Today in History Wednesday, December 19, 1973
1973 Friday, December 19, 1969
Meat price allegations are denied
The government has denied that the establishment of a Meat Industry Board slaughterhouse for Suva would result in a meat price rise. A Government spokesman also denied that the Minister for Natural Resources, D.W.Brown, had implied in an interview with a representative of Wailekutu Meats Ltd that he was prepared for a rise of five or six cents a pound in the price of meat.
Farmers’ bank may solve indebtedness
A farmers’ bank as a solution to the problem of indebtedness in which more than 10,000 cane farmers live may be the outcome of a resolution unanimously approved in the Legislative Council. The Government accepted an Opposition motion that “examine the feasibility of an agricultural bank and explore the possibility of applying for the money in the Sugar Price Stabilisation Fund as the capital of such bank.”
Wednesday, December 19, 1973
Price of petrol likely to rise by 5c
Fiji motorists may have to pay more petrol any time now. The prices and Incomes Board has refused to confirm reports of a proposed raise.
But the price of petrol is expected to rise by 4.5 cents to 5c a gallon in Suva and other centres on Viti Levu. Petrol now costs 51c on Viti Levu.
BP bars jobs to USP students
A big company in Fiji has refused to give holiday jobs to university students partly because of a booklet about Australian interests in Fiji.
The booklet, Fiji: A Development Australian Colony, is about multinational commercial organisations and economic investment.
Thursday, December 19, 1974
A victim may lose an eye
The Nadi victim of a robbery with violence involving three men - two of whom police alleged were Naboro Prison Farm escapees - is in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva and is likely to lose an eye. Police arrested the three men in Nausori Highlands
Fiji’s nightclub proprietors strongly criticised liquor law changes which will mean they will have to close at 1am. They asked the Senate to take a more broad-minded view before passing the bill which has been passed by the House of Representatives. The Bill will cut nightclub hours and introduce a new class of public bars, to be called “taverns.”
Car owners pay more The cost of owning a car will jump next April when big increases in private motor vehicle licensing fees will come into force.
Many car owners will have to pay about double the present wheel tax, and those with big cars – those exceeding 2000cc – will pay up to four times more.
1979
Third-party necessary say, Reddy
A third party was needed to go out and tell cane growers the details and correct misconceptions, of the proposed new cane contract, the leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Reddy said.
Mr Reddy was speaking in response to a Fiji Times query about his views on statements made by the Independent Chairman of the Sugar Industry, Ian Thomson in Ba recently.
1984 Tuesday, December 19, 1979 Wednesday, December 19, 1984
Naboro escapees
Three prisoners escaped from Naboro Prison because front page on Thursday, December 19, 1974. they were being ill-treated by other inmates, the Suva Court has heard. The three were caught near their homes and pleaded guilty before Chief Magistrate, Gordon Ward to charges of escaping from lawful custody. They were each jailed for a further two months.
$126,000 loss for a dairy company
The Rewa Cooperative Dairy Company has reported a net loss of $126, 130. It made a net profit of $255,655 over the same period last year.
The loss has been blamed on the oversupply of milk from farmers and competition from imported dairy products. front page on Tuesday, December 19, 1978.