Employment schemes

Power cuts

WE are told that the planned power shutdowns take place so that urgent line maintenance can be carried out to ensure public safety and security of power.

On eight randomly picked advertised days, EFL designated between seven and 17 areas for these so-called urgent repairs, which involve both power cuts and ‘ partial outages’.

So-called repairs to power lines take place in at least seven areas every day.

Last weekend, at Pacific

I WAS astonished to see the number of workers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme stand at 29,000 as of September 30,2022 and another 40,000 awaiting job offers (FT 21/10).

How many are from Fiji?

Even more surprising was Minister Parveen Kumar’s comment - “as much as they welcome the economic and material opportunities the PALM scheme provided, as a Government, they were naturally concerned with the social impact of labour mobility programs (FT 21/10)”.

Excuse me, did Australia just waltz into Fiji and start via our National Employment Centre (NEC), to recruit youths to work abroad under this scheme?

I believe Fiji had set up a village based recruitment process (FT 20/10). The iTaukei villages are emptying out.

Work that is usually done by these youths in the village like mowing the village rara (grounds) is now being done by women and children.

This PALM scheme has created a vacuum in the iTaukei villages. Are we prepared for the social costs of this work scheme? I’m talking about separation, breakups etc?

I believe over 90 per cent of these youths from Fiji are iTaukei.

I pray that they will take seriously their civic duty to vote in our upcoming general elections while abroad.

I hear that some employers overseas are banning leave from November, December through to January next year because it is a busy time for them.

How will our youths get time to vote?

Has Fiji now moved into the urban recruitment process that our Fijian employers are crying foul (FT 21/10)?

Surely this PALM scheme should have been discussed with stakeholders like our Fijian employers, and community and religious leaders before it even started. Samoa and Vanuatu are reviewing their PALM schemes (FT 20/10), couldn’t Fiji take a breather and do the same.

If we don’t take this matter seriously, even the hospitals and health centres will empty out.

The way I look at it, prevention is always better than cure. KORINA WAIBUTA Knollys St, Suva