We need unity first
IMUST express disappointment that the government has chosen not to grant the people a working day holiday to celebrate Fiji Day.
Sadly, it shows a lack of national pride on their part.
Be that as it may, the past two years or so have clearly brought home the urgent need for a change of direction and leadership. Our nation is in deep distress and there are serious challenges ahead.
We all know that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated our economic and social problems. But it is also well acknowledged that the economy was in dire trouble long before the pandemic hit us.
I must thank the front line workers — doctors, nurses, paramedics, the security forces and all others who worked tirelessly, despite the risk to their lives, to contain the virus and help save lives.
Some 14 years of gross misrule and mismanagement has driven the country to virtual bankruptcy with a huge debt burden. In the past three years alone, the economy shrank by an estimated 27 per cent.
The folly of depending so heavily on tourism which accounted for some 40 per cent of the GDP, came home to roost when the industry collapsed with the closure of international borders.
It wrought untold suffering and caused severe social dislocation as tens of thousands of workers lost their livelihoods overnight and were driven into the poverty net. They were forced to withdraw millions of dollars of their pension funds to provide for their families.
The effect of all this on the national psyche has been devastating. It has sapped confidence in the nation’s future.
Our young people, unable to find jobs despite university degrees and diplomas, are frustrated and resentful. Our farmers are struggling to survive faced with high prices of farm inputs and inadequate government support.
The business community, hit hard by long periods of lockdowns and closures, is equally at a loss on how to rebound and recoup.
The nation needs visionary, competent and caring leadership. It needs a new direction — to broaden our economic base, concentrate on the sustainable development of our natural resources, focus on agriculture and the development of our rural sector.
We need to create jobs, reduce poverty and improve the living standards of our people.
Above all, we need to unite to bring about the change that the nation so desperately needs.