Tue - May 06 '08
May 6, 2008, 08:54

INTERIM Prime Minister Commodore Bainimarama said he called a meeting between editors and publishers yesterday to allay fears that the interim Government was moving to exercise some control of the media. He said the meeting which was by invitation was a means of reiterating the interim Government's stand on media freedom as a constitutional obligation of the State. "I would like to restate the interim Government's unwavering commitment of its constitutional obligation of Freedom of the Press and other media as enshrined in Section 30 of our Constitution," Commodore Bainimarama said in a statement. (FT)

THE Fiji Times publisher Evan Hannah and his Fiji Sun counterpart Russell Hunter will not be allowed to return, it has been revealed. The news follows a meeting between interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and members of the Fiji Media Council yesterday. The Fiji Times editor-in-chief Netani Rika, who was at the meeting, said Commodore Bainimarama offered no reason over why Mr Hannah was deported. (FT)

PUBLIC Service Commission chairman Rishi Ram says the civil service in Singapore, though small in size, is efficient. Mr Ram says the commission feels that model would be beneficial for Fiji's civil service. Mr Ram said the most significant factor is that Singapore has one of the smallest but most efficient civil service in the world. "Their public service reform is a model for Fiji," he said. (FT)

The State is seriously thinking of scrapping the Cost of Living Adjustment payments to civil servants. And last night two major public sector unions condemned the plans by the Public Service Commission. Commission chairman Rishi Ram said it was unfair for the government to pay COLA to non-productive workers. Mr Ram returned last week from Singapore with Interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and senior government officials to study the country's civil service reforms. (FS)

The Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) will have its first meeting some time in June after the new criteria of membership is implemented by the National Council of Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF). GCC taskforce team leader Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo said as soon as they completed their visits to the 14 provinces they would have more time to prepare for the meeting. (DP)

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