In-country COVID Minister highlights girmit test remains - Fong struggles
THE Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MOHMS) has not removed the in-country COVID-19 tests, said MOHMS permanent secretary Dr James Fong during the handing over of critical care supplies by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) in Suva last week.
“What we’ve removed is the pre-departure COVID-19 test where people are supposed to test within 72 hours of departure before coming into Fiji,” Dr Fong said.
“The removal of that was also by the fact that we got the vaccination age of people coming in have to be vaccinated and we dropped the age from 18 to 16.
“We’ve also been able to drop the pre-departure testing because we’ve strengthened our in country testing ability.
“We have a number of sites around the country where before coming into the country you have to book into those sites and demonstrate to the departure desk from the country of origin that you have booked your test.
“So that capability is now better and we have a better capability to monitor and see that those arriving in are actually tested.”
He urged former and current citizens of Fiji who were arriving into the country to get tested while in the country.
“We don’t have too much problem with our foreign travellers and tourists, they are a much easier group to manage.
“The biggest problem really is former citizens and citizens who come back who are more likely to forget about in-country tests and we’ve made a strong appeal in that statement.”
EDUCATION Minister Premila Kumar says we must appreciate that the freedom, prosperity and unity that we enjoyed did not come without a lot of pain, hardship, and struggles.
Speaking during the opening of the 143rd Girmit Carnival in Nausori on Saturday, Mrs Kumar said over the years Fiji had achieved a lot in terms of social, cultural and economic development.
“The conditions, in which the girmitiyas lived and worked, were not good.
“They were beaten, kicked, punched and whipped in the fields, women and girls were ill-treated, even sexually abused, and families were tortured.”
She said the indentured labourers made a significant contribution towards the development of Fiji.
“When they arrived in Fiji, only thing they could see was jungle, a lot of bush and they had to clear all the bush, they had to create, they had to really work on the field to make it more productive for the sugarcane plantation because just before that, the cotton industry in Fiji was plagued by several diseases and the cotton industry was not doing well.
“So during that time, the British rulers decided that “let’s try our hands on sugar” and for that reason the indentured labourers came to Fiji.
“Their sacrifice and struggle actually nourished Fiji’s economy, we all must appreciate the contribution made by the indentured labourers, their legacy has been continued by the descendants to the present day.
“Most of the girmitiyas did not have any education but they knew that to get out of the hardship they were facing, they must provide their children with a good education.
“And I remember growing up in my own family; education played a very important role and we were always taught and heard from our parents, that you must study, you must get out of this poverty because education is one thing that can never be taken away.”
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