War of words
MANY eyes must have been caught by this striking bold headline in Wednesday’s (17/01)
The Fiji Times where the former A-G and economy minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum tried to pick on the Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad by saying that honourable Prasad had absolutely no clue on how to run a modern economy.
In his counter attack Prof Prasad said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum was suffering from withdrawal symptoms because he was so drunk with power for so long and now he lost it.
According to our observations, while in power, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum was in charge of multiple ministries simultaneously.
He even had a stint at the Education Ministry, and this could be one reason why this particular ministry is in shambles today. Within a short period of time we had four different education ministers.
We further observed that Mr Sayed-Khaiyum, because of extra power, was branded a dictator that no other minister in the former government would dare to open his or her mouth but to follow the orders.
I believe because of poor judgment and management, the former economy minister failed to control the finance properly and as a result our small nation with less than a million people is facing a $10billion debt.
I believe most government properties: example quarters, hospitals, schools, roads and water supply etc were neglected.
Regular maintenance of these buildings as seen before 2006 almost disappeared. The culture of freebies and handouts were introduced by the previous government.
I believe with such poor record, Mr SayedKhaiyum does not qualify to criticise or attack the current administration.
At the end of the four-year term the general public will have authority to scrutinise the performance of the Government. Let us have patience and wait until 2026.
VIJAY MAHARAJ Navua
Former A-G should move on
FORMER A-G Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum should clean his own back yard first before making unsolicited claims against Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad and the Government of the day.
According to Mr Sayed-Khaiyum, Prof Biman Prasad “was handed the economy on the platter with a fast-growing economy” and that “the economy is not functioning smoothly” (FT 17/01). He also mentioned that the Government
is living in the past, and all the shortcomings are practically blamed on the FijiFirst government.
All this noise by Mr Sayed-Khaiyum just weeks after coming back to Fiji, with complaints being received against him for allegedly making false declarations pertaining to their declaration of assets, liabilities, income, and expenditures which are submitted to the Registrar of Political Parties.
Apart from the usual governmental duties, what extra did his government do while in power for 16 years? Debt reduction? No! In fact, we are in this situation because of the careless and lavish spending of the previous government, so who else should the Coalition Government blame? They cannot shift the blame to Ukraine or America.
RAYNAV CHAND
Nakasi, Nausori