The Real Survivor Fiji – Tale Of Three Reports

Fiji’s Minister for Tourism, Labour and Environment: Mrs Bernadette Rounds Ganilau – Image Credit: e-Travel Blackboard

The Real Survivor Fiji – Tale Of Three Reports

The internet is a fascinating resource, one can receive news alerts from all over the world … or just one country and learn about how things are getting along.

For example, at the end of this week, at MAXINE, we had these three news items contained in one news alert for the island nation of Fiji.

This excerpted from e-Travel Blackboard -

Tourism is the way forward for Fiji,
says Fiji’s Minister for Tourism, Labour and Environment.
e-Travel Blackboard - Friday, May 18, 2007

At this week’s Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange (BFTE), Fiji’s Minister for Labour, Tourism and Environment, Mrs Bernadette Rounds Ganilau spoke with e-Travel Blackboard regarding her predictions for the future of Fiji’s tourism.

Although tourism has suffered greatly from the military coup late last year, Minister Ganilau feels that this downturn is already showing signs of recovery. “[Industry stakeholders] are moving even though the movement is not reciprocating from overseas,” she says, “Although I think that numbers are still healthy despite all the travel advisories and media reports overseas.”

In terms of tourism strategies for the short and long term, Minister Ganilau says, “We are trying to move to a clearer, far reaching tomorrow with the forward looking strategies we are putting in place.” This includes the consolidation of a new tourism development plan as well conducting legislative reform to better suit the needs of Fiji’s tourism industry.
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“Tourism is it for Fiji,” says Minister Ganilau, “Tourism the way forward for Fiji. Tourism was opening doors for us when all the doors were shut. When all the doors were closed to us, tourism was leading the way. [At the same time], industry stakeholders are suffering financially, emotionally, and physically in the hopes that one person or a group of people will walk through.”
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“We can’t do anything about the budget. We inherited a lemon. So we had to start from somewhere and that included cutting everywhere, tightening belts and being very economical about everything we do,” says Minister Ganilau. This included a 40 precent pay cut by all personnel and administrators.

“I am constantly building bridges and starting new alliances to broaden connections and benefit tourism as well. I definitely think that the cabinet have great faith in tourism,” Minister Ganilau adds.

Mr. Tony Whitton, a representative from the Tourism Action Group (which was re-activated following the coup to help with Fiji’s recovery) said, “Despite all the murmurings in the rest of the world, Fiji remains a safe, hospitable and a resort and holiday experience... It’s important for the industry to come together as one voice and one team to establish the brand Fiji.”

“The resilience of the tourism industry will pay off. Business will be as usual,” admits Minister Ganilau. “When the turnaround is slow, I have a feeling it will be permanent. When it is quick, it is like an onslaught as a result of marketing. I have hope."
Reference Here>>

We really love the quote – “We can’t do anything about the budget. We inherited a lemon.“ – wouldn’t that be … “We stole the lemons and now we are having trouble making lemonade”????

… And this from the Military front -

Does anyone else besides Frank Bainimarama and the military he controls think it is a grand idea to hold a nation hostage to the detriment of the commerce and freedoms of the peoples of the nation - Fiji? - Image Credit: CYBER DIVER News Network

Fiji military closes blogs critical of government and army
The Associated Press - Published: May 18, 2007

SUVA, Fiji: Fiji's military has blocked access to several Web sites that contained damaging allegations against the army and members of the interim government, a senior officer said Friday.

Fiji Land Force Commander Col. Pita Driti said access was cut Thursday to the Web journals, or blogs, which he said were full of lies and a threat to national security.
----
Driti said three blogs, "resistfrankscoup," "intelligensiya" and "fijishamelist" all contained "lies and agitation."

"They are all fighting for one cause and saying the same thing," said Driti. "All we are trying to say is the blog sites are full of lies and deception."

The three sites advocated passive resistance against the military-backed government, including urging Fijians not to go to work.

They also regularly posted critical comments of the government and military, including Bainimarama, and slammed the administration's ongoing crackdown on corruption as a "farce" as it failed to result in any arrests.

FINTEL, the company that governs Fiji's Internet access, confirmed the Home Affairs Ministry had approached it to shut off access to the blogs, said Chief Executive Sakaraia Tuilakepa.
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Driti said the military would continue to hunt down bloggers critical of the government, noting emergency regulations remain in place in the wake of the coup, and "people should realize that certain freedoms are restricted, including freedom of speech."

"When we get to these bloggers we will take them up to the barracks and warn them of the dangers of what they are doing. They will just be warned and advised," he said.

Since the coup there have been hundreds of reported cases of people being detained, threatened, intimidated and in some cases beaten. Most such reports have been denied by military chiefs.
Read All>>

The top quote being - "people should realize that certain freedoms are restricted, including freedom of speech." – this should not set well with the citizens of a formally free and democratic nation.

The websites advocated passive resistance against the military-backed government, including urging Fijians not to go to work … this may not be a real problem in that there is little work to be had because the world does not want to visit a JAIL run by the military.

A jail is a jail even though it may be located in a cultural island paradise!

Of course, there is always “The Fire Sale” … this excerpted from the CYBER DIVER News Network (a report from Fiji Daily Post) -

Desperate Fiji resorts cut rates in half
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network

SUVA, Fiji (17 May 2007) -- Hotels and resorts in Fiji have now resorted to discounts of up to 50 percent to try to lure tourists to Fiji.

Tourism Action Group Chair Damend Goundar said, "They are now unable to come up with any new strategies because the hotels and resorts have done all they can."

Goundar said the main factor, keeping tourists from coming to Fiji was the continued extension of the Public Safety Regulation.

He said the Fiji Visitors Bureau should be given additional funding to better market Fiji in overseas markets.

The Tourism Action Group (TAG) was set up to revive the flagging fortunes of the tourism industry after the December 5 coup.

It has had the benefit of donations from stakeholders in the industry and the Interim Government.

TAG was instrumental in reviving the industry after the 2000 crisis but there are indications that the after-effects of the 2006 coup on the industry would be far more devastating.

An industry insider pointed to the large number of workers in the industry left jobless after last year's military coup.
Reference Here>>

Jobless due to the coup … NOT THE INTERNET, Commodore Frank!

Does anyone else besides Frank Bainimarama and the military he controls think it is a grand idea to hold a nation hostage to the detriment of the commerce and freedoms of the peoples of the nation - FIJI?

Again, no one wants to visit a JAIL!

The Real Survivor Fiji - Frank Hates People's Opinions

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces - Image Credit: Wikipedia

The Real Survivor Fiji - Frank Hates People's Opinions

In a move that can only mean the worst has yet to come, the self-appointed (he would never have been elected - not bright enough) leader of the nation of freedom loving island peoples, Fiji, is attempting to shut down the ... get this ... The Internet!

Of course, this act is beyond hubris. It reminds me of the boast that Al Gore made during the run up to America's 2000 presidential elections (to paraphrase) "I invented the Internet!"

What does Commodore Frank Bainimarama plan to say ... "I killed the Internet!"???

To which the collective response should be ... "Was that before or after you killed the country and peoples you forcibly took rule over?"

Frank hates people's opinions so that is why we at MAXINE do not really care for Frank.

This from All Headline News -

Fiji Military Moves To Close Down Blogging Sites
Richard Bowden - AHN Staff Writer - May 11, 2007 7:01 p.m. EST

Suva, Fiji (AHN) - The Fijian ruling military junta has moved to close down blog sites critical of the regime after unsuccessful attempts to find those responsible for the sites.

Senior military commander Colonel Pita Driti told Pacific Radio Friday that access to the sites would be closed yesterday.

A spokesman for Fiji's only internet provider FINTEL confirmed they had been asked to shut down the web sites by the Government "for security purposes."

"They asked us to address a few things. We have given them some options to consider, because we can't just go into the web and stop access. It would be unfair to the general public," the spokesman said.

He said if the military directed them to block the offending web sites the provider would have no choice but to agree.

"If the directive is to block, then we have no other option but to comply. ... we are seeking authorization on that from our administration," he said.

Three blog sites which have published stories which have embarrassed the military Government since their coup in December 2006 are Intelligentsiya, Resist Frank's Coup and Discombobulated Bubu.
Reference Here>>

Hey Frank! ... BLOCK THIS!

Security reasons ... who's security, Frank?

And Frank thinks to himself, "This is all such an embarrassment."

Hey Frank, GET OVER IT!

To the folks over at Intelligentsiya, Resist Frank's Coup, and Discombobulated Bubu - If you all get shut down, write to MAXINE and we will publish what you have to say. Frank can't shut us down here in the sunny Southland of the good ol' USA!

UPDATE May 17, 2007:

Fijian free speech websites have been inactive for approximately one week. Maybe the writers have "gone to ground" or is Frank and his weak kneed military followers slamming the free speech door shut?

This from Fijilive.com -

Anti-military blogsites become inactive
Thursday May 17, 2007

All activity on the controversial "resistfrankscoup" blogsite has stopped with the last entry now glaringly standing at May 9.

Last week, the Fiji Military Forces had said it was talking with Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd (FINTEL) to stop blog spots on the Internet which it claimed were a threat to national security.

But FINTEL spokesperson Iowane Koroivuki says they haven't done anything to the blogsite.

"If somebody has done something, then it is not us. It has got nothing to do with FINTEL," he said.

"If we had done something we would have told the truth anyway."

The army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama told Fijilive.com that he has informed his people not to waste their time on blogs.

"The blog will take you back its not going to do any good for us.

"It's meant to depress us, it's meant to tell people anti-military stories. It's all lies and there is no use reading it," said Bainimarama.

Another blog site "Intelligentsia" shows no activity either.

Last week, Land Force Commander, Colonel Pita Driti had said they were trying to close all anti military sites namely, Intelligentsia.com, Resistfrankscoup and Fijishamelist.

He claimed the blog spots have continued to annoy the public with their lies and racists comments and they must be stopped.

"We are doing everything we can to put an end to these deceitful rumors by people behind this blogs because they are creating more problems for us and the country," he had said.

"How can we move forward when we have people like this destroying the peace and citizens of this country would be stupid to read their site and fall into their trap?"
Reference Here>>

WHAT TRAP??

You, Frank, have taken upon yourself to DEPRESS the future of your whole country by force and you think, through your EGO colored glasses, ALL decisions and opinions that are made by you are the ONLY opinions that are valid.

Very sad, this!

We, at MAXINE, say - Frank is the problem and as his name suggests --- Frank IS the BAIN of the Fijian people!

The Real Survivor Fiji - Human Writes Blogesphere

"Oppressive Presence" - Image Credit: Reuters

The Real Survivor Fiji - Human Writes Blogesphere

Through the month of February, the new unelected and military Government of Fiji clamped down on the freedom of the press to report what it felt were rights abuses and opinions about the legality of the December Coup action taken on behalf of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

At the beginning of May, the Military began to try and squash the voices that began to pop-up on the World Wide Web with some initial success.

The web, however, can not be silenced short of unplugging the islands nation from the rest of the world.

Of course, with the way that Commodore Frank seems to be running the nations economy into the ground, and declaring that elections to re-establish democracy will not be able to be held until the year 2010, and let us not forget the increased human rights abuses that naturally happen through the process of an illegal military takeover of a "rule of law" based democratic nation - Frank is well on his way to accomplishing this, the unplugging of Fiji from the rest of the world, on his own.

This report from AAP via The New Zealand Herald -

Fijian activists turn to blogs to protest coup
By Xavier La Canna - 5:50PM Tuesday March 20, 2007

The names of the weblogs seem benign - White Rose, Hearts and Minds, Good Men (and Women) Doing Something, Intelligentsiya, Discombobulated Bubu.

But these blogs, and others like them, have been sprouting up in Fiji to protest last year's military coup and alleged human rights abuses that have raised serious concerns in Australia, New Zealand and the US.

Probably the best known is Intelligentsiya, the work of mainstream journalists who say the military regime is stifling their efforts to conventionally report what is happening in their country.

It was launched on January 26, about five weeks after the coup, and vowed to highlight a rash of abuses blamed on the military.

"We felt that a site like Intelligentsiya was all the more important to document and discuss the army's ever-growing human rights abuses - most notably the silencing of dissenting opinion by detention and intimidation," the first posting on the site said.
"These abuses are carried out by the armed forces in the name of 'national security'."

But Intelligentsiya has angered the interim military government, which has branded it a bogus platform for unverified reports of alleged abuses.

And earlier this month, military spokesman Neumi Leweni said efforts were underway to establish exactly who was producing material for the site.

Leweni's warning coincided with another to all journalists in Fiji that the military would haul them in for questioning if they were deemed to have filed "irresponsible" reports.

Since then, one of Intelligentsiya's authors has been questioned, but the site's reports continue to be filed. Supporters can even buy t-shirts carrying the blog's address and the slogan: "We will not be silent".

Good Men (and Women) Doing Something takes it name from the Edmund Burk saying that "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".

"If enough of us start saying the same thing ... that the coup is wrong and that we want and need to have the rule of law in place, and if we all stand together and make this statement, Bainimarama and his illegal government will have to listen," the site says.

The authors of the sites sound brave, but at least one - titled Ms Vakaivosavosa's Blog - has opted not to continue.

"At this time in Fiji, the climate is not right to continue blogging and I want no-one harmed on account of this blog," the final posting on the site said.

"I have received no communication from anyone to stop blogging or to delete the blog - the decision is mine alone."

Intelligentsiya authors also had to retract a story they posted recently about a man they claimed had been beaten to death by soldiers.

The backdown was used by the government as evidence the site could not be trusted.

The military spokesman Leweni recently said the interim government did not impede the media.

"We haven't really interfered with the media. All we have done with the media is getting them to report the truth," he said.

"We actually raised issues with some of them on articles they have published that were totally untrue."

The managing director of Communications Fiji Ltd, William Parkinson, whose company runs the Fiji Village website, said he closed down a popular forum recently after a visit from the deputy commander of Fiji's military, Captain Esala Teleni.

Parkinson later denied the military had pressured him to do so, and that the forum was closed because people posted personal and racial slurs.

In the past month, the general manager of the Fiji Daily Post and the news director of Fiji Television were detained separately over reports the military objected to.

Coup leader Frank Bainimarama, who has appointed himself interim prime minister, has put the entire media industry on notice that his regime won't tolerate reporting deemed to be mischievous.

"We take people up and find out why they are coming up with these stories, which are false," he said earlier this month.
Reference Here>>

The Real Survivor Fiji - A Restricted Press

The Real Survivor Fiji - A Restricted Press

Each by each, Fiji’s democratic institutions are suffering a gradual assault.

Basic freedoms and human rights are being over-run by the all to powerful and illegal acts of an out-of-control Commodore dictator.

The next freedom to suffer is the freedom of the press to operate unhindered.

Now Commodore Frank will try to catch Jell-O by attempting to shut down a website ... an offshore website!!

Excerpts from AAP via Fairfax Digital’s, The Age –

Fiji's coup leader clamps down on media
Australian Associated Press (AAP) - March 8, 2007 - 7:14PM

Fiji's coup leader has warned journalists the military will haul them in for questioning if they are deemed to have filed "irresponsible" reports.

The warning came after the general manager of the Fiji Daily Post and the news director of Fiji Television were detained separately over reports the military objected to.

The Fiji Television report detailed the death of a man after he was allegedly detained and assaulted by soldiers during a drug raid on his village in the east of Vanua Levu, Fiji's second largest island.

Fiji Television has since retracted the story and apologised after the military insisted that soldiers were not involved.

Last week, Fiji Daily Post general manager Mesake Koroi was detained twice for what the military called "anti-military" articles and editorials, the Fijilive online news service reported.

Also on Thursday, the military said it was trying to establish the identities of journalists behind a weblog launched to expose alleged human rights abuses since Commodore Frank Bainimarama's December 5 coup.

Bainimarama, who has appointed himself interim prime minister, told Fijilive that he supported media freedom.

"... it lends credibility not only to the interim government but also to the military, the force behind this interim government and we want it," Fijilive quoted him as saying.

But he issued a warning to journalists, saying there would be consequences for those who made up stories.
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Fiji Military spokesman Neumi Leweni confirmed efforts were underway to establish exactly who was producing material posted on the intelligentsiya weblog, established by journalists to document alleged rights abuses following the December coup.

The site was launched in January and has used it to publish allegations against the military regime, including several deaths it says resulted from bashings by soldiers.

The accounts have angered the military, which says it has not been given the chance to respond to the claims.
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A statement posted on the blog on Thursday said the development was worrying.

But it added: "Should anything happen to Intelligentsiya, it would only serve to canonise the blogsite if the authors were captured and taken up for `re-education'."

"There is no shortage of Intelly Agents.

"We'll keep you posted ... and we continue to stand firm, fearlessly."

Webmasters, a Fijian website company, said the domain indicated the website was based overseas.
Read All>>

UPDATE 3-09-2007:

This from fijivillage.com -

Games up for Intelligentsiya
Army tracks cyber critics
Thursday March 08, 2007

The Fiji Military says it has identified a top educational institution in Suva that is being used as a base to run a controversial website that has been branded by the army as a 'pushover' against the interim regime.

Military spokesman, Major Neumi Leweni confirmed that they have identified a group of people operating from the institution.

"We have made major progress in our efforts to apprehend these people who have been reporting negative things about the military and we have been tracking them for quite some time now," he said.

Major Leweni says that the website recently made defamatory remarks against military and is portraying a negative image of the Interim Government.

"This time they have gone too far and we will be making arrests soon because we know who they are," he added.
Reference & Additional Comments Here>>

Additional Comment Update:

Bainimarama has a go at reporters
NewstalkZB - 11/03/2007 8:32:02

First it was the politicians, now Frank Bainimara is threatening to have a go at Fiji's journalists.

The country's self-appointed Prime Minister says reporters who write what he believes to be false or malicious stories will be taken in for questioning.

He says unbalanced and provocative reporting could create unnecessary fear, anxiety and reaction.

The commodore is unhappy at reports on websites claiming as many as four people have died after being taken into custody by the Fiji military since last year's coup.

He says freedom of the press is not limitless.
Reference Here>>