SOVA

Fiji Airways brand new
premier lounge at Nadi Inter-
national Airport is now open.
The state-of-the-art facility
was officially unveiled by the
Attorney General and Minister
responsible for Civil Aviation,
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum yester-
day.
Fiji Airways Managing Di-
rector and CEO, Andre Viljoen
said it had taken months of
design and extensive work
for their customer experience
team, architects, contractors,
suppliers and Airports Fiji
Limited to be able to finally
open the lounge.
“As I look around this 887
square meters space I can say
that it was all worth it,” Viljoen
said.
He said 2017 has been
a monumental year for Fiji
Airways with record profits
share, bonus payout, union
acquisitions, the delivery of
their new aircraft, the ground-
breaking of Fiji Airways full
flight simulator Aviation Acad-
emy, new airline partnerships
announcements and upcom-
ing destinations announce-
ments.
“There’s no better way to
complete this tremendous
year then by unveiling our
world class Premier Lounge
today. This is the biggest in-
vestment we have made to
enhance customer experi-
ence aside from our aircraft,”
Features of the Fiji Airways new Premier Lounge. Photos: LUKE NACEI. Viljoen said.
He said it was the perfect
complement for the newly re-
furbished Nadi International
Airport.
Viljoen adds the new pre-
mier lounge will set new stan-
dards for luxury, comfort and
convenience for their premi-
um guests.
“Who are these guests?
Our business class travelers,
our Tabua Club members,
eligible guests on our part-
ner airlines, along with those
guests that are willing to pay
for this on a one-off basis,” he
said.
The Lounge can cater for
200 guests at a time.
Viljoen did not reveal the
total cost of the lounge al-
though stating that it was sub-
stantial.
He adds that all of Fiji Air-
ways recent successes would
not have been possible with-
out the extensive support of
the Government.
Meanwhile, the Attorney
General congratulated Fiji Air-
ways for their recent achieve-
ment.
He also discussed how Fiji
is capable of delivering prod-
ucts.
“Fiji is capable of deliver-
ing even better products, it
can only happen where there
is a vision and it can only hap-
pen when there is collabora-
tion,” Mr. Sayed- Khaiyum
said.
Lounge Features:
Disabled Access
Large TVs & Media Wall
Shower Facilities
Newspapers & Magazines
Free Wifi
Media Room/ Private
Room (booking required via
concierge)
Family Seating Area
Nanny Services
Children’s Play Area
Charging Stations
Business Centre with print-
ing service
Dining area with baby din-
ing chairs available
Quite Zone
Secluded area
Meadia Room Features:
Private Seating area for 8
with a 65-inch LED TV
Attractions:
Constellation lighting of
Fijian summer and winter sky
Live Greenery wall
Fiji Bean Cart-offering Fi-
jian sweets and savouries
Food & Beverage offering:
Buffet with menu designed
by Fiji Airways Executive Chef
and Guest Chefs
Local and overseas beers
including Fiji Bitter, Fiji Gold,
and Heineken
Victoria coffee & tea (Baris-
ta made coffee also available
in the mornings)
Wines: Selection of award-
winning white, red and spar-
kling wines
Fiji Airways Signature
Cocktails available in the af-
ternoons and evenings.

$785,000 Bonus
Payout
By LUKE NACEI
Airports Fiji Ltd employees
received a bonus payout of
$785,000.
The payment was an-
nounced by Attorney-General
and Minister for Aviation Aiyaz
Sayed-Khaiyum at the Nadi In-
ternational Airport.
He said the bonus was an
indication of the company’s
performance throughout the
year.
The A-G said bonuses in-
dicated how well a company
was doing and recognised the
hard work of employees.
AFL executive chairperson
Faiz Khan said he was grate-
ful for the hard work put in by
staff members this year.
“The airport project that
we embarked upon a few
years ago has been complet-
ed, and together with that we
have undertaken numerous
projects,” Mr Khan said.
He said the staff members
had played a key role in the
growth of the company.
“We could not have done
all of this without the contri-
bution of our hardworking
team.
The AFL staff members
will received their bonus be-
fore Christmas.
Staff members earning up
to $19,999 will receive a fixed
bonus of $1000 while those
earning between $20,000 and
$29,999 will get $1500. Em-
ployees earning $30,000 and
above will get a five per cent
bonus based on their current Attorney General and Minister for Civil Aviation Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum with staff of AFL
salary. following the announcement of their bonus. Photo: SUPPLIED.
THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 5
www.thejetnewspaper.com
Municipal Councils Receive
Vacuum Cleaner Trucks
Hundred of SDA
Youths Attended
Conference
By ANA SOVA
More than 500 young peo-
ple from 13 island nations
were represented at the Trans-
Pacific Union Mission (TPUM)
Youth Congress, which was
held for a week at Fulton Col-
lege in Sabeto, Nadi.
His Excellency the Presi-
dent Major-General (Ret’d)
Jioji Konusi Konrote officially
opened the Congress on 19
December last year.
The President said youths
of the Pacific were leaders
and made up over half of the
region’s population.
“It is therefore my chal-
lenge to you (youths) to be-
come agents of change not
only against Climate change
President Brought Joy To Homes
His Excellency the President Major General (retired) Jioji Konusi Konrote with children and staff of Treasure Homes in Nadi.
Photo: DEPTFO.
6 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
but also in the fight against
non-communicable diseases
or lifestyle diseases,” he said.
The theme was “Radi-
cal Discipleship in Action”
and guest speakers were Dr.
Hyveth Williams, Professor
of Homiletics, Theological
Seminary at Andrews Univer-
sity, and Dr. Paul Siope, senior
regional pastor for the North
New Zealand Conference.
The congress closed on
Sabbath and the youths head-
ed home on Sunday after a
“Radical” breakfast.
TPUM youth director, Faaf-
etai Matai said the main aim
of the congress was to chal-
lenge the young people to
By ANA SOVA
Minister for Local Govern-
ment, Housing, Environment,
Infrastructure and Transport,
Hon. Parveen Kumar Bala
handed over four new street
vacuum cleaner trucks to mu-
nicipal councils in an event
held in Lautoka on December
27 last year.
The first four trucks were
handed over to Suva City,
Lautoka City and Nadi town
Councils.
The Introduction of the
street vacuum cleaner trucks
will not be limited to these
Councils as more machines
will be brought in for other
Councils as well.
The Investment by Govern-
ment says Minister Bala is a
way forward in advancing our
Minister for Local Government, Parveen Kumar Bala hands
over the keys to Nadi Special Administrator Robin Ali. Photo:
DEPTFO.
commit one year of their lives
to missionary work: build-
ing relationships with their
neighbors and friends, lead-
ing them to Jesus and planting
new churches.
“This is the whole empha-
sis of ‘Pacific Reach’, which
we have been running for four
years now,” he said.
The workshop present-
ers were Dr. Leigh Rice, Dr.
Peter Roennfeldt, Dr. Ronald
Stone, Pastor Wayne Boehm,
Dr. Trafford Fischer, Dr. Ali-
pate Vakamocea, Pastor Ma-
veni Kaufononga and Dr Nick
Kross.
His Excellency the President Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konusi Konrote with youths repre-
sentatives from Rotuma at the Congress — at Fulton College. Photo: DEPTFO.
By ANA SOVA
His Excellency the Presi-
dent Major General (retired),
Jioji Konrote paid a surprise
visit to Treasure Home in Nadi
20 December last year.
The visit by the Head of
State is part of his annual
visitations where he joins the
children in celebrating Christ-
mas.
“Christmas is all about
family and a time of being to-
gether with loved ones, and
my visit here today is to re-
mind you that you are always
in our prayers,” President
Konrote said.
“We are blessed as Fijians
to have so many beautiful chil-
dren and I would like to urge
other Fijians this Christmas to
look after their children espe-
cially during the festive sea-
son and the school holidays
as there have been too many
cases of drowning and road
fatalities.”
He said parents need to
think of their children when
they are on the road and also
for motorists to be more vigi-
lant during the festive season
where there will be a lot of
www.scribd.com/thejet
towns and cities operations
by having the right machines.
These machines have four
features.
1. Sweeper
2. Vacuum Dust
3. Sprayer and
4 Reduce the dust.
Councils will also be able
to use the trucks to water gar-
dens which have 9,000 liter
capacity tanks.
“The machines can attend
to fire cases as well, provided
we have the trained staff as
well,” he said.
“In fact, we have redou-
bled our effort, to stimulate in-
novate ideas in our towns and
cities to ensure that we main-
tain and enhance the beauty
of our urban environment.”
merry making.
President Konrote who
was accompanied by his staff
later visited St. Mina’s Home
also in Nadi.
The Head of State urged
the children to look after
themselves during the school
holidays and especially during
the festive season and to learn
life skills such as swimming
and gardening that would as-
sist them in the future.
He also thanked the 12
staff who is looking after the
21 children in the Home.
His Excellency concluded
his visit to the western divi-
sion at the Veilomani Boys
Centre in Ba.
The centre was founded by
and managed by the Method-
ist Church of Fiji.
Speaking to the 17 boys
who are residing at the cen-
tre, President Konrote urged
the boys to work hard towards
achieving their goals.
He also invited the boys for
a visit to Government House
in Suva next year, once the
renovations work are com-
pleted.
www.thejetnewspaper.com
70th Birthday PRESIDENT REMINDS SENIOR
Celebration CITIZENS OF THEIR VALUE
for President
His Excellency the President Major General (retired) Jioji Ko-
nusi Konrote and the First Lady cutting the birthday cake —
at Borron House. Photo: DEPTFO.
By ANA SOVA
The Office of the Presi-
dent and members of the
disciplined forces hosted a
surprise afternoon tea for His
Excellency the President Ma-
jor-General (Ret’d) Jioji Ko-
nusi Konrote to celebrate the
President’s 70th birthday on
27 December last year.
Also present at the event
at the Borron House was the
Chief Justice, Anthony Gates,
Cabinet Ministers, and close
friends and family members
of President Konrote.
Republic of Fiji Military
Forces Commander, Rear-Ad-
miral Viliame Naupoto wished
President Konrote well on be-
half of the dignitaries present.
President Konrote ac-
knowledged the surprise re-
ception held in his honour,
and thanked the Fijian Gov-
FRA Concerned
Over Illegal
Parking
By MARIA LAQETA
Fiji Roads Authority (FRA)
warned Illegal parking con-
tributes to traffic congestion
and poses a risk to pedestri-
ans.
Meanwhile, the FRA has
witnessed a number of cars
parking illegally around Suva
City.
FRA General Manager Net-
work Operations and Mainte-
nance Aram Goes said unau-
thorised parking contributed
to severe and unnecessary
traffic congestion.
“We have noticed that mo-
torist’s park on footpaths and
on nature strips which is not
only damaging the infrastruc-
ture but is also compromising
safety,” he said.
The yellow lines he said
were also there for a reason
and regularly ignored by mo-
torist causing driver frustra-
tion and delays.
“Frequently the dedicated
parking spaces for those with
disabilities are also ignored as
a result they cannot go about
their daily activities,” he add-
ed.
Mr Goes has reiterated the
traffic lanes are under recon-
ernment for its achievements
this year including successful-
ly presiding over the climate
change negotiations as Presi-
dent of COP23.
Rear-Admiral Naupoto
also presented President Kon-
rote with a ‘lali’ as a token of
appreciation. The ‘lali’ was
carved from a Mahogany tree
that was growing in the presi-
dential compound in Suva but
was uprooted by Tropical Cy-
clone Winston.
The President had been
gifting similar ‘lalis’ to various
dignitaries around the world.
The gifts are a reminder of
climate change, of Fiji’s presi-
dency of COP23 and of her
call to world leaders to collec-
tively and decisively address
climate change for the sake of
humanity.
struction between the new
Stinson Parade Bridge and the
Suva Market, and that part of
Usher Street and Harris Street
is not to be used for parking.
“After the re-opening of
the Stinson Parade Bridge,
this section of Usher Street
will be managed by the Suva
City Council for controlled de-
livery of produce to the Suva
Market,” he added.
This arrangement he said
will still ensure Usher Street
can be used as a traffic diver-
sion in the future times to as-
sist traffic flow should another
major project affect the Suva
City centre.
Mr Goes believed that the
use of Stinson Parade Bridge
will see parts of the Suva City
centre traffic flow return to
its original layout prior to the
bridge closure and reduce
journey times through that
part of town.
He said the FRA is work-
ing closely with the Suva City
Council to curb the issue of
illegal parking and motorist
that are found breaking the
law will be dealt accordingly
www.scribd.com/thejet
By LUKE NACEI
His Excellency the Presi-
dent Major General (retired)
Jioji Konusi Konrote visited the
Golden Age Home in Natabua,
Lautoka.
Upon his visit the President
reminded the senior citizens
that they will not be forgotten
and their contributions to the
nation will be forever cher-
ished.
“My visit here is to reiterate
that we will not forget you and
your contributions to our lives
and the nation. I cannot thank
you enough.” President Kon-
rote said.
The visit was also an op-
portunity for the head of State
to thank the senior citizens
who are residents of the home
for their contributions to their
families, communities and the
nation.
“Your efforts and contri-
bution is the reason we (all
Fijians) are successful. Your
efforts certainly is a blessing
for all your children and every
Fijian including me,” he said.
The visit by President Kon- President Major General (retired) Jioji Konrote visits residents of Golden Age Home in
rote was part of his Christmas
visits to the special homes. Natabua, Lautoka. Photo: DEPTFO.
Pouds Draws Winners
By MARIA LAQETA
Prouds Fiji has give-away
prizes to lucky winners as part
of the promotions to all seven
branches across the country.
Currently, the Down town,
Nadi branch draws 7 win-
ners who were part of the
2017 Christmas weekly prizes
worth of $50,000 dollars draws
from seven branches across
the country.
Prouds Marketing Co-ordi-
nator Arti Singh said they got
heaps of entries for 6 weeks
draw from seven Prouds
stores.
“We also give away prizes
from last year Mother’s Day
and Father’s day promotion
which 42 winners walked
away with prizes,” she added.
Recently, she added the
event was a Christmas pro-
motion commenced from No-
vember 22, 2017 and ended
yesterday January 02, 2018.
Mrs Singh added custom-
ers need to spend more than
$50 at any Prouds town stores
and fill in the entry coupon
and drop into entry bin provid-
ed in-store in order to be part
of the promotion.
Meanwhile, she added
Prouds have Back-to-school
promotion and more give-
away prizes promotions with Prouds Suva Central - Week 1 Draw. Photo: SUPPLIED.
good discount.
Man in Court for
Dutt Finally
Serve of BBQ Cost
Arrested
By MARIA LAQETA
Man in court for serve of Prakash why he had assaulted
barbeque cost the barbeque seller, he replied
By ANA SOVA Mosese Matasiga aged 35 that he was selling barbeque
year-old faced court case of for $6 but when he asked for
Escapee Dinesh Deshwar assault over a $1 difference in the price of a serve he told
Dutt has been arrested by a
a serve of barbaeque. Matasiga it was $7.
joint taskforce team compris- It was believed Matasiga Meanwhile, the board out-
ing of Police and Corrections
allegedly assaulted a 41-year- side Kumar’s stall had said the
Officers in Vuda, Lautoka this old man in Flagstaff over a barbeque was selling at $6 in
morning.
serve of barbeque on the Sep- which Matasiga witnessed.
According to Police, two tember 14 last year and has On the other hand, Magis-
other men aged 18 and 23
been charged with one count trate Prakash stated if he was
years were arrested last night of assault causing actual bodi- not content with the price he
after information received
ly harm. did not have to accept it.
that they had been harbouring Mr Matasiga was asked The case will be heard on
Dutt at a home in Vuda.
by the Magistrate Deepika the February 20.
Police Chief of Opera-
tions, ACP Rusiate Tudravu,
the team of officers pursued
Send us your feedbacks or suggestions to:
Dutt throughout the night and
managed to apprehend him
as he tried to evade officers in
a mangrove swamp where he
also resisted arrest.
feedbacks@media.com.fj
All three are currently be-
ing questioned at the Lautoka Dinesh Deshwar Dutt. Photo:
Police Station. SUPPLIED.
THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 7
www.thejetnewspaper.com
25 Youths Meets Former New Zealand
Prime Minister
By MARIA LAQETA
Twenty-five youths had the
opportunity viewing a docu-
mentary entitled, “My Year
with Helen” based on the
life’s work of former New Zea-
land Prime Minister, Rt. Hon.
Helen Clark.
Meanwhile, the event was
part of the program for Inter-
national Civil Society Week
(ICSW) organized by PIANGO
and CIVICUS at the University
of the South Pacific.
The event was to connect
concerned citizens across
sectors, themes, regions and
backgrounds to tackle the
world’s most pressing chal-
lenges with the theme of “Our
Planet, Our Struggles and Our
Pioneer Ocean Ad-
vocate to Highlight
Fiji’s Unique Ma-
rine Environment
By MARIA LAQETA
Jean Michel-Cousteau is
Fiji Airways newest ambas-
sador as a voice of the ocean.
Thus, Fiji’s National Air-
line, Fiji Airways is pleased
to announce an exciting part-
nership with explorer, envi-
ronmentalist, and founder
of Ocean Futures Society,
Jean-Michel Cousteau as the
newest addition to its suite of
brand ambassadors.
In his role as ambassa-
dor, Cousteau will work with
Fiji Airways to highlight the
importance of preserving
marine environments and
Two Nadroga Villages
Access Walesi Digital
Television
Attorney General Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum with children of Nakorokula after the launching of Walesi. Photo: SUPPLIED.
8 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Future”.
However, it allowed del-
egates to know more on the
struggles that civil society and
non – governmental organiza-
tions faced on a daily basis
in terms of addressing issues
that affect citizens such as
youth empowerment, equal-
ity and access to justice.
Fiji Youth advocate Brod-
erick Mervyn, is grateful to
his sponsor as well as the or-
ganizers of the event for this
incredible opportunity.
“The potential of the ICSW
programme is great, as it fo-
cuses on building a relation-
ship with youth from across
the globe, and as ICSW con-
create awareness for more
conscious environmental
travel.
It is a fitting partnership
with the American ocean ad-
vocate who shares the same
passion of marine and envi-
ronmental conservation as
the airline which operates in
one of the most pristine natu-
ral environments in the world.
Fiji Airways Managing Di-
rector and CEO Andre Viljoen
said: “As an airline that is in-
trinsically connected to our
home, it’s in our interest to
have partners who share our
tinues to improve and devel-
op, positive things lie ahead in
the future,” he said.
University of the South Pa-
cific student Alanieta Atama,
stated having the opportunity
to meet Helen Clark is a once
in a lifetime opportunity.
“The documentary really
spoke to me on how women
are treated in the real world
and what I can do as a con-
cerned citizen,” she added.
She appreciate the orga-
nizers of the event as well as
Helen Clark for putting aside
her busy schedule just to
meet the youths.
values.
“Jean-Michel is a great
friend of Fiji and is a perfect fit
for us to showcase the beauty
of Fiji and highlight our fragile
natural ecosystem.”
Responding to his new
role, President Ocean Fu-
tures Society, Jean-Michel
Cousteau, said of his new
role: “There is untold beauty
and inspiration on our ocean
planet.
“We can all make a dif-
ference – by protecting and
conserving all life on our wa-
ter planet, for us now, and for
Youths taking a selfie with Helen Clark. Photo: SUPPLIED.
Jean-Michel Cousteau, with image under-neath the ocean floor.Photo: SUPPLIED.
generations to come.”
“I am thrilled to partner
with Fiji Airways and share
with the rest of the world why
Fiji is so special to me.”
With my team at Ocean Fu-
tures Society, he said he will
continue his endless commit-
ment to protect natural water
planet in which all individual
work is rewarded by the mag-
ic beauty and power of nature
found in Fiji.
As part of the Fiji Airways
Ambassadorship, Cousteau
will also appear in Fiji Airways
and Fiji Link marketing cam-
paigns that highlight diving,
snorkelling and other unique
marine related experiences
By ANA SOVA
Two settlements in the
Nadroga province have now
been able to have access to in-
formation through the switch-
ing on of Walesi Digital televi-
sion by the Attorney General,
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum on 18
December last year.
The settlements are Na-
korokula Village and Na-
korokula farming settlement
along the Momi-Lomawai
backroad.
The two settlements pre-
viously did not have access
to television and while some
areas received transmission,
www.scribd.com/thejet
in Fiji.
He joins former National
7s Coach Ben Ryan, Fijian
football star Roy Krishna, and
National 7s Captain Jerry Tu-
wai who are already part of
the Fiji Airways family.
the signals were not clear.
Speaking at the launch-
ing of the Walesi platform,
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum noted the
plight for Fijians in rural and
maritime zones who in the
past did not have access to
such facilities.
“What your government
has done is that we have em-
powered you and you chil-
dren through the access of
information which now has
eight (8) channels accessible
to Fijians whether they live in
Nadroga, Rotuma, or Kadavu
or Lomaiviti or Lau - they will
also have the same level of
participation and knowledge
through this platform,” he
said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sayed-
Khaiyum launched the Walesi
platform which will usher in
the era of digital television
that promises a brighter fu-
ture for the telecommunica-
tion sector.
As the nation switches
from analogue to digital televi-
sion, more Fijians will get con-
nected through the terrestrial
and satellite coverage.
Even the most rural and re-
mote parts of the country, in-
cluding the maritime islands,
with the help of the Walesi
set top box will get access to
eight (8) free to air television
channels with more options
for content in the future.
Digital television provides
a platform to telecast impor-
tant messages to Fijians in the
maritime zones and rural area
in times of disaster.
With a lot more advan-
tages, Fiji now joins the rest of
the world to a brighter future.
www.thejetnewspaper.com www.scribd.com/thejet

North Korea
Shock Warning:
Kim Jong-un will
‘Deploy’ Nuclear
Weapons Amid
WW3 Scares
NORTH KOREA is on track to pro-
duce nuclear weapons and will use
them, according to John Park from
Harvard Kennedy School.
North Korea’s next step is to
“mass-produce nuclear weapons to
operationalise and deploy them”,
said Dr John Park, Korea working
group Director at Harvard Kennedy
School.
The rogue state sparked further
fears of World War 3 when its des-
pot leader Kim Jong-un said he was
ready to strike the US with a nuclear
weapon during his New Year’s Eve
speech from Pyongyang.
In an interview with Bloomberg,
Dr Park said: “From a North Korea
perspective is a huge step forward.
“The idea of a parallel devel-
opment of a nuclear deterrent for
self-defence and also a parallel de-
velopment of their economy, from
that perspective is a robust period, a
great deal of jubilation in North Ko-
rea that they are making great strides
in this game plan of Pyongyang.
“But with respect to North Korea’s
relations with the outside world, this
is something that we are seeing a
huge disparity in terms of the stabil-
ity angle.
“You’re looking at countries like
the United States and its allies in
the region using more of a military
pressure approach. You’re seeing
the Chinese and the Russians trying
some sort of diplomatic offer.”
He added: “They proposed some-
thing called freeze for freeze, North
Korea will freeze its nuclear weap-
ons development programme and
the United States will freeze their
military exercises.
“But overall I think we’re going to
see North Korea as we’ve seen Kim
Jong-un mentioning in the speech as
well in the New Year’s address, that
North Korea is now going to the next
stage which is to mass-produce nu-
clear weapons to operationalise and
deploy them.”
Kim Jong-un threatened Donald
Trump in his New Year’s speech say-
ing he has a “nuclear button” ready
at his desk and he’s prepared to use
it should he feel the need to.
The North Korean dictator also
promised he is willing to negotiate
with South Korea on security during
the winter Olympics.
Frank Jannuzi, a former US De-
partment Official, said that Donald
Trump should take credit for Kim
Jong-un’s conciliatory message.
He said: “Kim Jong-un’s speech
may represent the first positive out-
come of the Trump administration’s
maximum pressure and engage-
ment strategy.
“The pressure in New York, the
pressure from the UN Security Coun-
cil, the diplomatic isolation may be
bearing fruit.
“I don’t really care who takes
credit. I think the US absolutely could
take credit and I hope that they will
because if their policy is working it
could lead to tension reduction and
the opportunity to make progress on
the critical security issues that con-
front us.”
NORTH KOREA NEWS

‘World’s most Expen- Korea Youth Gathered to

sive Vodka’ Stolen
from Danish Bar
Danish police are inves-
tigating the theft of a bottle
of vodka claimed to be the
world’s most expensive at
$1.3m (£960,000).
The bottle, made from gold
and silver and with a diamond
encrusted cap, was on loan
to a Copenhagen bar which
had a collection of vodkas on
display.
Bar owner Brian Ingberg
said the bottle had featured
in an episode of the political
thriller House of Cards.
CCTV showed an intruder
grab the Russo-Baltique vod-
ka and flee the bar.
Mr Ingberg, owner of the
Cafe 33 bar, told broadcaster
TV2 that he had borrowed the
bottle from the Latvia-based
Dartz Motor Company.
“It has been part of my col-
lection for six months, but not
any more,” he said.
Russian luxury car maker
Russo-Baltique is said to have
created the vodka to com-
memorate the centenary of
the company’s factory.
The front of the bottle is
decorated with leather and
Bottle of vodka claimed to be the worlds most expensive at
$1.3m. Photo: BBC NEWS.
has a replica of the radiator
guard used for Russo-Baltique
cars.
The cap is shaped like a a
Russian imperial eagle and is
encrusted with diamonds.
Mr Ingberg said the bottle
had featured in an episode of
House of Cards as a gift from
the Russian president to his
US counterpart.
Dartz founder Leonard
Yankelovich told the BBC he
was hopeful he would get the
bottle back.
Police say it is not clear if
the thief, who struck early on
Tuesday, broke in or had a key.
BBC NEWS
Build a Network for Global
Peace
By MARIA LAQETA
Forty-five Korea youths
support a global peace in
line with International Peace
Youth Group (IPYG), peace
party in Hyehwa, Korea.
This event is hoping for
world peace and the peaceful
unification of Korea whereby
participants signed up for
the IPYG member to sup-
port peace activities to raise
awareness for citizens in
South Korea.
Cultural performances
were displayed in expressing
the desire of a peaceful world
in presented to the attendees.
University student, Choi
Hyung Woo, said while at-
tending the event made him
received a strong message to
achieve the unification of two
Koreas from the performance
which was very touching.
“While watching the video
of 3rd Annual Commemora-
tion of WARP Summit, I felt
that achieving world peace as
well as the unification of Ko-
rea would be possible through
establishing the international
law addressing the issues of
peacebuilding and spreading
a culture of peace,” he added.
Director of HWPL Eastern
Seoul and Gyeonggi Branch of
IPYG, Mr. Lim Dong Gyun em-
phasized the importance of
the role of youth in achieving
world peace and announced
plans of IPYG’s 2018 peace
activities.
He said with IPYG’s core
value that is to be ‘Be a
leader of peace and protect
ourselves from violence and
wars’, the plan has been
made to do more alliance ac-
tivities such as Youth Empow-
erment Workshop and Peace
Walk to unite all youth around
the world and urge for the es-
tablishment of international
peace law.
IPYG is the affiliated orga-
nization of Heavenly Culture,
World Peace, Restoration of
Light (HWPL) under UN ECO-
SOC.
Approximately 5 million
youth members of 851 youth
organizations from 111 coun-
tries have joined the IPYG
supporting the Declaration of
Peace and Cessation of War
(DPCW) and taking part in
various peace work including
holding peace walk campaign
and establishing peace zones.

Earthquake Hits
Indonesia
A strong earthquake shook
Indonesia’s densely populat-
ed Java island on Friday night,
killing two people and severe-
ly damaging dozens of homes
near the epicenter.
The quake struck at 11:47
p.m. and was felt across the
island, including about 200
kilometers (124 miles) away
in the capital Jakarta, where
office towers and apartment
buildings swayed. Powerful
tremors lasted as much as 30
seconds in places.
Panicking people ran out
of buildings in many areas
and roads were clogged with
motorbikes, cars and trucks
as people fled coastal areas.
A 62-year-old man and
an 80-year-old woman were
killed in building collapses,
said National Disaster Mitiga-
tion Agency spokesman Su-
topo Purwo Nugroho.
Damage was heaviest in
the Tasikmalaya, Panganda-
ran and Ciamis regions of
West Java Province near the
epicenter.
More than 40 houses col-
lapsed and about 65 suffered
severe damage, said Nugroho.
The earthquake had a mag-
nitude of 6.5 and was about
91 kilometers (56 miles) deep
and located just inland, the
U.S. Geological Survey said.
It triggered a tsunami
warning for parts of Java’s
coastline that was lifted about
two hours later.
Several hospitals were
damaged by the shaking and
patients evacuated.
Indonesia sits on the “Pa-
cific Ring of Fire” and has fre-
quent earthquakes and volca-
nic eruptions.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
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10 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

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Kritesh’s Positive
Approach to Life
Kritesh Chand. Photo: ANA SOVA.
By ANA SOVA
“As long as I have eyes that can see legs
that can walk and my two arms, there is no
reason for me not to be able to support myself
and my family”.
These are the words of a hardworking
sweets seller, Kritesh Chand originally from
Vatulaulau, Ba who now resides at Lovu HART
in Lautoka with his wife and son.
From a young age, Kritesh has always felt
he had the responsibility to look out for himself
and fight his way through life.
At six years old, his parents Kishore Chand
and Sushila Devi divorced and he was left
in the care of his grandfather, Ram Pratap, a
farmer from Ba.
Kritesh attended primary school at Vatulau-
lau Sanatan Dharam School and later attended
DAV College in Ba but failed his Fiji Junior Ex-
amination.
“After failing the exam I dropped out of
school and also also my hope in becoming a
policeman,” he added.
He joined his grandfather in the farm and
started cutting sugarcane in Ba.
Kritesh later met his wife, Pritika eight years
ago and moved to stay with his in-laws at Be-
nai in Ba.
Following Tropical Cyclone Winston which
had blown away his in-laws house, Kritesh
moved his young family to Lautoka and rented
a $180 per month flat in Lovu.
“We later managed to get a flat at Lovu
HART after applying to the Ministry of Social
Welfare which I’m very grateful for,” he said.
Knowing that he has to work hard to sup-
port his family, Kritesh started working for Fiji
Sugar Cooperation (FSC) as a seasonal worker
during crushing season and sold bean and
peanuts in the Nadi-Lautoka corridor on off-
seasons.
He starts his day like any other job at 8:30am
selling bean and peanut in shops and work
places in Lautoka City then moving to Nama-
ka- Martintar Corridor in Nadi later in the day.
Kritesh can finish selling at around 3pm-
4.30pm in the afternoon daily.
“I can make about $120 to $150 profit in a
week’s earnings,” he said.
Kritesh is planning to build his own house
in the future from his savings.
The 34 years old said despite his circum-
stances he tries to work hard every day to sup-
port his family and ensure that the welfare of
his wife and two year old son is taken care of.
“Sometimes we are just lazy to work hard
despite being able and active enough. We
would rather wait for handouts or want to take
the easy road. Life is sweeter when we live it
honestly,” Kritesh said.
People with
Disabilities
Encouraged
“I am going to my farm
again,” Merewai Lewanieku-
vu said with a large smile.
She had stopped going to
her farm since she developed
her knee pain over the last
three years. The pain discour-
aged her to walk to and from
her farm along the unpaved
path from her village located
on the hill and forced her to
stay at home.
Her eyes were lit up when
she received the walking
cane and tested it in front of
her house. She was visited by
the group of specialists from
the Spinal Injury Association
(SIA), a non-governmental
organization working in Fiji,
who provides mobility equip-
ment and technical assis-
tance to people in need of
such kind of support.
With the support of the
Rights, Empowerment and
Cohesion for Rural and Ur-
ban Fijians Project (REACH), Spinal Injury Association provides mobility equipment in a
the expert group visited village in Ba. Photo: SUPPLIED.
the remote communities in
mountainous interior of Fiji Western Division. Among been established within the
as part of the REACH mobile them 11 people (five women Ministry of Women, Children
team who conducts aware- and six men) were directly as- and Poverty Alleviation and
ness raising of the social, sisted by the SIA. have been delivering disabil-
economic and legal rights Jane Savou from SIA said, ity allowance and associated
enshrined in the Constitution “We assist people to regain support to people in need.
of the Republic of Fiji and de- their mobility they lost. We The Disability Unit has also
livers associated services on encourage people to walk by been working in collaboration
themselves with some walk- with the SIA and other related
doorsteps throughout Fiji. The
initiative is coordinated by ing aids, so they stay healthy groups and is an active part
and active.” of the REACH mobile service
the Ministry of Women, Chil-
dren and Poverty Alleviation, “We were able to provide delivery.
our services to the people International Day of Per-
Legal Aid Commission, Hu-
man Rights and Anti-Discrim- who need mobility assistance sons with Disabilities which is
but had never been provided 3 December was commemo-
ination Commission and the
United Nations Development before,” she added. rated in Fiji by various groups.
The importance of the The REACH mobile ser-
Programme (UNDP) Pacific
Office in Fiji. services for people living vice delivery was conducted
with various challenges was by the Rights, Empowerment
The access to the govern-
ment services for the people evident during the visit, and and Cohesion (REACH) for
it is particularly vital for those Rural and Urban Fijians Proj-
in the communities is often
challenged by the geographi- experts to reach out to the re- ect. The REACH Project is im-
mote communities and find plemented by UNDP Pacific
cal location which is quite
distant from the town center out the needs so that no one Office in Fiji in partnership
will be left behind. It was en- with the Ministry of Women,
where the services and sup-
port are being provided and abled through collaboration Children and Poverty Allevia-
with the REACH mobile ser- tion, and the Legal Aid Com-
even if people can travel, of-
ten there is very rough terrain vice initiative. mission and supported by the
In addition to the techni- Government of Japan and
delaying the transportation.
This is more so for people cal support, two applications UNDP.
for disability allowance were The REACH Project aims to
facing limited mobility. How-
ever, due to the REACH mo- submitted during the visit. The contribute to Fiji’s achieving
social welfare officer from the 17 Sustainable Development
bile service delivery some of
them have recently obtained Ministry of Women, Children Goals with particular focus on
and Poverty Alleviation who the Goal 16 which is a com-
the technical advice and
walking aids for the first time, was a part of the mobile ser- mitment to promote peaceful
vice delivery, advised that and inclusive societies for sus-
and some obtained readjust-
ment or repair for the main- the newly enacted disability tainable development, pro-
tenance of their equipment allowance scheme enables vide access to justice for all
and build effective, account-

Fijian Competition and

provided earlier.
Merewai was among 222
people (103 women and
119 men) who received the
REACH mobile service deliv-
ery during the four-day visit
individuals living with dis-
abilities to receive economic
assistance regardless of their
family’s economic situation.
Fiji ratified the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with
able and inclusive institutions
at all levels; and the Goal 5
which is to achieve gender
equality and empowerment
of all women and girls.

Consumer Comission
to the interior communities in Disabilities (CRPD) on 7 June
Savatu District in Ba Province, 2017. The Disability Unit has UNDP

Objective of Competition?
The Fijian Competition
and Consumer Commission
(FCCC) is a statutory organisa-
tion responsible for fair trade,
competition and consumer
protection regulation in the
Fiji. FCCC is an independent
statutory body that seeks to
protect consumers and busi-
nesses from restrictive and
unfair trade practices.
The objective of competi-
tion law is to prohibit anti-
competitive conducts or be-
haviour that prevent, restrict
or distort markets. The prin-
ciple aim of Competition Law
is to eliminate or remove ob-
stacles to competition in mar-
kets to ensure a competitive,
efficient, fair and informed
marketplace for consumers.
Competition law is imple-
mented through public and
private enforcement. Various
jurisdictions have different
references about competition
law.
History of Competition
Law in Fiji.
The inclusion of consumer
and a limited competition is-
sues in Fiji gained recognition
with the enactment, imple-
mentation and enforcement
of the Fair Trading Decree
1992. This was amended in
1998, when Commerce Act
1998 was introduced to regu-
late access to goods and ser-
vices.
The Commerce Act 1998,
was introduced as a result of
economic policy changes in
Fiji in the late 1980s to early
1990s, to promote effective
competition and informed
markets, encourage fair trad-
ing, protect consumers and
businesses from restrictive
trade practices and controls
prices of regulated in-
dustries, and other markets
where competition was less-
ened or limited.
Government has intro-
duced several competition-
related legislations, most no-
tably are:
• The Public Enter-
prise Act, (1996);
• The Commerce Act,
(1998);
• The Fair Trading De-
cree (1992) and the Fair Trad-
ing (Amendment) Act, (1998);
and
• Fijian Competition
and Consumer Commission
Act 2010 (FCCC Act 2010).
In 2005, minor amend-
ments to the Commerce
Act 1998 was done which
enabled more effective en-
forcement fo the Competition
Law. A Cabinet decision in
2010 resulted in the merger
and repeal of three seperate
legislations (Fair Trading De-
cree 1992, Counter Inflation
Act 1973 and Commerce Act
1998) into a single legislation,
forming Commerce Commis-
sion Decree 2010.
The same was later en-
tacted as Act. The Commerce
Commission Act 2010 was
in existence until July 2017,
when it was amended and
enacted as Fijian Competition
& Consumer Commisison Act
2010. Currently FCCC is the
sole competition regulator in
the Fijian economy in accor-
dance with the provisions of
the FCCC Act 2010.
Objectives of Fijian Com-
petition Law
The objective of the Com-
mission under the Competi-
tion Law is to ensure that:
 Businesses under-
stand and comply with their
obligations under the Fijian
Competition & Consumer
Commisison Act 2010.
 Competition be-
tween businesses is effective
THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
and fair.
 Changes to market
structure do not substantially
increase market power for an
entity or business, unless any
likely detriment is outweighed
by the overall benefit to the
public.
 Barriers to entry and
exit a market is minimised.
 Terms of purchase
are fair and businesses or en-
tities do not use their market
power to tilt the terms of trade
in their favour by detriment
their customers.
Benefits of Competition
Law
Competition is a very im-
portant mechanism for mar-
ket economy, which encour-
ages businesses or entites to
provide consumer goods and
services that consumers want
at competitive prices. There
are considerable indications
which shows the benefits of
having effective and efficient
competition in Fiji.
The common benefits re-
sulting from the enforcement
of Competition Law are:
 Greater production,
allocative and dynamic effi-
ciency, welfare and growth;
 Rewards good per-
formance;
 Encourages entre-
preneurial activity;
 Catalyses entry
of new firms in the market
place;
 Promotes greater
efficiency on the part of enter-
prises;
 Reduces cost of pro-
duction;
 Improves competi-
tiveness of enterprises;
 Sanctions poor per-
formance by producers;
 Enhances competi-
tiveness in international trade;
and
 Ensures product
quality, cheaper prices and
passing on of cost savings to
consumers.
11
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2018 Fijian Tourism

Expo Dates Confirmed
The 2018 Fijian Tourism Expo (FTE) will
take place from the 10th – 12th of April. This
has been confirmed by Minister for Industry
and Trade, Tourism and Land and Mineral Re-
sources, Faiyaz Koya.
Minister Koya said, “We are pleased to an-
nounce the dates for next year’s event and we
believe will be another great success.
The Expo is Fiji’s premier international tour-
ism event and at the same time has become
an important platform for local businesses es-
pecially micro, small and medium enterprises
to extend their reach and find new markets.”
The trade exhibition, which are booked with
scheduled appointments for buyers, media
and sellers, will also be enhanced by concur-
rent events showcasing products from our Fi-
jian Made and Fijian Crafted Village, which has
been an integral part of our Expo since 2014.
These include authentic and quality artifacts
made by registered artisans under the Fijian
Made – Buy Fijian initiative.
TOURISM FIJI

Police Acknowledge Do Not be Fooled by

Public Support Building Contractors
By ANA SOVA
The Fiji Police Force has
acknowledged the support
of the public enabling major
events held in main towns
and cities to be largely inci-
dent free.
Police Chief of Operations,
ACP Tudravu said it was great
to see people of all walks
of life converge at the main
street party venues enjoying
the night to welcome 2018.
“With the aid of a com-
mand vehicle which was do-
nated by the People’s Repub-
lic of China last year and the
deployment of a drone, opera-
tions was able to keep a close
eye on the movements of
party revelers at the two street
party locations in Suva,” ACP
Tudravu said.
Similar reports were re-
ceived about street parties
The Consumer Council of Fiji is calling on
consumers to avoid falling prey to the gim-
micks of some unscrupulous building contrac-
tors who tend to fool consumers to get their
payment without completing the intended
works. A total of 150 complaints with a mon-
etary value of $3.1 million dollars were regis-
tered from 2013 till to date. The complaints
mostly relate to poor quality job, inferior ma-
terials used and noncompletion of work within
the scheduled timeframe.
The Council recently dealt with a com-
plaint whereby a consumer was convinced by
a building contractor to sign off a completion
certificate, despite the construction work not
being completed. According to the consumer,
the building contractor claimed that he was
facing financial difficulty and given that he had
completed around 90% of the work, he wanted
the consumer to write a completion letter to
the financier so that his money could be re-
The Command vehicle parked near Albert Park keeping a leased so that he could complete the remain-
watch on the FBCstreet party. Photo: SUPPLIED. ing construction work. Whilst the consumer
acted in good faith and wrote a completion
held in other divisions that and adhere to the rules set out letter, the contractor after receiving the money
were also incident free. by the organizers,” ACP Tu- stopped work. Despite several attempts made
“We truly appreciate every- dravu said. by the consumer to get the contractor back to
one’s cooperation in abiding complete the work, no favorable outcome was
by our requests made earlier achieved. Stressed with the turn of events, the
in the seek to prioritize safety
consumer then lodged his complaint with the
Council. The Council enquired with the con-
tractor who outright informed the Council that
the home owner had given the completion let-
ter which stipulated that he was satisfied with
the work carried out by him. Nevertheless, the
Council mediated and managed to persuade
the contractor to refund the labour cost of
the incomplete work. Given such cases, the
Council urges consumers to be mindful of their
actions and its possible consequences, par-
ticularly when dealing with service providers
where thousands of dollars are at stake. While
’good faith’ considerations are not discour-
aged, this should only be done in such a way
that the consumer is adequately protected.
Further, in light of such cases, the Council
anticipates that the accreditation and licensing
process of building contractors is tightened as
consumers have suffered for too long and lost
their hard earned money at the hands of some
unscrupulous building contractors. It is time
that consumers have the liberty to choose from
a list of accountable and ethical building con-
tractors who are insured and have tendency to
complete the work undertaken. With accredi-
tation, there will be some control placed on the
work ethics of the contractors which will build
trust.
CONSUMER COUNCIL OF FIJI

12 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

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Review PERSON OF THE MONTH

e press SHREA SHIMRAN PRASAD

Miss Teen Fiji 2017

By MARIA LAQETA
Fashion and modelling unites
designers,manufacturers,
investors and buyers as
well as create healthy spin-
offs for miscellany of other
industries such as music,
hospitality and modeling.
They also offer excellent busi-
ness opportunities to net-
work internationally and lo-
cal talents to share ideas and
become globally connected.
Amongst the local talents
being spotted is the soft-
spoken, Shrea Shimran
Prasad aged 17 years old who
won the Miss Teen Fiji 2017
competition held in Suva.
Meanwhile, the competi-
tion was hosted by Fiji Fash-
ion Week celebrating Ten
Years of Fashion in Paradise.
Shrea, as she is commonly
called, was born among
three siblings and raised
in Lautoka to the proud
Prasad’s family who success-
fully owns a business in Nadi.
Watching Shrea grow up
and live successfully be-
coming someone in life
is her parents dream.
“My parents advised me
to continue modelling as
part time job but to focus
more on what I want to be-
come in future,” she added.
Shrea decided to explore
into what she has been pas-
sionate about for a long
time, until it became reality.
That is where fashion
and modelling became
real for Shrea, when
she was 15 years old.
“I have a thing for fashion
and modelling from very
young age not until attending
SSKM College my, dream be-
come manageable,” she said.
It wasn’t until she scooped
top honors in the Miss
Teen category that
Shrea, discovered her true
potential in the fashion indus-
try. The Lautoka lass contin-
ues to model today with big
retail outlests in the country
such as S. Nagindas in Nadi,
Jacks of Fiji as well as Fiji
Fashion Week and Style Fiji.
Currently she is attending
Agape Fiji Mission school
and dreams of becoming
a flight attendant one day.
Shrea Shimran Prasad aged 17 years old who won the Miss Teen Fiji 2017 competition held in Suva.Photo: SUPPLIED.

Careers in Fashion
Do you have a love for art?
Have you always had a strong
interest in what you wear
and in designing your own
clothing, shoes, and acces-
sories? Do you love helping
others make choices about
what they wear and how
to match their accessories
to help them look great?
Do you possess determina-
tion and strong communi-
cation and interpersonal
skills that will help you be
proactive in your job search
and successful on the job?
If you answered yes to all of
the above, you may be a per-
son who has a flair for fash-
ion and an interest in pursu-
ing an internship or career
in this highly competitive
industry. People who think
about working in the fashion
industry are often those who
like to sew or design their
own clothing. In addition,
there are also many other
jobs available in fashion for
people who possess an artis-
tic eye and a taste for fashion.
Variety of Careers:
Public Relations
Fashion Design
Product Management
Fashion Journalism
Fashion Photography
Fashion Marketing to be successful and stand
Fashion Merchandising up against the competition.
Fashion Performing Arts Courses in math, art, English,
Fashion Buying business, speech, and sewing
Careers in Fashion Design: can provide the foundation
Artists and Sketch- for a career in fashion. Attend-
ers (create images) ing a school or college that
Sewers (production workers focuses on art and costume
sewing by hand or machine) design are also recommend-
Pattern Mak- ed. To become a fashion
ers (make patterns) designer a formal education
Pattern Graders (adjust pat- and training in fashion de-
terns for different sizes) sign are important. There are
Cutters (cut out pat- courses and associate, bach-
terns or fabrics) elor, master degree and cer-
Spec and Fit Techni- tification programs that can
cians (produce samples) teach the basics of beginning
Assistant Designers (sup- a career in fashion design.
port lead designers) Getting a Job
Head Designers (creative deci- In addition to an artistic flair
sion-makers, supervise staff) and an interest in fashion,
Specialty Designers (de- individuals pursuing a ca-
signer using special pro- reer in the industry need to
duction techniques) possess certain skills in or-
Trend Researchers (gath- der to be able to promote
er fashion trends and and get themselves started.
submit to designers) Above the technical skills
Training and Qualifications and training you receive at a
Since there are so many dif- fashion school, you will need
ferent types of jobs in the fash- to learn how to network like
ion industry, a wide range of a pro to get entry-level fash-
skills is required based on the ion jobs after graduation.
type of job one is looking to THE BALANCE
get. To become a fashion de-
signer, you must be extreme-
ly artistic and possess a great
deal of creativity in order Shrea modelling.Photo: SUPPLIED.

THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 13

www.thejetnewspaper.com
Start School with Avoid Last Minute School
Uniform Shopping
Nataraj
Across the world, Nataraj pens and pencils are helping children excel in education. Photo:
SUPPLIED.
By SHALENDRA PRASAD
The NATARAJ line of sta-
tionery which is a household
name in India has also be-
come very popular in Fiji be-
cause of its supreme quality
and competitive prices.
Delighting consumers with
globally recognized stationery
and premium quality writing
instruments that ensure im-
peccable quality standards,
Nataraj is with you all the way
for imagination, creativity and
fun!
Nataraj line of stationery is
manufactured by Hindustan
Pencils Pvt. Ltd which was
established in 1958 and is the
largest pencil manufacturing
company in India.
“Our commitment to qual-
Positive Plans for NTPC
The National Training &
Productivity Centre (NTPC)
has major plans in place as it
moves into 2018.
Director NTPC Dr Isimeli
Tagicakiverata said NTPC
would be focusing on some
key priority areas.
Dr Isimeli said the NTPC
would also be working on im-
proving
quality and relevance of
in-service trainings on offer
in partnership with industry
stakeholders.
“We intend to facilitate
more programmes for small-
er scale entrepreneurs, with
tailor-made programmes
earmarked for them. Our pro-
grammes are set up to assist
New Partnership Between
POLHN and UniFiji
In a bid to improve patient
care and promote Universal
Health Coverage (UHC) in
the region, the University of
Fiji (UniFiji) has teamed up
with POLHN. Together they
will provide registered nurses
with an opportunity to pursue
a Bachelor of Nursing (Bridg-
ing) and Master of Nursing by
thesis and Bachelor of Public
Heath to the public health
workers from Semester 1,
2018.
The partnership between
POLHN and UniFiji will al-
low Pacific nurses to upgrade
their skills, knowledge, and
education without moving
away from their homes. The
Saweni-based Lautoka cam-
pus will remotely facilitate
the accredited programmes
14 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
ity, competitive pricing and
our enormous manufactur-
ing capacities have carried
our products well beyond the
Indian shores,” the company
states on their Facebook page.
“Nataraj is committed to
manufacture and market
quality products of interna-
tional standards at competi-
tive prices and we are happy
to market their products into
every corner of Fiji,” Motibhai
Group marketing manager
Abraham Gomes said.
“Whether you need items
for your home, school or of-
fice, the Nataraj line of qual-
ity writing instruments and
stationery have you fully cov-
ered,” Mr Gomes adds.
trainees to be able to perform
professionally when they join
the industry or trainees who
are already in the industry
and we’ve received positive
feedback from employers
who have recruited our grad-
uates as their employees.
“We are also working on
improving our NTPC infra-
structure so they are of in-
ternational standards and to
meet expectations of indus-
try. With that in mind we will
also be working in partner-
ship with all training providers
to ensure pathways to higher
qualification
and skills for all workers in
Fiji,” said the Director.
NTPC has been mandated
via POLHN. The geographi-
cally dispersed students will
be able to access the pro-
grammes at one of POLHN’s
52 e-learning centres located
within hospitals in 15 Pacific
island countries. They can
also be accessed from their
internet-connected personal
mobile devices. For enrolled
students coming from areas
with internet constraints, the
learning and teaching mate-
rials will also be provided on
USBs and CDs.
Over the last 13 years,
WHO has supported HRH
development programmes,
POLHN has been plugging the
skills gap in the Pacific civil
health sector through its in-
novative mechanism and col-
laborative partnerships with
“Nataraj is also an ideal
choice for students and teach-
ers alike.
“With the first school term
of the year just about to begin,
Nataraj will ensure that both
students and teachers are
well equipped to enter their
respective school premises
with confidence.”
Nataraj Pens, Pencils, Co-
lours, Specialty Pencils (ideal
for drawings), Sharpeners,
Erasers, Drawing / Geometry
Sets, Rulers and Wax Crayons
are available at Stationery out-
lets, Supermarkets and Stores
Fiji-wide and distributed by
Motibhai Group – bringing
quality products for you and
your family.
to provide training to organ-
isations so that they transform
to become efficient, produc-
tive and competent in the
domestic, regional and global
market.
“NTPC would also be in-
troducing creative marketing
of Apprenticeship and Trade
Testing having produced
prestigious apprentices in dif-
ferent fields of study and has
developed school leavers to
embrace the real life situation
of working in the industry,”
said Dr Tagicakiverata.
NTPC would also be intro-
ducing and emphasising on
Green Productivity ideas.
FNU
universities, institutions and
ministries of health in the re-
gion.
“Our partnership will ad-
vance nursing standards and
improve patient care in the
region as well as worldwide.”
said the Vice Chancellor of
UniFiji, Professor Prem Misir.
To provide basic skills in
research and report writing,
the university will also devel-
op for POLHN to deliver: Eng-
lish for Academic Purposes
and Basic Computer Literacy,
which will be prerequisites to
the programme.
The courses will be ready
for enrolment in early 2018 via
POLHN.
UNIFIJI
With the start of the new
school year just days away,
the Consumer Council of Fiji
is urging parents to avoid last
minute shopping for their chil-
dren’s uniforms. The recent
fire which affected the opera-
tions of one of the largest sup-
pliers of school uniforms for
most schools, Lotus Garments
National Uniforms, simply
means parents need to ar-
range uniforms immediately.
Lotus has been the preferred
supplier of uniforms for most
schools according to their
past advertisements.
In a recent survey, the
Council established that there
are few major suppliers who
have stepped in to the sud-
den vacuum created by un-
foreseen removal of Lotus
Garments National Uniforms
from the marketplace. Suppli-
ers such as CK’s Easy Buy, M.
Major Review of Programmes
at FNU
The Fiji National Univer-
sity (FNU) has carried out a
major Academic Portfolio re-
view over the last one year to
ensure quality education in all
the academic programmes.
Vice Chancellor, Profes-
sor Nigel Healey said every
programme offered at the
University has been re-
viewed against a range of
quality performance indica-
tors.
“We are the national uni-
versity, it is our role to support
the workforce needs of the
Country, therefore, ev-
erything we are doing is de-
signed to fill those gaps,” said
Prof Healey.
He said the University am-
bitions to produce students
that were highly employable
upon graduation.
“We looked at a whole
range of indicators across
programmes such as student
demands and the number of
involvements in the pro-
grammes.
Then we looked at an-
other set of indicators which
was about the performance
of students when they are at
the University. This included
average student Grade Point
Averages (GPAs) and the indi-
cators of outcome in terms of
graduation probability.
“After reviewing the pro-
grammes, we went through
comprehensive curriculum
reform where we have se-
mesterised every single Un-
dergraduate programme in
New Lecture Theatre for
FNU Natabua Campus
The keys of the newly
constructed lecture theatre
at the FNU Natabua campus
was handed over to the Pro-
Vice Chancellor Learning &
Teaching and Dean College
of Humanities and Education
(CHE), Dr Eci Nabalarua by
Director Estates & Facilities
(DEF), Shalendra Gounden.
The elegant and cheerful
ceremony was witnessed by
the academic, administrative
and support staff of Natabua
campus.
Former FNU Council
member and Natokowaqa
Bhagwan and Hare Ram Trad-
ers are producing the bulk
required to fulfil the market
demand and solely relying on
them and few others could
lead to delays and disappoint-
ments. It was also found that
there are number of shops
selling common uniforms
such as white shirts and khaki
pants.
Parents are therefore en-
couraged to get their focus
on children’s uniforms. If
parents opt for stitching then
they must engage tailors who
can deliver on time and with
quality work. Parents must
ensure uniforms are stitched
according to the patterns or
the designs set by the respec-
tive schools so that the colour,
and other intricate aspects of
the uniform complies with the
particular school’s require-
ments.
CONSUMER COUNCIL OF FIJI
Vice Chancellor, Professor Nigel Healey. Photo: SUPPLIED.
the University moving it to a
common course structure
where each course has the
same credit points, basically
changing every single certifi-
cate, diploma and degree in
the University.”
Professor Healey said the
Colleges were advised to
carefully consider their quality
indicators during the reform
process.
“Our programmes are de-
signed keeping in mind the
aspects that maximises the
prospects of employment. For
example, if a programme had
low graduate employability,
the colleges were advised to
put in additional courses that
could improve the employ-
ability of the graduates.
“We design our pro-
Methodist Circuit Superinten-
dent, Reverend Ledua Colati
officiated at the ceremony.
Reverend Colati was com-
missioned by the FNU Coun-
cil with a member of the FNU
Senior Management Group
(SMG) to select the furniture
from China for the different
lecture theatres and class-
rooms including this new lec-
ture theatre.
The formal opening of the
building is scheduled for Mon-
day 15 January, which will be
done by the Vice Chancellor
Professor Nigel Healey.
FNU
www.scribd.com/thejet
Furthermore, the Coun-
cil wishes to advise parents
to do an inventory check on
last year’s school items be-
fore going out shopping. This
includes last year’s uniforms,
bags and shoes as some of
these may still be in good con-
dition which can be reused
in the new school year. The
same applies to school sta-
tionaries such as rulers, rub-
bers, pencils and so on.
Parents must also start en-
gaging their children regard-
ing their financial circum-
stances so that children don’t
influence school shopping
with their list of ‘wants’.
The Council urges con-
sumers to be responsible
shoppers by drawing up a
shopping list and sticking to
it during the new school year.
grammes to actually fit for
particular employers, for in-
stance, all our doctors and
nurses are employed by Minis-
try of Health and our teachers
by the Ministry of Education.
Therefore, it is the private sec-
tor job that we have to work
harder when we are aligning
the graduate profile with what
employers want.”
The VC said the Univer-
sity has recently made a large
number of senior appoint-
ments to drive forward the
reform agendas.
Prof Healey added that get-
ting international accredita-
tion for programmes was also
a significant component of
the reform.
FNU
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Walesi TV Offers Educational

Channel for Children
By LUKE NACEI

Walesi TV will now be offering Educational
channel for children.
This was revealed by the Attorney-Gen-
eral Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum when he officially
launched the new Walesi TV in Nadi.
“One of these new eight-channel television
stations will specifically be for educational pur-
poses so that every child around Fiji can watch
the very same programme at the same time
and learn all the things that are being taught,
together,” Mr Khaiyum said.
He said additional help from the education-
al programmes would help students in a huge
way.
“This means greater accessibility for schools
in the remote areas. We want to launch educa-
tional programmes because as we said before
there is a deterioration of the English language
in Fiji,” Mr Sayed Khaiyum said.
“So we want a student who may be in a
remote school in Yasawa or up in Lau or up
in the interior of Bukuya to be able to access
these educational facilities and programmes
just as a student attending school in Nadi.
“The idea is to provide what we call an
equalizing effect in our society and that is very
important to all ordinary Fijian.”
The Attorney-General was in two homes at
Nakorokula Village in Momi where he switched
on the new Walesi TV for the two families.
“Free to air television will now be available
to Fiji irrespective of where you live.”
“Access to information is very important
and indeed very powerful. Everybody in Fiji
needs to be able to access news, needs to be
able to access information, needs to of course
access entertainment too.
“If you fall in this range, you can take your
electricity bill and go to any of the outlets that
are offering these services of providing the set-
top boxes and once they confirm your details,
you can take one home for free.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum also announced the
special deal the Government was providing Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho, Attorney General and Minister for
for those earning incomes from $30,000 and Communications, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Permanent Secretary for Communications and In-
below. formation Technology Sharvada. Photo: SUPPLIED.

UniFiji Commences on Spot Dengue Fever Out-break

Registration in Labasa

There has been a notable
increase in the number of
dengue fever cases in the
Students during enrolment last year. Photo: SUPPLIED. Macuata Subdivision, mainly
localized to the Labasa town
area in the last four weeks.
The University of Fiji will lations Officer, Ms. Shirley mented. The weekly numbers of
be commencing with their Sangita Prasad, stated that On- spot registration is a confirmed dengue cases have
face to face and on the spot roadshows are highly conve- good way to broaden admis- surpassed the expected num-
registrations in Nadi, Lautoka nient method of registration sions base and reach out to bers for this time of the year.
and Ba in form of road shows for students. more people. With the current trend of
this week. “The University of Fiji, tak- The aim of the roadshows cases seen, it is evident that
This means that students ing its services to our most is to attract students from all Macuata, and specifically La-
do not need to come to the important stakeholder, our works of life. basa, is experiencing a out-
Saweni and Suva campuses students is paramount. Thus, Students are urged to take break of dengue fever.
to register for their courses; we try all the different aspects advantage of this opportu- According to the Acting
they will be enrolled and all to reach out to the public at nity and register for the pro- National Advisor Commu-
other processes including reg- large. Being out in different grammes they wish to pursue. nicable Disease, Dr. Aalisha
istration would be done at the towns and city enables us The venues and time are Sahukhan, as of January 1st
road shows. to meet parents as well and as follows: 2017 to December 17th 2017
Marketing and Public Re- potential students,” she com- a total of 795 laboratory con-
firmed cases of dengue fever
have been recorded in the
Northern Division.
This is compared to 1,207
and 1,134 confirmed cases in
the Central and Western Divi-
sions respectively.
From the week of Novem-
ber 20th to December 17th,
there have been 279 con-
firmed cases reported from
Macuata, mostly from the La-
basa town area.
The number of confirmed
cases per week has ranged
from 39-78, with a sustained
increase every week.
More recent data received
from the period December
17th to date is expected to
show a continued increase in
the weekly trend.
Positive cases are from all
age groups, however the most
cases have been seen in the
20-29 and 30-39 age group,
with no significant difference
in gender or ethnicity.
Labasa hospital has re-
sponded to the current out-
break in dengue cases by
activating the Dengue Hub
Centre, where patients with
dengue fever symptoms are
being promptly assessed and
treated.
From December 1st to
December 27th 2017, a total
of 302 patients with dengue
like symptoms have required
intravenous fluid hydration,
after being assessed by doc-
tors in the Hub.
There has been an average
of 13 patients per day treated
with intravenous fluids at the
hub in the last week.
There have been 1 to 2
patients admitted to Labasa
Hospital with dengue fever.
However there have been no
admissions for severe dengue
(i.e. dengue shock, or dengue
haemorrhagic fever), and no
deaths during the current out-
break period (November 20th
to date).
The symptoms of dengue
fever consist of fever with
any of the following: joint or
muscle pain, headache, pain
behind the eyes, loss of appe-
tite, rash, and nausea/vomit-
ing. Please visit your nearest
health facility if you have fever
and any of these symptoms.
Signs of severe dengue, a
life threatening complication
of dengue fever, include se-
vere abdominal pain, persis-
tent vomiting, fast breathing,
unexplained bruising, bleed-
ing gums, fatigue, restless-
ness and blood in vomit.
Seek immediate medical
help if you have any of the
danger signs of severe den-
gue fever.
Early in November 2017,
the Ministry of Health and
Medical Services worked to
raise public awareness as
we entered the rainy season,
highlighting the risk of an in-
crease of dengue fever cases,
and urging the regular elimi-
nation of mosquito breeding
sites. Surveys carried out in
Labasa and Savusavu by the
Ministry’s Vector Control Unit
in mid November found high
population densities of mos-
quitos that can transmit den-
gue fever (Aedes species) The
Labasa Health Office cleanup
and public awareness cam-
paign was undertaken from
4th to 23rd of November for
four consecutive Saturdays in
dengue fever risk areas, most-
ly in the urban and peri-urban
periphery of Labasa Town.
This was a result of the launch
of the Northern Division Clean
Up Marathon Campaign on
the 4th of November 2017 at
Vunivau by the Commissioner
Northern’s Office, as well as
the continuation of the nation-
al Fight the Bite Campaign.
The Ministry’s Environ-
ment Health Unit has also tak-
en prompt actions to conduct
targeted spraying of insecti-
cides in hotspot areas from
the first week of December,
as have ongoing house-to-
house inspections.
The Ministry of Health
and Medical Services contin-
ues to work closely with our
stakeholders in the Northern
Division, including munici-
pal councils, in our efforts
to control the spread of den-
gue fever by reducing mos-
quito breeding in and around
homes and places of work.
However, it is not possible
for the Ministry to conduct
weekly clean ups of every
household and workplace,
and so we urge the general
public to be vigilant in protect-
ing yourselves and your fami-
lies during this outbreak.
Please maintain regular
clean ups of your surround-
ings through the weekly dis-
posal, or emptying, of water
carrying receptacles in and
around your homes and plac-
es of work.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
AND MEDICAL SERVICES

THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 15

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SPEED DATING FOR THE WEST

By MARIA LAQETA
Swami Vivekananda Ex Scholars Association is inviting all
members to the 2018 Speed Dating in Nadi on February 10, in
Nadi, venue is yet to confirm.
Speaking to The Jet newspaper, Swami Vivekananda Ex
Scholars Association Chairman Vineel Nand mentioned they
intends to create an environment where Ex-Scholars, Teachers,
families and friends will get a chance to get together, social-
ize, and enjoy to the fullest to bring back the memories of their
school days.
“The entire event will be promoted in an aspect whereby all
cultures and ethnic groups and individual will actively partici-
pate,” he added.
Nand invites participants and volunteers from various ethnic
groups and cultures; thus bringing members of the community
together.
“We have also set up branches in Fiji, Australia, New Zea-
land and Canada, we will soon be having a branch in USA, and
also fund raised from this event will towards education for cur-
rent students,” he said.
Speed Dating he said commenced in the evening on 10th
February besides Pre-Valentines is about having great fun and
meeting lots of open minded people.
Mr Nand said speed dating is the easiest way to meet up
twenty single people in one night without hassle of trying to find
eye contact, they all want to meet you as much as you want to
meet them.
If you want to get the best out of Speed Dating, he suggested
volunteers may come with an open mind and try not to take it
too seriously.
“You never know, you could always meet that special person
without all the mystery of knowing if they are involved or not,”
he said.
Meanwhile, the Association kindly inviting sponsors and sup-
porters to make this event successful one.

What Happens at a
Speed Dating Event?
By MARIA LAQETA
Volunteers are welcomed
by a host when arrived who
will be supplied with a score-
card and name badge. If
you’re early, you can enjoy a
drink and relax while the oth-
er speed daters arrive. Once
all the speed daters have ar-
rived the Host will get every-
body to sit down at the table
with the same number as the
badge they are wearing. The
host will be volunteers a brief
explanation of how Speed
Dating works and are feel free
to ask any questions. After 3-5
minutes the host will ask to
move on to the next person
and will repeat itself until all
speed daters are visible.
The main purpose of this
Association was to firstly cre-
ate a network among all ex -
Students in Fiji and Overseas,
a way to meet our old friends
or colleague.

The Rules of Attraction

There are many companies that of-
fer speed-dating services and just about
as many different techniques. But while
some details may change from service
to service, the general rules concerning
speed dating remain the same.
Speed-dating events are most often
held in restaurants and bars, although
events are cropping up in other places,
like student unions on college campuses.
Participants are asked to register ahead
of time to ensure an even ratio between
men and women, although some ser-
vices now offer registration at the door.
Events cost approximately $30 to $40 per
person.
Inside the venue, speed daters will find
that tables are arranged to accommodate
two participants at a time. One set of the
speed daters, usually women, stay seated
at the same table, and the opposite group
moves from table to table. This table-
hopping method has been compared to
musical chairs. The difference is, when
the bell rings or buzzer sounds, the next
seat the dater takes is predetermined.
The speed dater progresses from table
to table until each participant has had a
chance to meet the other.
Depending on the company, a speed
date may last from three to eight minutes,
although some go as long as 10 minutes.
At the end of the date, each dater makes
a note if he or she would like to see the
other person again. After that, the speed
daters move on to the next table, and a
new date begins.
The number of dates held in an eve-
ning can vary, but most services hold 10
or less. SpeedDating, the original compa-
ny organized by Yaacov Deyo, holds sev-
en, seven-minute dates in one event. In
less than an hour, each person has seven
chances to meet the love of his or her life.
After the event, the speed daters turn
in their date cards to event organizers.
They may be contacted via e-mail the fol-
lowing day, or asked to log onto a Web
site to enter the names or ID numbers
of people whom they would like to see
again. If two speed daters have registered
a mutual interest in seeing each other
again, the pair receives each other’s con-
tact information. From there the couple
can contact each other to arrange anoth-
er meeting or date.
8 Minute Dating, a speed-dating ser-
vice based in Boston, Mass., maintains
the policy that none of their speed daters
are allowed to ask for anyone else’s last
name or phone number. Other services
ask speed daters not to discuss what they
do for a living or where they live. The idea
is for the couple to pursue a connection
based on mutual attraction rather than
one person doggedly pursuing the other.
Companies like SpeedDating and oth-
er, similar companies, including Hurry
Date and 8 Minute Dating, can hold differ-
ent speed-dating events scheduled at the
same time in different cities by franchis-
ing their services. Events are put on by lo-
cal organizers on behalf of the company.
To this end, most Web sites for speed-
dating services have a page dedicated to
becoming an event organizer.
HOW STUFF WORKS

Sweet Tweets: What is your New Year’s Resolution?

Tarusila Ratu Vereimo Muria Priya Sharma Deborah Stella Lavenia Tagi Samu Lutumailagi
SUVA RAKIRAKI NADI SAVUSAVU LAUTOKA SAVUSAVU

“No more drinking and
avoid hanging out in the
nightclub”.
“ “To cut down on kava
and to buy a new car before
christmas”.
“My new years resolution is
to be thankful and boost my
community involvement”.
“To get back to my family
and to live healthy”.
“More quality time with my “My new years resolution is
family,well thats the only quit smoking.”.
way we have strong rela-
tionships it’s not how long
u spent with your family
but the quality time u spent
with them”.

16 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 17

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Fiji Airways 3D 2017 the ‘Safest Year

Pavement Art for Fiji for Aviation’ in History:
Reports
Airlines recorded zero accident deaths in
commercial passenger jets last year, according
to a Dutch consultancy and an aviation safety
group that tracks crashes, making last year the
safest on record for commercial air travel.
To70 reported on Monday that there were
no commercial passenger jet fatalities last year,
calling it “the safest year for aviation ever”. It
estimated the fatal accident rate for large com-
mercial passenger flights is one death for every
16 million flights.
The Aviation Safety Network also said there
were no commercial passenger jet deaths last
year, but there were 10 fatal airliner accidents
resulting in 44 fatalities onboard and 35 people
Fiji Airways CEO, Andre Viljoen and Attorney General and Minister Responisle for Aviation, Ai-
yaz Sayed-Khaiyum pictured at the Fiji Airways 3D pavement at the Nadi International Airport
on the ground, including cargo planes and
commercial passenger turbo prop aircraft.
There were 16 accidents and 303 deaths in
2016 among airliners.
The Aviation Safety Network said last year
was “the safest year ever, both by the number
of fatal accidents as well as in terms of fatali-
ties”.
Over the last two decades, aviation deaths
around the world have been steadily falling.
As recently as 2005, there were 1,015 deaths
aboard commercial passenger flights world-
wide.
REUTERS

HK Express Targets
Departures Terminal. Photo: LUKE NACEI.

By LUKE NACEI

14% Passenger Jump in

Every visitor that visit’s the country can now
enjoy the newly unveiled Fiji Airways 3D Pave-
ment Art at the Nadi International Airport.
A first for Fiji the art form was invented by
US based Master Artist, Kurt Wenner.
scene that captures the essence of Fiji and Fiji
Airways.
Attorney General and Minister for Civil Avia-
tion, Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum unveiled the
Fiji Airways 3-D Pavement Art at the Nadi Inter-

Wenner has created popular 3D art scenes
around the world in more than fifty countries.
“All three panels joined into one image and
the people sitting on the ground where it ap-
pears that they are flying through the air in
business class Fiji Airways seats which I can
personally attest to are some of the most com-
fortable seats.”
The art is created in a forty square meter
national Airport.
The 3D Pavement Art Project was done by
world-renowned master artist Kurt Wenner
outside the Departure Terminal walkway.
The unveiling of the artwork was followed
by the viewing of the new Departure Terminal
Premier Check-in area by the Hon. AG and in-
vited guests.
2018
HK Express carried 3.79
million passengers in 2017,
up 30% increase from the
year before, and is targeting to
carry 4.35 million passengers
this year.
The carrier adds that it car-
ried about 345,000 passengers
in December, a record month-
ly high for the airline.
“Flying forward into 2018,
HK Express will face fierce
competition in Hong Kong’s
air transport industry, but we
can expect more opportuni-
ties for the aviation industry
due to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-
Macau Bridge and the Hong
Kong section of the Guang-
zhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong
Express Rail link,” says its
president Li Dianchun.
“HK Express will take this
opportunity to ensure super-
lative service by focusing on
passengers’ needs.”
In November, Hong Kong’s
Civil Aviation Department
banned the airline from ex-
panding its fleet and launch-
ing new services following
multiple flight cancellations
during the ‘Golden Week’
peak travel period in early Oc-
tober.
The ban runs until 30 April,
with the carrier only allowed
to operate new destinations
and flights when the regulator
is satisfied that it has imple-
mented measures to mitigate
cancellations more effective-
ly.
This could impact HK Ex-
press’s fleet plans, which
originally had nine Airbus
A320neos to be delivered in
2017 and 2018, Flight Fleets
Analzyer shows.
The airline now has 13 Air-
bus A320s and eight A321s in
its fleet.
FLIGHT GLOBAL

First Qatar A350-1000

Delivery Slips to 2018

Qatar Airline. Photo: SUPPLIED.

By ANA SOVA

Airbus will not hand over the first A350-1000
until 2018, after the airframer agreed a revised
delivery schedule with launch customer Qatar
Airways.
Qatar Airways has 37 of the largest A350
variant on order and Airbus had been aiming to
deliver the first aircraft by the end of this year.
But the airframer tells FlightGlobal that it
has agreed with Qatar Airways that the delivery
of the initial A350-1000 will “now be planned
early in the new year”.
The first Qatar aircraft, the Rolls-Royce Trent
XWB-powered MSN88 (pictured above in for-
mation with an A350-900), conducted its maid-
18 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
en flight on 7 December.
Airbus has not disclosed the reasons for the
schedule adjustment.
But it says it is “fully committed and focused
to deliver the aircraft to Qatar Airways’ full cus-
tomer satisfaction”.
Airbus states that the aircraft is undergoing
“final preparatory steps” necessary for entry
into service.
It has not given a specific date for the deliv-
ery, pointing out that this is the “airline’s privi-
lege”.
www.thejetnewspaper.com TOURISM TRENDS www.scribd.com/thejet

Intercontinental Fiji Launches Green

Environment Initiative
InterContinental Fiji
Golf Resort & Spa recently
launched a new environmen-
tal project; installation of skip
bins at strategic areas around
the Natadola Bay community
to emphasise the importance
of keeping Fiji’s natural envi-
ronment pristine.
This project resulted from
a consistent build-up of rub-
bish being left on Natadola
Beach and surrounding areas,
and even with regular beach
clean-up campaigns organ-
ised by the resort and local
schools, there were no areas
to deposit rubbish by day visi-
tors. The introduction of the
skip bins was implemented to
resolve this problem.
Through donations and
fundraising for ‘Community
Care’; a long term fund by In-
terContinental Hotels Group
(IHG) that finances numerous
projects for the community,
the InterContinental Fiji Golf
Resort & Spa acquired five
skip bins. They are now locat-
ed at neighbouring Sanasana
village and Natadola Beach to
encourage people to discard
their rubbish in the bins as op-
posed to the ocean.
“We sometimes forget to
appreciate our beach environ-
ment with its powdery white
sand and fringing azure blue
waters,” said Andrew David-
son, Area General Manager
South Pacific at the InterCon-
tinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa.
“It is disheartening to see
rubbish and debris littering
the beach and the winding
paths around it. We hope that
with the installation of these
bins, we will see more con-
sideration and care for our
natural environment – and
preserve this for future gener-
ations to enjoy as well,” adds
Mr. Davidson.
One of two iconic Fijian ho-
tels owned by the Fiji National
Provident Fund (FNPF) and
managed by InterContinental
Hotels Group (IHG), the Inter-
Continental Fiji Golf Resort &
Spa provides services that go
beyond the world-renowned
Fijian warmth and hospital-
ity to give guests authentic,
enriching experiences and
insights into the Fijian culture
and way of life.
InterContinental Fiji Golf
Resort & Spa is part of the
Intercontinental Hotel Group
with over 5,000 and 744,000
guest rooms in nearly 100
countries. Overlooking the
azure waters of Natadola
Beach – voted by CNN as one
of the best beaches in the
world, and Fiji’s finest beach,
the resort is spread across 35
acres of tropical manicured
gardens and offers all of the
facilities and services ex-
pected of luxury international
resort.
Intercontinental Fiji Resort and Spa new environmental project. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Rhum-Ba Host Art Exhibition

By LUKE NACEI
In an bid to help market
the talents of the local artist in
the country, Rhum-Ba Yacht
Club on Denarau island is try-
ing its best to working closely
with the Fiji Arts Council in-
dustry to help recognize the
efforts our local artist have.
Rhum-Ba Yacht Club yes-
terday hosted an Art Exhibi-
tion in their premises having
portrayed artistic design avail-
able for viewing.
General Manager Michael
Dennis said the desire for hav-
ing the exhibition came about
with the artist having a loca-
tion where they can show-
case directly to the public.
Mr Dennis said it was hard
for these kinds of artist to be
seen in the west.
“This time has been a
great trial run, all the artist
did the great job in organising
themselves in putting things
together and we have had
a lot of interest and next we
look forward to working with
the artist and also the Fiji arts
council,” he said.
Mr Dennis said they are
looking at hosting another of
the same kind next year.
“You never know people of
come through and enjoyed it
and some of the artists have
sold some work and now ob-
viously we hope that they sell
more to be here.”
Mr Dennis adds: “Again this
is the first time we have done,
we have talked about how we
can this next year and do it
three of four times next year.
“This is an arrangement
with Rhum-Ba Yacht Club and
the artist themselves, so next
time in order to have more
of this event and have variety
we are looking to work more
with the Fiji arts council so it is
more of a combined effort to
have better product and bet-
ter range for the people who
come to see it,” he added.
Mason Lee one of the art-
ist present with his group at
the exhibition said they were
fortunate enough to have their Iliesa Lee with his hold on impression at Rhum-Ba on Port De-
master piece displayed in the narau. Photo: SUPPLIED.
west. “Being an artist is different artist, Fiji has a long way to go
“We wanted to market some of us of us are natural in terms of art,” he said.
what we have here.” born artist. These are serious

Intercontinental Welcomes New Year in Style

Fiji Na¬tional Provident Fund, our great team of tourism stakeholders, our guests and our resort
team mem¬bers who genuinely love to provide a home away from home for our valued guests.”
Mr Davidson further stated: “We look forward to another great year in 2018, and continuing to
provide exceptional guest experiences throughout every stage of the guest journey.”
InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa is part of the InterContinen¬tal Hotels Group (IHG) – the
world’s largest hotel group with more than 4500 hotels in 100 countries and ter¬ritories around
the world.
INTERCONTINENTAL FIJI

InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa celebrated the New Year with their 2017 New Year’s Eve
Rio Carnival Party, featuring exclusive Veuve Clicquot Cham¬pagne.
The festive event took place at the iconic Kama Lounge. The event was stylishly dressed in
elegant drapes and centrepieces; with a torch lighting ceremony and rhyth¬mic drum beats by
tribal warriors, adding a traditional Fijian flare to the evening.
Choreographed entertainment from the vibrant VOU dance group, a fantastic live band and
DJ had re¬sort guests in elation as Natadola Bay’s skies were lit up with an in¬tense display of
fireworks at the stroke of midnight.
“We are pleased that we made yet another New Year’s countdown a truly special one for our
guests packed with tropical excitement, music and world-class service,” said Andrew Davidson,
the Area General Manager South Pacific at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa.
“The resort has had a highly suc¬cessful year with some of the high¬lights including winning
Australa¬sia’s Leading Resort at the 2017 World Travel Awards, Australia & Oceania’s Continent
Winner of the Luxury Golf Resort, and Luxury Family Resort at the World Luxury Hotel Awards.
“These achievements could not have been possible without the sup¬port of our owners – the
THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 19
www.thejetnewspaper.com
Ministry to Defer to
Suspension Decision
Despite exhaustive efforts by the Ministry of
Employment to mediate the dispute between
Air Terminal Services (ATS) and the ATS em-
ployees who participated in an unlawful strike,
no resolution has been reached. As a result,
the Ministry must defer to the decision of ATS
management to suspend the employees.
The walk off of some ATS employees was
declared as an unlawful strike on 16 Decem-
ber in accordance with the Employment Rela-
tions Act (ERA) 2007.
Ample opportunity has been provided to
resolve grievances and discuss a positive way
forward between ATS and the Federated Air-
lines Staff Association. However, after two
weeks of informal mediation, no resolution
has been accepted by the parties.
Minister for
Agriculture on
Central Division Tour
The Minister for Agriculture, Rural & Mari-
time Development & National Disaster Man-
agement & Meteorological Services Hon. Inia
Seruiratu is touring the Central Division this
week.
Hon. Seruiratu is accompanied by the se-
nior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture.
During his three-day visit, Hon. Seruiratu will
be briefed on agriculture developments taking
place in the Central Division including meeting
with farmers, exporters and processors.
During his visit to exporters yesterday, Hon.
Seruiratu said the purpose of the visit was to
identify problems faced by exporters in the
country and increase the number of suppliers
20 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
www.scribd.com/thejet
As an employer, ATS management institut-
ed internal disciplinary measures by suspend-
ing ATS employees who participated in the
unlawful strike. Given the non-resolution, the
ATS employees who walked off their jobs will
remain suspended.
If the matter remains unresolved, a formal
conflict resolution mechanism is available, as
established by the ERA 2007.
In the interest of resolving outstanding is-
sues as quickly and effectively as possible, the
Minister for Employment has encouraged ATS
management and the Federated Airlines Staff
to engage in good faith within established con-
flict resolution frameworks, as set out in the
ERA 2007. Some of the ATS staff on strike Photo: SUPPLIED
DEPTFO
on the ground to enable them to meet the mar-
ket demand.
The visit to Navua included exporters such
as Ben’s Trading Limited, Kaiming Agro Pro-
cessing Limited, JMO and Sai Yee Foods Indus-
tries Limited in Lami.
With regards to the Ministry’s role in export
production, Hon. Seruiratu highlighted the im-
portance of exporters’ contribution and the
linkage between suppliers and exporters.
“We want to make changes to farmers’ ex- Women cleaning dalo at Bens Trading Ltd in Navua. Photo: DEPTFO.
posure towards international markets and en-
able them to move from subsistence to com-
mercial farming as there is market for potential kets first before organizing production towards in Tailevu and Naitasiri Province this week. The
commodities, hence the need to consult mar- consistency in supply,” Hon. Seruiratu said. Central Division Tour will conclude tomorrow.
Hon. Seruiratu will also be visiting farmers DEPTFO
www.thejetnewspaper.com
Hindus Urge U.S Products to
Identify Gelatin on Food
By MARIA LAQETA
Hindu is urging United
States of America Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) to
mandate food manufacturers
to mention the source of gela-
tin, if used in the product, on
its “Ingredients” label.
Gelatin or gelatine, is pro-
cured from various animal
body parts and is usually used
as a gelling agent in food and
it can be from cows, pigs, fish,
chicken, etc.; but there are
animal-free and plant-based
alternatives to gelatin like sea-
weed extracts.
President of Universal So-
ciety of Hinduism Rajan Zed
stressed when the source
of gelatin is not listed and if
it is beef, it is a serious non-
disclosure affecting the Hindu
devotees and would severely
hurt their feelings when they
would come to know that
they were accidentally con-
suming beef-laced popular
food products.
Consumption of beef, he
said is highly conflicting to
Hindu beliefs.
“Cow, the seat of many
deities, is sacred and has long
been venerated in Hinduism;
Yoga Emerges Among
Top 10 Fitness
Trends Worldwide
By MARIA LAQETA
Yoga is among the top 10
fitness trends worldwide for
2018, according to “World-
wide Survey of Fitness Trends
for 2018” by American College
of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
Yoga, referred as “a living
fossil”, is a mental and physi-
cal discipline, for everybody
to share and benefit from,
whose traces went back to
around 2,000 BCE to Indus Val-
ley civilization.
Based on ancient tradi-
tion, yoga utilizes a series of
specific bodily postures prac-
ticed for health and relaxation
which include Power Yoga,
Yogalates, Bikram, Ashtanga,
Vinyasa, Kripalu, Anurara,
Kundalini, Sivananda and oth-
ers.
The sustained popularity of
yoga seems to lead exhausts
and refreshes itself every year
making it an attractive form of
exercise.
A survey carried that over
4,000 fitness professionals are
from Mexico, Chile, Columbia,
American College of Sports Medicine fitness trends survey.Photo: SUPPLIED.
Zed, who is, points out in a
statement in Nevada today,”
he added.
Zed said it was shocking
for the Hindu community to
learn that some of these popu-
lar food products, which they
had been eating for years,
might contain beef while beef
was not explicitly mentioned
under the ingredients listed
on the boxes and packages to
caution them,” he said.
“It was hard to compre-
hend that why corporations
were not transparent enough
to mention beef explicitly un-
der the ingredients on the box
or package when it was part
of the product inside so that
an ordinary consumer could
make right and appropriate
choices,” Zed said.
According to the Dutch-
British transnational con-
sumer goods company Uni-
lever, been in business since
the 1880s, Gelatin “is used in
some of our products to pro-
vide a lower fat, lower calorie
product with a pleasing tex-
ture and consistence, we can-
not guarantee if the gelatin is
derived from beef or pork.
Venezuela, Portugal, Argen-
tina, Ecuador, Brazil, Serbia,
Japan, United Arab Emirates,
Australia, United Kingdom,
Canada, Germany, India, Italy,
Taiwan, Switzerland, Jamai-
ca, South Africa, Bermuda,
Greece, Ireland, Finland, Ke-
nya, New Zealand, China, Bar-
bados, Romania, Singapore,
South Korea, Israel, Lebanon,
Egypt, Malaysia, Philippines,
Thailand, Spain, Sweden, and
the United States.
Now in its twelfth year, this
Survey provides 40 potential
trends to choose from and
claims to help the health and
fitness industry make critical
programming and business
decisions.
According to the Hindu
statesman Rajan Zed, in a
statement in Nevada (USA),
that Hindus were highly
pleased with the fast and
tremendous growth of yoga
worldwide.
Rajan Zed further said that
yoga, although introduced
www.scribd.com/thejet
Currently, the Food and
Drugs Administration (FDA)
regulations, reported that the
source of gelatin has to be
identified.
FDA’s Health Communica-
tions Specialist, Mary Ellen
Taylor said “Gelatin must be
listed if it is an ingredient; on
the other hand the source
does not have to be listed.
According to Wrigley, the
largest manufacturer and
marketer of chewing gum in
the world reports products
which contain gelatin that is
sourced from beef include: all
Starburst, Fruit Chews variet-
ies (Original, Tropical, Sweets
and Sours, FaveReds, Summer
Splash), life savers, spear-O-
Mint, pep-o-Mint and wint-o-
green, sugar mints also con-
tain stearic acid, which is an
animal-based ingredient that
is derived from beef and pork,
Altoids® mints (Peppermint,
Spearmint, Wintergreen, Cin- Starburst Fruit Chews. Photo: SUPPLIED.
namon); Life Savers® Gum-
mies; all Starburst® Gummi- and pork. pic, trifles, dips, fruit snacks, cakes, cream cheese, lozeng-
Bursts (Original, Sours, Flavor However, the Gelatin is an sour cream, margarine, frost- es also used for clarification of
Duos) all products sold in the ingredient in some cereals, ing, confections, gums, Chi- vinegar, juices and wine.
United States contain gelatin ice creams, candies, yogurts, nese soup dumplings, pud-
that come from a mix of beef desserts, marshmallows, as- dings, nondairy creamers,
Send us your feedbacks or suggestions to:
feedbacks@media.com.fj
and nourished by Hinduism,
still it remains as a world heri-
tage and liberation power-
house to be utilized by all.
According to Patanjali who
codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga
was a methodical effort to at-
tain perfection, through the
control of the different ele-
ments of human nature, phys-
ical and psychical.
With the US National Insti-
tutes of Health findings, they
found out that yoga may help
one to feel more relaxed, be
more flexible, improve pos-
ture, breathe deeply, and get
rid of stress.
According to a “2016 Yoga
in America Study”, about 37
million Americans (which
included many celebrities)
now practice yoga; and yoga
is strongly correlated with
having a positive self-image
reported to be something
basic in the human soul and
psyche.
THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 21
KIDS CORNER
www.thejetnewspaper.com
fit in the keyhole. Let me
in!
Person 1: Knock-
knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Little old
lady.
Person 2: Little old
lady who?
Person 1: Wow, I didn’t
Knock-knock jokes know you could yodell!
These jokes follow the Person 1: Knock-knock.
classic structure: “Knock, Person 2: Who’s there?
knock,” “Who’s there?” fol- Person 1: Canoe.
lowed by giggles. Person 2: Canoe who?
Person 1: Knock-knock. Person 1: Canoe help me
Person 2: Who’s there? with my homework?
Person 1: Noah. Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Noah who? Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Noah good Person 1: Lettuce.
place to get something to Person 2: Lettuce who?
eat? Person 1: Lettuce in, it’s
Person 1: Knock-knock. cold out here!
Person 2: Who’s there? Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 1: Luke. Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 2: Luke who? Person 1: Figs.
Person 1: Luke through Person 2: Figs who?
the peep hole and you’ll Person 1: Figs the door-
see. bell -- it’s broken!
Person 1: Knock-knock. Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there? Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Sadie. Person 1: Leaf.
Person 2: Sadie who? Person 2: Leaf who?
Person 1: Sadie magic Person 1: Leaf me alone!
word and I’ll disappear. Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 1: Knock-knock. Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 2: Who’s there? Person 1: Wooden shoe.
Person 1: Justin. Person 2: Wooden shoe
Person 2: Justin who? who?
Person 1: Justin time for Person 1: Wooden shoe
dinner! like to hear another joke?
Person 1: Knock-knock. Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there? Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Claire. Person 1: Alpaca.
Person 2: Claire who? Person 2: Alpaca who?
Person 1: Claire the way Person 1: Alpaca the suit-
-- I’m coming through! case; you pack the trunk!
Person 1: Knock-knock. Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there? Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Mikey. Person 1: Atch.
Person 2: Mikey who? Person 2: Atch who?
Person 1: Mikey doesn’t Person 1: Bless you!
22 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Jokes for Kids
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Interrupting
pirate.
Person 2: Interrup...
Person 1: ARRRRRRR!
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Boo.
Person 2: Boo who?
Person 1: Don’t cry, it’s
just me!
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Cow says.
Person 2: Cow says who?
Person 1: No, silly! A cow
says “Mooooo!”
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Ketchup.
Person 2: Ketchup who?
Person 1: Ketchup with
me and I’ll tell you.
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Dozen.
Person 2: Dozen who?
Person 1: Dozen anyone
want to let me in?
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Iowa.
Person 2: Iowa who?
Person 1: Iowa friend a
couple dollars.
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Olive.
Person 2: Olive who?
Person 1: Olive you!
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Imma.
Person 2: Imma who?
Person 1: Imma gettin’
tired of waiting -- let me in!
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Roach.
Person 2: Roach who?
Person 1: Roach you a
www.scribd.com/thejet
letter. Didn’t you get it?
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Dishes.
Person 2: Dishes who?
Person 1: Dishes a nice
Bet You Didn’t
place you’ve got here!
Person 1: Will you re-
member me in one minute?
Know...
Person 2: Yes.
Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who’s there?
Person 1: Hey! You didn’t
remember me! The fastest bird is the per- >Angel Falls in Venezuela
Wordplay jokes egrine falcon. It can fly at a is 20 times taller than Niagara
Q: What do you call speed of 168-217 miles per Falls.
cheese that’s not yours? hour. >The blue whale is the
A: Nacho cheese! >Hans Langseth had the largest animal that ever lived
Q: What do you get when longest beard at a record (it could reach 100 feet long
you cross a snowman and a length of 17 1/2 feet long! and weight up to 150 tons!)
vampire? When he died, his beard was >Wilt Chamberlain scored
A: Frostbite! given to the Smithsonian Insti- 100 points in a basketball
Q: What do elves learn in tute. game in 1962, when he played
school? >The deadliest disease for the Philadelphia Warriors.
A: The elf-abet. was the pneumonic form of >The longest bout of hic-
the Black Death of 1347-1351. cups lasted 69 years!
Q: Why are seagulls It had death rate of 100%. >The longest conga to this
called seagulls? >The largest egg laid by a date included 119,986 people.
A: Because if they flew living bird is that of the North >The smallest cat is the
over the bay, they’d be African Ostrich. It is 6 to 8 Singapuras and weighs only 4
bagels! inches in length and 4 to 6 pounds.
Q: Why did the boy bring inches in diameter. The small- >The longest movie made
a ladder to school? est is that of the humming- lasts 85 hours and is fittingly ti-
A: He wanted to go to bird. It is less than 0.39 inches tled “The Cure for Insomnia.”
high school. in diameter. >Mount Everest is the tall-
Q: Where do pencils go >The hottest continent on est mountain in the world,
for vacation? earth is Africa, where a record standing 29,028 feet high.
A: Pencil-vania. high of 136.4 degrees F was >Did you know that there
Q: Why did the girl once recorded. is a world record for seeing
smear peanut butter on the >Antarctica is the coldest how many times you can at-
road? continent on earth, where a tempt a world record?!
A: To go with the traffic temperature of 126.9 degrees >The smallest dog record-
jam! F below zero was once re- ed was a Yorkie and was only
Q: How do you make a corded. Chicago is home to 4 inches tall. The biggest dog
tissue dance? three of the five tallest build- weighed 344 pounds- more
A: You put a little boogie ings in the world — the Sears than two full grown men!
in it. Tower, Standard Oil Building, >The largest baby to be
Q: Which flower talks the and John Hancock Center. born so far weighed in at 15
most? >The hottest place on pounds, 5 ounces!
A: Tulips, of course, be- earth is in Dallol, Ethiopia, >The longest recorded
cause they have two lips! which is a sizzling 94 degrees flight of a chicken is thirteen
in the shade on a typical day! seconds.
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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 23

www.thejetnewspaper.com www.scribd.com/thejet

Successful Conclusion to
Trade and Investment Mission
to Shanghai and Hong Kong
Fiji’s trade and investment
flows from Hong Kong is set to
further accelerate.
In this endeavour, the per-
manent secretary for Industry,
Trade and Tourism, Shaheen
Ali met with the members
of Fiji-HK Chamber of Com-
merce, on 30 December 2017.
“The meeting with the
Hong Kong-Fiji Chamber of
Commerce, was to progress
trade and investment through
further efforts and initiatives
by the Ministry and the Cham-
ber. Building on earlier trade
missions, niche product, such
as Fijian beer and water have
been introduced in the Hong
Kong market, whilst a Hong
Kong based investor opened
a noni tea factory in Suva re-
cently,” PS Ali said.
“There are more plans to
promote Fijian made prod-
ucts in the Hong Kong, during
the 2018 Hong Kong Sevens
tournament. There will be a
display of high-end niche Fi-
jian made products that at the
tournament,amongst other
things.
“Having a recognized
Chamber of Commerce in
Hong Kong, provides leverage
to marketing Fiji and Fijian
made products in the region.
The members of the Cham-
ber outlined some of the proj-
ects that they see potential
for, in Fiji. The discussions
also looked at the potential
of scholarships for Fijian stu-
dents to study in Hong Kong,”
PS Ali added.
During the 5-day mission,
the permanent secretary to-
gether with the Trade Com-
missioner/Consul-General
and officials met with Chine-
sebusinesses that are inter-
ested in doing business in Fiji.
These included big names
such as Alibaba Group, Power
China, Sinohydro Bureau 12
Co. Ltd.
“Power China, is a con-
struction company that will
is undertaking the construc-
tion of Wyndham Silkroad Ark
Hotel in Coral Coast, which
is an estimated $500 million
project. Power China also
specializes in construction of
infrastructure in all areas, in-
cluding roads, dams,bridges,
ports, energy generation
plants (Hydro/thermal/so-
lar) and reservoir projects. In
this regard, Power China has
shown interest in investing in
Fiji,” PS Ali said.
In addition to bilateral
meetings and events, the Fi-
jian delegation also visited the
BUSINESS
Shanghai Tax Free Zone. The
tax free zone is a designated
area where approved prod-
ucts are traded duty free. The
delegation visited the Austra-
lian Pavilion, where Austra-
lian made products were dis-
played and sold duty free.
“We are exploring the op-
tion of having a pavilion at the
Shanghai Tax Free Zone. How-
ever, Fiji has been offered to
set up a Fijian Made Pavilion
in Quzhou in Zhenjiang Prov-
ince near Shanghai, from May PS Shaheen Ali during trade and investment mission to Shang-
to October 2018. This will be hai and Hong Kong. Photo: SUPPLIED.
a lead up to the Shanghai In-
ternational Import Expo to be PS Ali was also invited as China by 2018, and are scop-
held from 5 to 8 November the chief guest to the open- ing investment potential in Fiji
2018. The Trade Commission ing of the “_Jiaozi in the in 2019.
met the Vice Mayor and oth- spotlight_”, a dumpling Res-
er senior officials of Quzhou taurant, in the _Paris Spring DEPTFO
two weeks ago to initiate the _shopping mall in Shanghai.
discussions,” the permanent They will be opening up
secretary said. to 22 restaurants throughout

Investors Show Residential and Ground

Interests in Fiji Rent Freeze in 2018
Islands
By MARIA LAQETA
A number of investors from around the
world are interested in investing in Fiji Islands.
Prominent Labasa businessman, Daya
Singh whose son Ranjeev Singh and daughter
Sanju Gosal are working together with Invest-
railway, waste management, solar power, ag-
riculture, tourism Industry and development of
hotels, mining and resources, prefab housing
even can built oil refineries and bunkering fa-
cilities and many more.
By ANA SOVA
A rent increase restriction
on residential premises and
ground rent is in place this
year with the order already in
force from January 1.
This was announced by
the Fijian Competition and
Consumer Commission and
gazetted on December 28.
This means that between
January 1 and December
31, 2018, a person must not
charge rent in respect of the
letting or continued letting of
any premises under residen-
tial tenancy, including ground
rentals to which the Act ap-
plies which exceeds the rent
applicable to those premises
as at December 31, 2017.
The gazette notes that any
person or class of persons (in-
cluding the State) must keep
to the satisfaction of the Fijian
Competition and Consumer
Commission such letting
agreements and receipts as
are customary and proper in
respect of the letting or con-
tinued letting of any premises
under residential tenancy,
including ground rentals to
which the Act applies.

Big Three American

ment companies from China, Russia and other
European countries bringing in opportunities
for Fiji to also be in line with the rest of the
world.
Sanju Gosal and Ranjeev Singh are both
“We can bring expertise plus funding for
projects as long as the project has a good ROI
and is approved by the government. We have
currently proposed to the government to invest
USD$150 million for a Solar project for Fiji, we

Automakers Post Sales

born in Fiji and following their Grandfather,
Gurbachan Singh of Labasa and father, Mr
Daya Singh’s to give back to Fiji.
The brother sister duo are planning to re-
turn to Fiji and make it their home as their el-
ders did.
are also working with AMA to promote Fiji’s Ex-
port sector and create work for people of Fiji,
also looking at developing a part commercial,
residential and tourism sectors close to Momi
Bay, land has been secured,” Ranjeev said.
Spezza Trading (Pvt) Ltd. is in the business

Terra Firma Investment (Pvt) Ltd, is the de-
velopment company and Spezza Trading (Pvt)
Ltd as their sister company which concen-
trates on trading of goods.
The head office is in Sri Lanka and operat-
ing in many parts of the globe.
Fiji, New Zealand, PNG and the Pacific Is-
lands the main point of contact is Ranjeev
Singh and Sanju Gosal mainly working out of
Australia and overseeing the entire Asia Pacific
region.
They can assist with any form of infrastruc-
ture projects such as wharf ’s, ports, roads,
Ranjeev Singh. Sanju Gosal. Photos: SUPPLIED.
24 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
of connecting products and services with cli-
ents from around the world.
Through high level contacts with govern-
ments and industry leaders in Sri Lanka, Chi-
na, Japan, Russia and the USA, they are able to
connect and supply any product ranging from
bulk Wheat and Frozen Fish to Bullets and An-
ti-Aircraft Ordinance.
They have also secured strategic partner-
ships with service suppliers and Funders to
enable us to formulate and provide compre-
hensive turnkey solutions to any client require-
ment, even at national level.
Slide in 2017
The big three American
automakers -- General Motors
(GM), Ford and Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles (FCA) all report-
ed sales decline for the U.S.
market in 2017, compared to
record-high numbers of 2016.
GM reported Wednesday
its full-year sales of 3.002 mil-
lion vehicles in 2017, down 1.3
percent compared with 2016
sales.
The company reported it
sold more than 1.3 million
trucks and 965,090 crossover
vehicles last year. GM’s De-
cember sales fell 3.3 percent ve, Ford vice president of U.S. sales plunging by two-thirds
compared to the same month marketing, sales and service, while Compass sales decline
a year ago. said in a statement. over 10 percent.
Ford said annual sales FCA posted a drop of eight However, GM’s Chief Econ-
dropped by 1.1 percent to percent to 2.059 million vehi- omist Mustafa Mohatarem is
2.587 million vehicles, which cles. Ram brand vehicles saw optimistic about future vehi-
included a 4.3 percent in- the only sales increase for the cle sales in U.S. market.
crease in sales for trucks and year at two percent. The Alfa “This year, many consum-
a 4.3 percent sales increase Romeo brand saw a big leap ers will see their take-home
compared to 2016 for SUVs as in sales due to new vehicle pay rise because of tax re-
well. launches in the U.S. form. That will keep the broad
“December capped off a But FCA’s Jeep sales economy growing, and help
record year for Ford brand dropped 11 percent com- keep sales at very healthy lev-
SUVs, making it eight con- pared with 2016, largely due els even as the Fed increases
secutive years of Ford brand to the company’s decision to interest rates,” he said in a
sales leadership,” Mark LaNe- kill the Patriot and focus on statement.
the Compass. This sent Patriot
www.thejetnewspaper.com BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD www.scribd.com/thejet

THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 25

www.thejetnewspaper.com
Mike Tyson to Open 40 Acre Why Hayne
Marijuana Resort ‘Tyson Addressed the
Ranch’ in Southern California Media on His First
Former boxer Mike Tyson is
Day at the Eels
ready to cash in on marijuana,
which was recently legalized
for recreational use in Califor-
nia.
According to Gary Trock of
The Blast, Tyson broke ground
on a 40-acre plot of land in
California City, which he in-
tends to use to grow mari-
juana as well as fund research
into the medical effects of the
drug.
The resort, which is named
Tyson Ranch, is in Southern
California, about 60 miles
southwest of Death Valley Na-
tional Park.
While 20 acres of the area
will be used to create “high-
quality strains of THC and
CBD,” the ranch will also fea-
ture a hydro-feed plant and
supply store, extraction facil-
ity, edible factory, premium
“glamping” campgrounds and
cabins, an amphitheater and
the Tyson Cultivation School
to teach new growers.
The former heavyweight
champion was fined in 2000
for testing positive for marijua-
na, and he said in his memoir
that he got high before major
fights. He also said he used
marijuana when he was sen-
tenced for cocaine possession
Jarryd Hayne Breaks Silence
on Rape Accusations
Jarryd Hayne. Photo: SUP-
PLIED.
EELS star Jarryd Hayne has
spoken publicly for the first
time since he was accused of
sexually assaulting a woman
in America while playing in
the NFL.
Hayne returned to Parra-
matta training for the first time
in more than three years on
Wednesday morning before
holding a scheduled press
conference at 2.45pm (AEDT).
He said on Wednesday he
has not yet spoken to Parra-
matta officials about the rape
accusation and re-iterated a
previous declaration that he
denies the allegations made
against him in a civil suit.
Hayne also opened up
about the personal toll the
claims have taken on him and
his family.
“It’s been tough for them,”
he said.
“It’s been pretty emotional
too. Just seeing them get am-
bushed and, I guess, that sort
of thing was pretty disappoint-
ing and hard to watch and lis-
ten to them.
“Thay’re strong. They’re
getting through it and we’ll get
through this.”
Hayne said on Wednesday
said he is not able to address
the allegations and repeat-
edly told reporters they would
have to speak to his lawyers
over their questions about the
ongoing case.
“If youse want to talk about
football I’m more than hap-
py,” he said.
“I think youse need to un-
derstand and make it very
clear that the situation that’s
26 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Former World Heavyweight Champion, Mike Tyson. Photo: BLEACHER REPORT.
in 2007.
California became the
sixth state to allow recreation-
al use of the drug as of Jan.
1, providing Tyson and others
the opportunity to sell it legally
going on, I can’t talk about it.
So youse can ask whatever it
is youse want to ask, but I’m
just going to avoid it and de-
flect it and talk about my law-
yers.
“You’ll have to speak to my
lawyers.”
At the end of the press
conference, Hayne’s lawyers
released a statement in which
they said Hayne has found the
accusations “personally dis-
tressing”.
The statement, issued by
Madison Marcus Law Firm,
also declared Hayne is yet to
receive any formal documen-
tation associated with the civil
suit filed in the Santa Clary
County court.
“The last week or so have
been personally distressing
for not only me, but my family
and friends, as civil proceed-
ings making serious allega-
tions have been publicly aired,
and in certain media have fol-
lowed me on a personal pre-
planned trip to the other side
of the world,” Hayne said in a
statement.
“I was not given any notice
of these proceedings prior to
any media reports.
“I confirm that I unequivo-
cally and vehemently deny
the allegations made against
me and I will be vigorously de-
fending the matter. As every-
one should understand, I can-
not publicly discuss anything
relating to this matter as it is
now the subject of legal pro-
ceedings in the United States.
“I’d like to thank all the
family, friends and fans who
have both privately and pub-
licly sent messages of sup-
port.”
Hayne will be represent-
ed by lawyer Mark Baute of
Baute, Crochetiere and Hart-
ley LLP, according to the state-
ment.
Baute said in the statement
there is “no objective evi-
dence” to support the claims
made in the civil suit.
“Mr Hayne is innocent and
will ask a United States jury
to find him innocent,” Baute
said.
“There is no objective evi-
dence of any sexual assault
in this matter and the lawsuit
with a license.
California City mayor Jen-
nifer Wood was present at the
groundbreaking and called
the new ranch a “rebirth” for
the city, per Trock, as it hopes
lacks merit. We do not intend
to “try this case in the media”
and will refrain from further
public comment, other to say
that Mr Hayne and I look for-
ward to the day when a jury
can decide he is innocent.”
The Eels’ first training ses-
sion of 2018 was the first time
Hayne has worn Parramatta’s
blue and gold since he left the
club to pursue a career in the
NFL at the end of 2014.
It has been just over a
month since Hayne walked
out on the Gold Coast Titans
to return to Parramatta, but
his Eels defection was not the
biggest question mark hang-
ing over the 29-year-old when
he faced the press at Parra-
matta Stadium.
The NSW State of Origin
star has denied in a written
statement claims from a US
civil suit he raped a 25-year-
old woman in 2015 while
playing for the San Francisco
49ers.
The woman — identified
only as “Ms V” — went for a
drink at a bar with friends after
attending the 49ers’ 24-14 loss
to the Cincinatti Bengals on
December 20, 2015, at Levi’s
Stadium near San Jose, ac-
cording to court documents.
Court documents submit-
ted in the civil suit against
Hayne allege that in the early
hours of Monday, Decem-
ber 21, 2015 “despite having
minimal interaction that night
[Hayne] took the now heav-
ily intoxicated [woman] back
to his home in San Jose via
Uber”.
It was in his apartment the
alleged incident took place
with the woman who says she
had never had sexual inter-
course previously.
The documents say she felt
pain, and the following morn-
ing woke up among bloodied
sheets.
She then took “an under-
garment” because she alleg-
edly felt people would not
believe the incident had taken
place, and for police to test.
The civil suit, filed in the
Santa Clary County court, in-
cludes claims of sexual bat-
tery, battery, negligence, gen-
der violence and intentional
to provide many jobs for the
area.
BLEACHER REPORT
infliction of emotional distress
against Hayne.
Through his legal represen-
tatives, Hayne has previously
unequivocally and vehement-
ly denied the allegations.
In May 2016, the young
woman reported the alleged
assault to San Jose police.
The District Attorney’s of-
fice informed the young wom-
an that “there was not enough
evidence to prove the crime
of rape beyond a reasonable
doubt”.
The NRL released a state-
ment in December to an-
nounce it is unlikely to stand
Hayne down during the civil
suit.
The Eels have also said
publicly they will monitor the
situation, but have not stood
their star-signing down dfrom
any duties.
The two-time Dally M med-
allist first completed a time
trial run and ran laps at the
Eels’ training base in front of a
throng of cameras and await-
ing media in scenes reminis-
cent of Parramatta’s scandal-
plagued 2016 season.
Regardless, the media
circus surrounding Hayne’s
every movement will be pre-
cisely what low-key coach
Brad Arthur would have want-
ed to avoid when he signed
the high-profile player.
The Eels have claimed they
were unaware of the allega-
tions when they signed him
last month.
Hayne spoke to local inves-
tigators after the woman went
to the police in May 2016, but
the case was rejected by the
Santa Clara County District At-
torney’s Office in October of
that year due to a lack of evi-
dence.
The woman is now pursu-
ing Hayne on claims of sexual
battery, gender violence, in-
fliction of emotional distress
and negligence. Hayne was
signed in August 2016 by the
then-NRL-owned Titans, who
have also claimed they were
unaware of the investigation
at the time.
AAP
Why Jarryd Hayne wanted
to address the media on his
first day at the Eels
‘If you don’t start asking
football questions,” uttered
Brad Arthur from the back of
the rather large media scrum,
“I am going to pull him.”
The thing is, though, only
a handful of reporters at Jar-
ryd Hayne’s first media con-
ference on the first day of his
second coming at his old club
had any rugby league ques-
tions for him.
Most wanted to talk about
the rape allegation that has
been levelled against him in
a civil lawsuit from a 25-year-
old woman known only as Ms
V.
It’s an all-too-common oc-
currence in footy these days:
general news reporters ask-
ing about an off-field issue,
rubbing shoulders with sports
reporters, who need to cover
off on both
“If you want to talk about
football, I am more than hap-
py,” Hayne said after he was
bombarded with questions
that weren’t about football.
“I can’t talk about it. You
can ask whatever you wanna
ask, but I’ll avoid it and deflect
it and talk about my lawyers.
If you want to talk about foot-
ball, I love being back at my
childhood club, seeing the
guys I’ve played footy with
since I was a kid …”
A footballer who is usually
swimming in self-confidence,
Hayne appeared nervous as
he tried to “avoid and deflect”
to his lawyers.
It was a curious scene.
Standing just over his
right shoulder throughout
the 10-minute grilling stood a
snappily dressed young man
– dark suit, tie, even a sil-
ver tie pin – who had earlier
emerged from a shiny black
BMW before walking through
a hole in the wire fence at
the Eels’ nondescript training
ground in North Parramatta.
He was later revealed to be
an associate of Hayne’s law-
yer, Ramy Qutami, and when
Hayne finished avoiding and
deflecting, the bloke with
the tie-pin handed out media
statements to reporters.
Baute successfully defend-
ed New York Knicks point-
guard Derek Rose and two of
his friends against rape allega-
tions in an enormously publi-
cised trial in 2016.
Baute reduced the woman
to tears in the witness box and
later wore accusations from
many quarters of “slut sham-
ing” her.
“Crocodile tears,” he said
in an interview with The
Guardian. “Pretty easy to fake
if you’re looking for 20 million
bucks.”
Wednesday afternoon’s
media opp was a perfect op-
portunity for Hayne to elabo-
rate on the accusations being
levelled at him from Ms V.
He looked like he wanted
to but wasn’t budging from
the instructions of his legal
team.
Fair enough: that’s what
they are being paid for.
Still, he’s more than aware
of the distraction this whole
episode has been causing his
old/new club since the story
broke just before Christmas.
Arthur later told Fairfax
Media it was Hayne’s idea to
address the media on his first
day back at the club he left in
2014 to pursue an NFL career
with the San Francisco 49ers,
the team he was playing for
when the rape allegedly oc-
curred.
“It was his idea to do it be-
cause it was best for the club
and the team and not him-
self,” Arthur said.
“He phoned me [before
Christmas] and said, ‘I don’t
want to put you through this
www.scribd.com/thejet
so let’s deal with it’.
He was keen to deal with
it before New Year’s but I said
let’s wait until you start on
January 3.
“It’s optimistic to believe
that one short media confer-
ence will bury the interest in
the story or even Hayne, al-
though it will stop – for now –
non-rugby league news crews
doing live crosses during Eels
training sessions.
“It’s just one of those things
you gotta go through,” Hayne
said. “It’s a bit of adversity. As
players we go through all sorts
of things. This is the situation
I’m in and we’ll go through it.”
Players do face all sorts of
adversity — Hayne’s endured
plenty, some of it of his own
doing — but a high-profile civ-
il lawsuit that could see him
return to the US should it go
to trial is something different
altogether.
Will the allegation be a dis-
traction for him?
“Being in this environment
around us and his teammates,
and he’s busy, that will be the
key,” Arthur said.
“There will be times when
he’s on his own and he might
struggle with it. But our play-
ers have become quite tight
away from our training base
now. He’s got a lot of friends
here like Tim Mannah, Mi-
chael Jennings ... that he
cares about and they care
about him.”
Another question about
the case prompted Hayne to
chuckle. “Football!” he plead-
ed.
A football question was
forthcoming and suddenly the
media scrum halved, most of
them no longer interested.
When Hayne trained be-
fore the cameras earlier in the
morning, he struggled in run-
ning drills, plodding away at
the back of the pack.
That’s the Hayne Plane we
all know and love: it was no
different when he was here
as their bona fide superstar.
Their only superstar.
What the cameras didn’t
capture was that it was one
of four sessions for the day,
including extras on a bike be-
fore he fronted the press.
“The lungs were alright but
it was more the legs,” Hayne
said. “I’ve got a big 11 weeks
before the season starts.”
Said Arthur: “I know it
sounds corny but it was good
to have him back ... I spoke to
him yesterday and he rang me
again late last night. He’d nev-
er say it but he was nervous
about today and what was in
front of him. [But] it’s a bit like
he’d never left. He blended
straight in.”
Arthur and the Eels are ex-
pecting something different
from Hayne this time around.
The last time he was here,
he was the big dog who
barked when he wanted to.
Because the Eels were so
reliant on him, their season
swung on which side of the
bed he got out of. Parramatta
are no longer that kind of club.
“What we don’t expect
from him is to win games
of footy for us,” Arthur said.
“What we expect is that he
brings his best version of him-
self every week, plays consis-
tent ... When we need some-
one to break the game open,
we want him to do that. But
he’s not relied upon to do that
all the time.”
It was probably the best
thing Hayne could’ve heard.
Then this: “And I won’t
have to do as many media in-
terviews too.”
SMH.COM.AU
www.thejetnewspaper.com
Nakarawa Named
Third Best Player in
World Rugby Top 100
Nakarawa Named Third
Best Player in World Rugby
Top 100
England playmaker Owen
Farrell has been voted the
game’s best player by Rugby
World magazine.
Farrell is joined in the top
10 by international colleague
Maro Itoje with Courtney
Lawes the next highest-
placed member of Eddie
Jones’ squad at 17th.
New Zealand fly-half Be-
Townsend wins 2018
ISPS HANDA PGA
Tour of Australasia
Q-School
Aaron Townsend & General Manager - Tournaments at ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.
Photo: SUPPLIED.
Townsend wins 2018 ISPS
HANDA PGA Tour of Austral-
asia Q-School
Aaron Townsend has won
the 2018 ISPS HANDA PGA
Tour of Australasia Qualifying
School presented by Cobra
Puma Golf after holding off
Jordan Mullaney at Moonah
Links.
The New South Welshman
was the first to admit he has
taken his fair share of punish-
ment from the Moonah Links
layout and thought it may get
the better of him again early in
his round.
“I thought it was going to
get me back today actually af-
ter I beat it up yesterday,” said
Townsend.
“It wasn’t a good start, I
was really battling early, lucki-
ly I made a couple of putts, my
putter really saved me today.”
Townsend and Mullaney
were running a two horse
race with a sizeable gap on
the field and it was Mullaney
who took the lead by one as
auden Barrett - the reigning
world player of the year - is
second and Fiji lock Leone
Nakarawa third.
Tadhg Furlong was the only
Irishman on the list, which
appears to make an effort to
include representatives from
as many different nations as
possible.
Lists of this nature always
create debate and here is
the list of the game’s current
greats that plenty will beg to
the pair made the turn.
The running battle was a
distraction to Townsend but
his experience came to the
fore and he was able to re-
gain the lead on the second
last hole, finishing his round
3-under 69 and 16-under the
card.
“Because we had such a
gap on the field it was sort of a
distraction and that probably
took too much of my focus.
“But Jordan played great,
he pushed me all the way and
I think he lead for most of the
day, I was surprised I got in
front of him because he never
looked like hitting a bad shot.
“I hit a nice birdie on the
17th to get me in front and just
held him off.”
Townsend takes home a
cheque for $5,000 for his win
but the real reward is know-
ing he has a guaranteed start
in every tournament of the
2018 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of
Australasia season.
After a tough 2017,
differ with:
1) Owen Farrell
2) Beauden Barrett
3) Leone Nakarawa
4) Maro Itoje
5) Israel Folau
6) Stuart Hogg
7) Jonathan Davies
8) Michael Hooper
9) Tadhg Furlong
10) Brodie Retallick
INDEPENDENT.IE
Townsend said winning Qual-
ifying School gives him the
peace of mind of a secure
spot on the Tour and hopes
the win is a sign of things to
come next year.
“The best thing about fin-
ishing in this position is I don’t
have to worry about the re-
rank, I know I’m just exempt
all year, so I can address my
season like I have every other
season, it won’t change too
much for me which is nice.
“Hopefully this is a sign of
things turning around and I
can forget about last season
and move on to 2018.”
Earning a Category 11
exemption and finishing in
respective order was Jordan
Mullaney (15-under), Harri-
son Endycott (7-under), Sam
Lee (7-under), and Adam Ste-
phens (6-under).
Players who finished sixth
through to 40th plus ties re-
ceive Exemption Category 16.
FIJI INTERNATIONAL
Fiji Lock, Leone Nakarawa (right) named third best player in world rugby by Rugby World
Magazine. Photo: INDEPENDENT.IE.
2018 Fiji
International to
Capture Key
Markets
The Fiji International will
return to the Pacific for its fifth
staging, will be held from 2-5
August 2018 at Natadola Bay
Championship Golf Course.
The event will be tri-sanc-
tioned by the ISPS HANDA
PGA Tour of Australasia, the
European Tour and the Asian
Tour.
As part of the tri-sanction-
ing agreement, the Fiji Inter-
national will not compete
with any other tournaments
on the three tours in the Asia-
Pacific region during the first
week in August.
With a key strategic focus
to leverage the tournament
to build awareness and grow
golf tourism from key Asian
markets, the stand alone date
provides the best opportu-
nity to attract key Asian play-
ers and media to attend the
event.
“The Fiji International has
showcased Fiji’s capability
to host international sporting
events, and more specifically
grow golf as a niche tour-
ism product,” said the Fijian
Minister for Industry, Trade,
Tourism, Lands and Mineral
Resources Honorable Faiyaz
Siddiq Koya.
“We are thrilled to once
again partner in this tri-sanc-
tioned event and we trust that
the event will secure high pro-
file golfers from Asia and the
rest of the world,” the Hon.
Minister added.
The inaugural tri-sanction-
ing in 2017 with the introduc-
tion of the Asian Tour saw an
immediate increase of Asian
players in the field, rising from
5 to 23 players and a notable
increase in television broad-
Sponsorship Boost
By LUKE NACEI
Fulton Hogan Fiji Civil Is-
land Breeze Rugby plus man-
agement received a timely
boost from BLK worth $2,500
of sportswear in organizing a
clinic next week in Ovalau.
The main focus of the
clinic is regarding Life after
Rugby for local players who
have the passion of becoming
THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
cast throughout Asia.
“Scheduling a date on the
busy global golf calendars al-
ways presents a challenge,”
said Gavin Kirkman, CEO of
the PGA of Australia which
oversees the ISPS HANDA
PGA Tour of Australasia.
“We are confident that with
the support of our sanctioning
partners, the prominent Au-
gust date represents a great
opportunity for increased in-
terest and exposure.
“The 2017 event resulted in
over 20 hours of global broad-
cast vision which advertised
Fiji to the world and encour-
aged more golf fans to visit Fiji
on their next golfing holiday.
We look forward to building
on this in 2018.”
Over the past few years,
the Fiji International has
established a reputation
amongst the world’s best golf-
ers as a must attend event for
themselves and their families.
The early August date fol-
lows on from the success-
ful timing of the 2017 event,
which saw an impressive
field of international players
compete in pristine condi-
tions, further cementing the
attraction of the tournament
for players.
“The Asian Tour was
pleased to sanction the Fiji
International for the first time
in 2017. Our players enjoyed
themselves on the beautiful
isle of Fiji and performed well
with Thailand’s Jazz Janewat-
tananond closing with a su-
perb 65 to finish tied-second.
“We look forward to con-
tinuing our excellent coop-
eration with the ISPS HANDA
PGA Tour of Australasia and
sportsmen and women in the
future.
BLK commercial and mar-
keting director Liga Gukisuva
says giving into something as
important as this is worth giv-
ing for.
“We are quite fortunate to
be given this opportunity to
provide attires for this clinic
www.scribd.com/thejet
the European Tour to bring
this excellent tournament to
greater heights in the years
ahead,” said Josh Burack,
Chief Executive Officer of the
Asian Tour.
The redesign of the cham-
pionship course from Fiji’s
number one golf ambassador,
Vijay Singh, was on display for
the first time during the 2017
event and resulted in spec-
tacular viewing of Fiji’s natu-
ral beauty during the interna-
tional broadcast.
With a further year of
the redesigned holes being
bedded in and with overall
growth of the newly laid turf,
the course is sure to be in ex-
ceptional condition in 2018
when on show to the world.
Keith Waters, Chief Oper-
ating Officer, European Tour
added: “We are delighted
that the Fiji International re-
turns to the European Tour’s
international schedule for the
third consecutive year. Our re-
lationship with both the PGA
Tour of Australasia and Asian
Tour continues to go from
strength-to-strength through
our Strategic Alliances, and
we look forward to returning
to Natadola Bay Golf Course
and the beautiful surround-
ings of Fiji, for what I am sure
will be another successful
event in 2018.”
The PGA of Australia, in
partnership with Sports & En-
tertainment Limited (SEL) will
continue to further develop
and evolve the Fiji Interna-
tional to ensure it continues
its status as a leading tourna-
ment in the Australasian re-
gion.
FIJI INTERNATIONAL
and the officials so that par-
ticipants come in to the week-
long clinic they see a united
committee and we are happy
they focus on the life after rug-
by for the participants.”
The participating teams
are urged to leave for Levuka
this weekend before the pro-
gram starts on Monday.
27
www.thejetnewspaper.com www.scribd.com/thejet

Page 26 Page 27
Jarryd Hayne Breaks Nakarawa Named
Silence on Rape 3rd Best Player in
Accusations World Rugby Top 100
2018 VOLUME 10 ISSUE 98 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

FORMER 15S REP

BOOST AVIATORS TEAM

By LUKE NACEI
The Nadi Aviators Rugby
League Club will be leaving
no stone unturned as they
spearhead their prepara-
tion for the Melanisean Cup
in Papua New Guinea next
month.
Speaking to Jetsports
coach Vela Tawake said ev-
ery training session the team
does will be a learning curve
for them.
Tawake said their have
been a lot of set back for the
team.
He said this has really af-
fected the side in terms of its
fitness level.
“The team is still not up to
par. We are taking all this ses-
sion we having with Netanj
Talei as a learning curve,” he
said.
Tawake said their aim is to
win this year’s competition.
“Our target us to win the
Melanesian competition this
year as we have lost twice.”
The Sabeto, Nadi based
team had the service of for-
mer Flying Fijian 7s flanker
Netani Talei who assisted the
team with their training.
Tawake said Netan is of
great assistance to the team.
He said this will really
boost the side as they pre-
pare for the competition.
“Netani here with us is a
great help and we are thank-
ful for him.”
The side have been pre-
paring since November last
year.
The Nadi Aviators Rugby League team during their training session at the AFL grounds in Namaka. PHOTO : LUKE NACEI.

28 THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER