THE JET VOLUME 7 NUMBER 9.pdf

JUNE/JULY 2015. ISSUE 68 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

for Lautoka Soon

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

McDonalds Fiji brought smiles to the people of Sugar City as con-struction works has already begun for their new restaurant in Lautoka.

McDonalds Development Partner, Marc McElarth said it is a proud day for McDonalds as their fourth restaurant will be creating employment opportunities for 70 locals with over 207 already been employed by McDonalds all over Fiji.

He said he is looking forward to developing a close relationship with the local community in Lau-toka.

Not only will we be providing full time and part-time employ-ment opportunities for 70 local residents, we will be injecting an annual payroll of approximately $400,000 in annually into the local economy, said Mr McElarth.

McElarth said their intense training program will ensure that from opening day, the new restau-rant provides the high standards of quality, service and cleanliness that McDonalds customers ex-pect.

What makes this restaurant so special is that the local community has played an important role in building the new McDonalds res-

taurant.I am proud that the majority of

materials that will be used to build our restaurant are manufactured locally and the tradesmen are from the Lautoka area.

We are also very proud to be using Tulsi Construction who are a Lautoka-based building company.

Lautoka special administra-tor Jone Nakauvadra thanked the McDonalds family for this brilliant idea of establishing the outlet in Lautoka.

He said the location for this res-taurant is quite ideal as well and it is something that the people of Sugar City deserve.

Lautoka City Council and the people of Lautoka at this point in time would like to congratulate the McDonald family for bringing the restaurant over to Lautoka.

This is something that has been a miss for sometimes in Lautoka. We have been receiving a lot of requests for this, Mr Na-

kauvadra said. The restaurant, located be-

tween Westpac Bank and Total Service Station in Lautoka, is ex-pected to be completed and ready for business by December this year.

FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

McDonalds development partner Marc McElarth, mother Beverly McElarth, Tui Vuda and Lautoka special administrator officiate during the ground-breaking ceremony in Lautoka on Thursday, June 26. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.

New $4.5Million Investment To Boost Lautoka

www.thejetnewspaper.com www.epapergallery.com/thejet

THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER2

FROM THE DESK

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

Fiji - the way the world should be Being the hub of the Pacific, Fiji has everything that a spectacular tropical paradise has to offer - from private island resort accommodations, top class restaurants to white sandy beaches, inbound tours, jet boat rides, hot air balloon rides, mountain trekking, inland tours, eco tourism, sky diving, helicopter rides, cruise trips, scuba diving, massage and beauty parlours, vibrant night life and a

lot more than any other destination in the world offers

q ANUSHIL KUMAR

THE JET is Fijis first community newspaper published bi-monthly by YOURSPACE LIMITED from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.

PUBLISHER : SAMUEL SHANKAR Cell: 9966115EDITOR : ANUSHIL KUMAR Cell: 9203847PRODUCTION : MUNAUWAR KHAN Cell: 9222456NEWS : IVA DANFORD - NAISARA Cell: 9309392 ADVERTISING : MARGARET NAQIRI Cell: 9360047 : NAVINESH KRISHNA Cell: 8356609 OFFICE PHONES : 6707075 / 6750443EMAIL : [email protected] : [email protected] : www.thejetnewspaper.com

PRINTED BY DAVUI PRINTERY LIMITED, 12 BAKA PLACE, LAUCALA BEACH ESTATE, SUVAPhone: (679) 3394755. LAYOUT BY MUNAUWAR KHAN

Voter Registration Phase 1 Begins

The much anticipated crushing season in the West-ern and Northern division is already underway.

Last year, the season completed with the four mills finishing its crush with about 1.83 million met-ric tonnes of cane being crushed producing 226,000 metric tonnes of raw sugar.

Cane farmers were paid F$88.49 per tonne of cane after receiving the final pay-ment for 2013 season in last October. It is a history of our industry in the entire 132 years as this is the highest ever payment to Fijian cane farmers.

This year, Fiji Sugar Cor-poration (FSC) anticipates over 2 million tonnes of cane to be crushed with

Crushing Season Starts

over 240,000 tonnes of sugar production from the four main mills in Fiji.

FSC executive chairman Abdul Khan said in order to achieve this target, their ba-sic strategy is to get a consis-tent supply of good quality cane.

He said they do not fore-see any major issues at the moment.

Meanwhile, since the burning of sugarcane fields is a major concern, the Fiji Police Force is working closely with the Fiji Sugar Corporation and advisory councilors to prevent any further illegal burning of sug-arcane farms

The first phase of voter registration has instigated.

The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) has begun rolling out on this as we progress towards the next election.

Any person who is a Fiji citizen and has reached the age of 18 is entitled to register to vote.

Supervisor of Elec-tions Mohammed Sa-neem said priority is first given to those who

have just met the mini-mum age criteria and those who missed out during the last election.

The focus remains on registering young Fijians who just turned 18 as well as giving the opportunity to any Fiji-an who did not register before, Saneem said.

A more comprehen-sive exercise will be carried out this month while some teams started travelling to lo-cations from late last month.

Saneem said their aim is to offer Fijians election services in an efficient manner.

Where possible, we will accompany other government depart-ments who are visit-ing remote areas and in doing so, we avoid doubling logistics ex-penses.

It is our goal to offer Fijians election servic-es in an efficient man-ner.

Replacement of EVR cards will also be done by the teams at the lo-cations as well as al-lowing Fijians to up-date their details such as change of address.

Other notifications will also be accepted such as death of any

It was a day of en-tertainment, educa-tional and enlighten-ment on Thursday, June 25, as students of Mulomulo Secondary School marked the In-ternational Day against Drugs and Illicit traffick-ing (IDADIT).

The IDADIT was cel-ebrated throughout all

schools in Fiji to com-memorate such an ed-ucational program and to alert all individuals.

Principal Sera Lock-ington said the school conducted their own unique awareness pro-grams and activities.

She said the students had different themes throughout the week and each day students dressed-up according to the theme of the day.

Vice-principal Mo-

hammed Alim said the program was a good opportunity to remind students about the bad effects of drugs.

Life is a very pre-cious gift from God.

Dont waste on senseless things.

Be wise, he said.R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s

from the Nadi wom-ens crisis center were the chief guests during the function.

Mulomulo Secondary Says No to Drugs

registered voter.The person has to

present any of the fol-lowing; birth certifi-cate, valid passport or valid ID card such as drivers license, FNPF card, FIRCA/FNPF Joint card or a valid work ID to get them registered.

Saneem said details of the locations will be advertised in the me-dia.

People with queries or needing further de-tails are advised to con-tact the FEO on phone 3316225 or vist the FEO website www.elec-tionsfiji.gov.fj

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Mulomulo Secondary School principal Sera Lockington (left) with representatives from the Nadi womens crisis center during the IDADIT program. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.


THE JET - FIJIS FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 3

LOCAL NEWS

As part of the 10th An-nual Kula Film Awards, Fiji Airways and Film Fiji have announced the de-tails of the 2015 Kula Art Competition which offers the richest prize for indi-vidual Secondary student in Fiji.

In a statement released by Fiji Airways on June 19, stated that the cash prizes in the Fiji Airways Kula Art Competition are among the highest on of-fer to individual second-ary students among any competitive event in Fiji.

Students participating in the art competition stand to win $1,000 cash for themselves and $1,500 for their schools while the runner-up will receive $500 cash.

The winner of the Most

Popular Artwork (voted by fans), will also receive $500.

The Most Popular Art-work contest will be run from the final submitted pieces through the Fiji Airways Facebook page.

All submissions will be judged based on original-ity, creativity, theme and execution and the win-ner will be announced on the final night of the 2015 Kula Awards.

Film Fiji has noted in-creased interest and par-ticipation for this years contest. Registration for the competition is still open.

Over 100 submissions were received from vari-ous high schools in Fiji for last years inaugural com-petition with the winning painting awarded to San-jay Balsara from Xavier College in Ba for his acryl-ic on canvas painting.

Following the same

format as last year, 20 pieces from 20 students will be shortlisted from all entries for the one-day workshop facilitated by renowned local artist Craig Marlow.

The students will then be given all required ma-terials to submit a final piece of artwork for judg-ing by a panel of experts.

The theme for this years competition is Welcome To Our Home, the new Fiji Air-ways brand campaign.

Welcome To Our Home captures the unique Fijian experience travelers have on-board Fiji Airways and in Fiji generally, where visitors are treated as part of the extended family, not just tourists.

The Fiji Airways Art Competition will encour-age students to reflect on the idea of home to them; what it means to be a visi-

Competition Offers Richest Prize for Individual Secondary Students in Fiji

By IVA DANFORD - NAISARA

Local renowned artist Craig Marlow who will be facilitating a one-day workshop with short listed students entries. Photo: SUPPLIED.

tor, and a host, and how this manifests itself in their lives, communities, experiences and their

country. The idea here is for

students to artistically express what Welcome

to Our Home means to them.

More than 700 women from 596 womens groups of Lautoka, Sigatoka, Ba, Tavua, Ra and Nadi turned out to showcase their tal-ents, skills and products at the Western Division Craft Show on Wednesday, June 24.

With the Theme Con-necting Women to Mar-kets: Making it Happen women were not only able to sell their products but used the opportunity to further enhance their tal-ents through networking.

65-year-old Anaseini Baleisasa of Navunivi in Ra feels that with the technol-ogy youths are now into, she fears that what their mothers and grandmoth-ers used to do would be lost in the future and she hoped these events would interest them to learn from their mothers and other women.

The event is a oppor-tunity for the younger gen-eration to also take inter-est in traditional weaving, carving and other talents that have been showcased through the events such as the Craft show, she said.

Speaking at the open-ing of the Western Division Craft Show, Irene Kumar of Balata Multicultural Womens Group in Tavua said she was grateful of the craft show as it is a stepping stone to better

opportunities.Women have always

been kept in the back-ground for decades but what this Government has done is commended as it has given us an opportuni-ty to showcase our talents and at the same time we are empowered and able to contribute positively to our families financially, she said.

Kumar said craft show has provided a platform for women to be recognised and be heard in the new Fiji.

Everyone has skills and talents but because of our

Huge Turn-out at the Western Craft Show

culture, we have never been given opportunities such as this and we thank the government for its con-tinued efforts in recognis-ing the skills and talents of women, she added.

The products at the Craft Show were assessed by the Fiji Arts Council and those selected for creativity and quality will be branded with Fijian Made prod-ucts and later showcased at the National Womens Expo2015 planned for Oc-tober 14-16 in Suva.


Anaseini Baleisasa at the Western Division Craft Show in Lautoka. Photo: SUPPLIED.

New Look for Nadi Airport Play Center

For a school estab-lished in the late 60s by a group of expatriate moth-ers whose husbands were employed by the South Pacific Air Trans-port Council, Nadi Airport Play center has a brand new look after a $50,000 renovation by Airports Fiji Limited (AFL).

The play centre was closed for 2 weeks for the renovation during the first term school holidays but was reopened in the second week of second term.

Nadi Airport Play Cen-ter President Farzleen Farisha Khan says AFL played a major role in

the renovation as they funded it and AFLs build-ing and civil works team worked hard and long to complete the works with-in two weeks.

The renovation will benefit the current stu-dents and parents as well as the future parents and students because a good school environment leads to happier students who in turn learn more and which in turn leads to happier parents, she said.

She believes the school will put smiles on the faces of the kids and their enthusiasm is truly rewarding.

Khan said the current committee has some plans to get CCTV camer-as installed in the school for the safety of our chil-

dren.She said they are plan-

ning to get internet con-nection for the school to make teachers work a bit easier in terms of topic re-search and liaising school matters with people con-cerned through emails.

I would like to thank my team of committee members, teachers and parents who helped in every way during the renovation of the school and definitely a big vina-ka vakalevu to team AFL for the utmost generosity in funding and carrying out the renovations in our school and giving it a beautiful new look, she said.


The new look of the Nadi Airport Play centre classroom.



LOCAL NEWS

FSC Anticipates Positive Crushing Season

The Fiji Sugar Corpora-tion (FSC) expects over 2 million tonnes of sug-arcane to be crushed in the four main mills in Fiji this year producing over 240,000 tonnes of sugar.

FSC executive chair-man Abdul Khan high-lighted this during the opening of the Labasa mill on Wednesday, June 17.

He said their basic strategy is to get a consis-tent supply of good quality cane in order to achieve

this target.Getting a consistent

supply of good qual-ity cane is important and secondly we have to en-sure that our mills run re-liably and continuously so that we reduce the losses and improve in terms of efficiency and extrac-tions, Mr Khan said.

Mr Khan said they are targeting close to 70,000 tonnes of sugar to be pro-duced by the Labasa mill.

We have just started crushing for this sea-son with the Labasa mill performing well so we should not face any prob-lems.

He said it was good to see the farmers con-sistency as they started bring their sugarcane to the mill a day before crushing began and they do not foresee any major issues at the moment.

As long as the farm-ers keep the canes com-ing in consistently we will ensure that we process it on a consistent basis as well, Mr Khan added.

FSC Executive Chairman Abdul Khan with the United States Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu Judith Beth Cefkin at the Labasa Mill opening. Photo: SUPPLIED

Chamber Teams Up with FNU for Free Training

The Nadi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NCCI) is delighted to team up with National Training and Productiv-ity Centre (NTPC) of the Fiji National University in promoting training and productivity.

In what is believed to be the first of its kind, six-teen members of NCCI took advantage of a one-day training on Microsoft Word at FNU Namaka Campus on Friday, June 19.

NTPC Director Kam-lesh Prakash who re-cently met with chamber officials during a business forum has offered free method B training to members in an attempt to encourage training and productivity initiatives in

the Jet-Set town. Mr Prakash confirmed

NTPC will provide free-of-charge training to chamber members on six different subjects irre-spective of the number of participants who sign-up for the courses.

NTPC Manager Randhir Charan has also offered heavily subsidized cours-es for other technical fields such as welding, plumbing, construction and much more.

NCCI commends FNU for introducing such in-centives which will form the basis to improve per-formances at workplac-es, NCCI president Dr Ram Raju said.

We encourage all members to take advan-tage of such incentives

from our national univer-sity, Dr Raju added.

NCCI is now in the process of seeking ex-pressions of interest from members who wish to enroll for the second course Handling Diffi-cult People. The chamber is working closely with NTPC to finalize the date for the next free training.

Tevita Ratu, a partici-pant over the age of 60 from Vanua o Nakova-cake Holdings Limited, was thankful to the NCCI for the great opportunity given to them.

My utmost gratitude to Nadi Chamber of Com-merce for the enormous opportunity given to us.

The course turned a new page in my catego-ry of 60 plus especially q NCCI

Chamber Continues to Enjoy a Surge in Membership

The Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) continues to wel-come new members show-ing initiative in joining the Chamber for the betterment of Nadi.

President Dr Ram Raju said this is a reflection of the important work NCCI is car-rying out as a stakeholder for developments and matters of national interests not only in Nadi but for the nation as a whole.

He said from being an after-hours gathering group, the chamber today finds it-self in a situation whereby the need for a secretariat and

full-time staffs are inevitable.The chamber is no lon-

ger an after-hours institu-tion. Over the last 45-years, we have evolved as an im-portant stakeholder in mat-ters of national interest and economic development, Dr Raju said.

Apart from the day-to-day interactions with mem-bers, local and state govern-ments and various NGOs and other agencies (both lo-cal and regional) on a wide range of subjects such as economic growth, business ventures, training and facili-tation, climate change and environment, our chamber has been very successful in hosting various business fo-rums and events throughout

the year.Dr Raju said assistance

from corporates and patrons is needed for a smooth run-ning and success of busi-ness forums and events or-ganised by the Chamber.

In order to make such events and the successful running on our secretariat as smooth as possible, the chamber is seeking corpo-rate partners and donors.

We have come up with packages which will suit our respective corporate sponsors to the best of their needs and enable us to pro-vide sponsors with addition-al benefits of being associ-ated with the chamber.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Slavik Ilnytsky, director of Green Leaf Supply Solutions receives his membership certificate from NCCI President Dr Ram Raju while NCCI board member Vijendra Pillay and a staff of Green Leaf Sup-ply Solutions looks on. Photo: SUPPLIED.

blending with the new generations and getting assistance when in need.

Vinaka vakalevu to the Team and most of all to our tutor Mr.Manish

Sharan of FNU.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Members of Nadi Chamber of Commerce & Industry pose for a group photo after completing their free training in Microsoft Word at the FNU Namaka Campus on Friday, June 19. Photo: SUPPLIED.



LOCAL NEWS

Potato Planting and Harvesting Continues During off Season

Potato planting and har-vesting of seed potatoes continues at Naga village, Nadarivatu as part of efforts by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) to assist the Fijian Government in reducing the potato import bill by plant-ing our very own seeds on a large scale.

Senior Research Officer (SRO) based in Sigatoka, Amena Banuve said planting of seeds was done in March this year during the off sea-son period as a trial in the production of seed potatoes.

The variety involved is Red Pontiac and this was sourced from the crops that were harvested during the main season in 2014.

Fijis season for plant-ing potatoes is from May to August and the intention of the trial was to evaluate the possibility of producing seed potatoes during the off sea-son period.

Three farmers were given 120kg potato seeds each supplied from the Siga-toka Research Station (SRS) while the rest had grown seeds that they had saved from last years harvest, he said.

Over the years, some farmers in Naga have been planting potatoes during off-

season on a small scale and just for family use.

Mr Banuve added it was a trial phase and farmers are enthusiastic with the out-come of this recent trial be-cause through this research activity there is potential to produce potatoes on a large scale during the on and off-season period.

After weighing the pota-toes and relating it to area planted, the research staff witnessed that those farm-ers have managed to pro-duce more than the amount of seeds they had planted.

He said potatoes were harvested by farmers before officers recorded informa-tion related to the yield po-tential of seed potatoes.

Farmer Ilaisa Rokovisa, 51, was overwhelmed with his produce and appreciates the assistance of the Minis-try of Agriculture.

Other farmers involved in the trial include Moape Matadua, Apenisa Seru, Ilai-sa Rokovisa, Atunaisa Turag-alailai, Joeli Navaki, Saimoni Tauvali and Joseva Nagado who produced a total yield of 1,882.2kg from an area of 2200m.

The Consumer Coun-cil of Fiji is cautioning all whisky-lovers to watch out for alcohol adultera-tion.

The Councils call comes in light after a consumer lodged a com-plaint about a bottle of Regal Whisky which he claims may have been il-licitly tampered with.

The Nausori consumer was left disappointed when he found out that the bottle of Regal Whis-ky that he bought from a retail outlet in Nausori (Eadys Mart) last month did not have the authen-tic taste of whisky.

On 29 May 2015, the consumer bought the 1125 ml bottle of Regal Whisky for $78. Upon consuming the drink, he found the taste and smell to be odd, unusual. The frustrated consumer raised his concern with the Council.

The Council ap-proached the Manufac-turer, Paradise Beverages (South Pacific Distillery) and the trader- Eadys Mart for verification. Paradise Beverages car-ried out a lab test on the sample provided by the consumer and the results confirm that the contents

in the bottle had proper-ties of vinegar (acetic acid) and not whisky.

Trader, Eadys Mart, however, has distanced itself from the alleged product tampering saying that they buy the product from other supermarkets.

The Council com-mends Paradise Bever-ages for their decision to engage the Ministry of Health to further investi-gate the case of product tampering. In the mean-time, the Council will continue to keep a tab on the case and will be working closely with Min-istry of Health in a bid to ensure that consumers are not short changed by adulterated products.

Adulteration of food/

Beware of Whisky Tampering!

Potatoes placed in the Diffuse House at Naga village, Nadarivatu. INSET: Senior Research Officer Amena Banuve with harvested potatoes ready for storage in the Diffuse house. Photos: SUPPLIED.

All the seven restau-rants and catering divi-sions owned by Jacks of Fiji have been pledged as 4FJ champions.

They have joined the 4FJ campaign as private sector champions, pledg-ing not to serve kawaka-wa and donu during their peak breeding seasons.

It is a commitment to not serve kawakawa and donu during its peak spawning season and to engage all its customers to support the 4FJ move-ment, providing a huge boost for grassroots cam-paign aimed at improving the food security and live-lihoods of Fiji communi-ties

Jacks of Fiji Restau-rants Chief Executive Officer Eugene Gomes says as a local business, Jacks of Fiji is dedicated to helping improve the well-being of Fiji commu-nities through its active corporate responsibility programs.

Fish is such a wonder-fully versatile, nutritious food and with so many exciting varieties avail-able to us, said Gomes.

He adds it is vital that we encourage people to

try lesser known species and raise awareness of the importance of safe-guarding marine resourc-es to ensure a sustainable future for fish and sea-food.

As a chef, Gomes also wants to see both Fijians and visitors continue to be able to enjoy these Grades-A fish.

The 4FJ pledge is aimed at reviving the dwindling populations of these fish, which are critical to the food se-curity and livelihoods of Fijis communities, and a sought after fish by Fijians and visitors alike.

The restaurants in-clude, Hard Rock Caf Fiji, Denarau; Bonefish Seafood Restaurant &

Bar, Denarau; Indigo Indian & Asian Restau-rant, Denarau; Mamacita Mexican Restaurant & Bar, Wyndham Resort, Denarau and Damodar City Centre, Suva; Corner Cafe, Nadi; Saffron Tan-doori Restaurant, Suva and Chef Catering.

High profile leaders have also pledged their support the campaign like the Fijian Prime Min-ister Voreqe Bainimara-ma.

Scott Radway, Execu-tive Director of SeaWeb Asia Pacific says Jacks of Fiji is an icon for visitors and Fijians alike and truly a leader in Fijis private sector.

Jacks of Fiji Joins 4FJ

By IVA DANFORD-NAISARA

beverages falls under the ambit of the Food Safety Act 2003 Section 4(1) clearly states that -A person who sells, or pre-pares, packs, keeps or conveys for the purpose of sale, any food that is adulterated commits an offence.

Consumers who may have had similar experi-ences are encouraged to come forward to file their complaints with the Council or the Ministry of Health.

q MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

q Ms. Premila Kumar Chief Executive Officer

Consumer Council of Fiji

Hard Rock Cafe staff. Photo:SUPPLIED.



AGRICULTURE

Training for farmers in the Central and Western Divi-sions was held for the fourth time this year at the Ministry of Agricultures [MoA] Le-galega Research Station.

This was done as part of ministrys continued efforts to introduce the growing and cultivation of Juncao mush-room to the Fijian market.

The Fujian Agriculture & Forestry University (FAFU) and JUNCAO Research In-stitute has been working closely with the MoA to grow mushroom as it has been seen as a convenient place for demonstration purposes, marketing and product ex-portation.

Dr Lynn Lin Dongmei,a mushroom expert, said Fijis climate is very much suit-able to grow medium and high temperature mush-room species with average temperature between 18-31C.

She said straw mushroom and other varieties can be produced seasonally under natural condition.

Other species like king oyster, Chinese mushroom, button mushroom and oth-ers have to be cultivated with air condition, Dr Lin said.

Acting Director for MoAs

Research Division Dr Apaitia Macanawai is optimistic that the training will be benefi-cial to the participants.

Mushroom is also bene-ficial as it is highly nutritious and will be able to support farmers maintaining food

security and generate some supplementary income.

Dr Macanawai said Min-istry of Agriculture plans to further develop the mush-room industry in Fiji with the support of key stakeholders including farmers.

Western and Central Farmers Undergo Mushroom Training

Partcipants with Senior officials from Ministry of Agriculture and the Chinese Mushroom experts after the 2-day training at Legalega. Photo: SUPPLIED.

One of the participants for the two day training, Dr Ram Sami Naidu from Ra-kiraki, Ra said he learnt a lot about mushroom and its benefits.

He said that mushroom, if grown in large scale, can

assist in increasing income for farmers and also reduce the high volume of mush-room that is imported in the country.

According to Dr Naidu, in-cluding mushroom in ones diet is essential as it is nutri-

tious and has many health benefits.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR



UNIFIJI OPEN DAY

UniFiji Open-day a SuccessThe 2015 University

of Fijis Open day was a great success.

Students from a to-tal of 16 secondary schools from the en-tire western division visited the Saweni Campus for the two-day event from July 2-3 and were given useful information on educational opportu-nities available at the university.

Ever since its es-tablishment eleven-years-ago, the Uni-versity of Fiji has grown from strength to strength with thou-sands of students already graduating in different elds of study.

University registrar Ambassador Kamlesh Arya said the open days are a great way to showcase the uni-versity and its facilities to potential students.

He said the idea is to upraise the students as they make their ca-reer selections.

We expose the

students to all the of-ferings we have in the various schools and departments in the University, Ambassa-dor Arya said.

We anticipate that many students would join us in the new year to pursue their career here at this Univer-sity.

He also thanked all the stakeholders for making the open-day possible and its suc-cess.

We are thankful to the various school management, prin-cipals and staff for getting their students here.

At this juncture, I must also thank the Ministry of Education and the permanent secretary for approv-ing our request that schools visit us and granting us the per-mission so it can be facilitated.

The Suva campus marked its open day on Monday, June 29.

Students of Lautoka Andhra Sangam High School being explained by University of Fiji staff during the open-day. Photos: ANUSHIL KUMAR.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

UniFijis public relations officer Sangita Prasad (closest to cam-era) explains to the students of A.D.Patel College during the Uni-versitys open day.

Umanand Prasad School of Medicine second-year students showcase their medical remedies during the UniFiji open day.



LOCAL NEWS

A new Tourism Associa-tion will be formed in Nadi soon.

Nadi Downtown Ho-tel sales director Chandar Prakash said this associa-tion will be able to market Nadi town with the assis-tance of Nadi Chamber of Commerce, Nadi Town Council and Tourism Fiji and various tourist opera-tors in Nadi.

The main objective and aim of this new association is to create a branding of Nadi Town and create lots of awareness through our Tourism Fiji offices based overseas, Mr Prakash said.

This will be only pos-

sible if the stakeholders of Nadi Town and other asso-ciation of Nadi Town works together then with the help of our Tourism Fiji, we shall make this possible.

He said tourist expects a very warm welcome by our own local community and Nadi Town has variety of fa-cilities available for a tourist from shopping, dining, and other interest that tourist ex-pects.

However, he said some-times visitors to Nadi com-plain of being touted and subjected to over pricing.

We can offer friendly and honest service and do not make them run away or take bed memories of Nadi Town by offering over priced items, wrong information and stop forcing tourist to

Nadi to Form Tourism Association

enter your shops. Tourist should be freely

moving around Nadi Town and not to be harassed by touters. Touters are the most damaging factor towards the Nadi Town tourism.

Prakash said when tourist comes to Nadi, they should love and take lot of good memories about Nadi Town

If we want tourist to come back again and say nice things about Nadi Town then we should fulfill the ex-pectation of a tourist.

He also thanked the Gov-ernment of the day who are investing Dollars to promote Fiji as a tourist destination.

We need to address the subject to our Govern-ment with just one voice and make Nadi Town a safe place for Tourist.

Nadi Downtown Hotel sales director Chandar Prakash. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

In another milestone achievement during the 39th Session of the United Nations Food and Agricul-ture Organization (UNFAO) Council held in Rome, Fiji through the Minister for Ag-riculture, Rural & Maritime Development & National Disaster Management, Hon. Inia B. Seruiratu has been selected to be among the founding members of Goodwill Ambassadors for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Hon. Seruiratu as a Goodwill Ambassador was chosen among high pro-file public personalities such as eminent Scientists, Diplomats and Agriculture Ministers into this new role which was warmly accept-ed and endorsed by the Prime Minister, Hon. Josaia V. Bainimarama who is the Head of the Fiji delegation in this Council meeting.

The PM stated that Fijis participation in this high level activity of the UNFAO does not only lift Fijis im-age globally but moreover contribute positively to-wards a climate smart, re-silient and a modern and sustainable agriculture in-dustry for Fiji.

The Circle of Goodwill Ambassadors was initiated by the High Level Taskforce of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resourc-es for Food and Agriculture at its second working ses-sion on 24 September 2014 held in New York on the margins of the 69th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The task and role of Goodwill Ambassadors is to inspire broad, posi-tive and committed action in support of the Treatys implementation and the re-sourcing of its Benefit-shar-ing Fund (BSF) as well as to generate public awareness about the Treatys pivotal role in agricultural, food biodiversity issues.

This is a milestone achievement for Fiji and the Small Island States within the South West Pa-cific Region. Fiji acceded the Treaty in July 2008, and in addition to this; Fiji has also ratified the Conven-tion on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1993 and recently the Nagoya Protocol in 2013 that facilitates the Access and Benefit Shar-ing (ABS) mechanism of the CBD. Fiji is the only country in the Pacific that has ratified all these three Treaties and Convention. The CBD is managed by the Department of Environ-ment, while the Treaty is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Background Note:The International Treaty

on Plant Genetic Resourc-es for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is an interna-tional legal agreement to fa-

cilitate access to Plant Ge-netic Resources for Food & Agriculture (PGRFA), that countries largely depend on to sustain agriculture, food, nutrition and envi-ronmental security.

The objective of the Treaty is conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of their use, in har-mony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, for sustainable agriculture and food security. It was negotiated within the FAO & Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture framework. Adopted in November 2001 and came into force on 29 June 2004.

Few countries in the Pacific have ratified the International Treaty, these includes Samoa, Cook Is-lands, Palau, Kiribati and Fiji. Fiji acceded the Treaty in July 2008, and in addition to this; Fiji has also ratified the Convention on Biologi-cal Diversity (CBD) in 1993 and recently the Nagoya Protocol in 2013 that facili-tates the Access and Ben-efit Sharing (ABS) mecha-nism of the CBD. Fiji is the only country in the Pacific that has ratified all these three Treaties and Conven-tion. The CBD is managed by the Department of Envi-ronment, while the Treaty is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Importance of the Trea-ty to Fiji

Exchange of germplasm has been on going before the Treaty came into force and we have been using and commercializing most of these plant varieties that were originated from abroad e.g. sugar cane, some dalo varieties, cas-sava, rice, sweet potatoes, recently potatoes, etc.

The Treaty is important in addressing neglect-ing issues in Fiji on the important of germplasm conservation and their sus-tainable use in supporting the development of the agriculture sector in the country. These are impor-tant resources where fu-ture researchers, breeders and users of germplasm can choose from in terms of new breeding programs, value addition, trade, cli-mate change adaptations and other potential uses of germplasm. A good ex-ample is the Taro Breeding Project for Taro Leaf Blight currently in place in Fiji.

As Fiji faces the global issues of climate change, addressing food security and poverty, germplasm are important materials where we can choose from and utilize for these purposes. Traditional va-rieties and their wild rela-tives are very important in

food security and climate change adaptations e.g. yams and its wild relatives (Tivoli), traditional dalo va-rieties that tolerates water logging, traditional vegeta-bles, etc.

The Treaty will benefit Fiji in accessing high yield-ing, resilient crop variet-ies from abroad through it mechanisms using the Multilateral Lateral System (MLS). These varieties will broaden the genetic base and diversity of our crops varieties as most of our lo-cal varieties and even vari-eties of crops in the Pacific have a narrow gene pool (very closely related and similar). These makes Pa-cific crops very susceptible to new incursion of pest and diseases, drought, heat stress, salinity, wa-ter logging to name a few. They can also be used to develop new traits for Fijis crops and will develop a resilient agricultural sys-tem.

The commissioning of the new Tissue Culture Laboratory in 2014 is an-other milestone for Fiji in addressing the sustain-able conservation and use of plant genetic resources in Fiji; these also facilitate the multiplication of clean planting materials for farm-ers.

Fiji has benefited from the PGRFA Funded Proj-ects in the following areas:

Build capacity in areas of Plant Breeding and Plant Variety Selection for adapting to Climate Change and Food Security. This is due to the lack of plant breeders in the Pa-cific including Fiji.

Realize the im-portance of traditional va-rieties and wild relatives in terms on building resil-ience in the agricultural systems through broad-ening genetic base of our crops.

Mostly Fiji and Pa-cific staple food crops have very narrow gene pool and are all susceptible to pest and disease outbreaks, cli-mate change effects like drought, salinity, etc.

Build capacity on the agricultural system to be more resilience to the effect of climate on food security, food production and peoples livelihood due to the vulnerability of our food production sys-tem in Fiji.

Projects will ex-plore the utilization of our genetic diversities of crops for potential use. Also to realize the importance of conserving Fiji crop genet-ic resources through vari-ous means of germ plasms either in field gene bank, cool storage facilities, cryo-preservation, nurseries, tis-sue culture and on farm conservation by farmers.

Minister Seruiratu Chosen as Goodwill Ambassador

q PRESS RELEASEContact: 9301400



ADVERTISEMENT

q DEPTFO



\

FRIEND launches Organic Lemon Grass Tea

Ana SovarakiSuva

I think its a great idea, chang-ing of a new national flag is a huge decision that requires a long period of consulta-tion, time for members of the public to question, scrutinize, critic, protest and give in their ideas and contributions. So yeah lets make the most of it

Una VesikulaNasinu, Suva

I think it is great now the public can come up with their idea of how their future flag should look like and may be

design a better one.

Moji FotofiliWaimalika, Nadi

Personally, I think its a waste of time and the government is just trying come up with a way to convince the people to change their mind about the whole flag situation. Its clear that most people dont want the flag changed but its seems the government wont take no for an answer

Makarita SelzLautoka

I think it is a good idea that it has been extended because alot of Fijians out there are still not satisfied with the different flag designs as we still opt for our old Fiji flag , atleast now we are given a second Chance to

accept the change that has to be done in our country and be part of making a change rather than

regreting later.

What do you think about the extension of the new flag de-sign date?

Sweet TweetsLOCAL NEWS

The hard work of the Foundation for Rural In-tegrated Enterprises and Development (FRIEND) has been applauded by the European Commis-sioner for International Development and Coop-eration, Neven Mimica.

While launching the organizations Organic Lemon Grass Tea at the FRIEND head office in Tuvu, Lautoka, Commis-sioner Mimica highlight-ed their continuous ef-forts to empower those in rural areas.

Im very grateful to be here to be part of this launch of the organic tea and I congratulate FRIEND and everyone who was involved in this great work. Organic cer-tification, fair trade and geographic identification can be explored to in-crease the resilience of small island developing states and open opportu-nities in regional trade for value added diversifica-tion, said Mimica.

He said this is the first such organic certified product in Fiji and this is the direct result of the EU assistance.

Im sure farmers will reap the direct results of this opportunity and please rest assured that we will continue sail-ing together, progressing

together to ensure that these achievements con-tinue, he said.

According to Mimica, this is the first organic cer-tified product under the Participatory Guarantee System to be launched in the country; this exem-plifies the seriousness in which FRIEND holds its

social responsibilities.FRIEND Director and

founder Sashi Kiran ac-knowledged the difficul-ties they encountered along the way.

Under the cash crop project 50 farmers em-braced organic farming, a tough road with the amount of chemical use

in the sugar belt areas. The crops we asked them to start with are things they know and have been using as herbal remedies for generations, she said.

She added it was a tough journey as they had to look at 3rd party certi-fication.

The Fijian Tourism Expo 2015 was used as a platform to launch two new products by SeaFiji at Denarau on Thursday, June 18.

SeaFiji Airlink in conjunc-tion with Pacific Island Air offers air connections from Nadi airport while SeaFiji Link offers a direct boat ser-vice from Port Denarau to the Mamanuca Resorts, ca-tering for all in-bound flight arrivals into Nadi before 4pm daily.

Global Director for SeaFiji Ron Bradley says they have decided to launch their new products at FTE 2015 which was SeaFiji Airlink, SeaFiji Link and their Safety Video, because the event brings buyers from around the world as well as suppli-ers who are using their ser-vices already together in one venue.

We therefore have the opportunity to promote these products effectively at one time whether it is by sea or air, SeaFiji is committed to getting our guests safely to their destination for an af-

fordable price, he said.Mr Bradley added safety

is of top priority for them and that is why they decided to produce a unique and funny video which would encour-age their customers to pay attention and take note of the important safety features we have on board their ves-sels.

He said this video is avail-able on You Tube and their website and it is also shown to their passengers before departure.

We have found that it is a very effective way of get-ting our passengers to take note of essential safety infor-mation.

SeaFiji offers you trans-

fers to Paradise, the Ma-manuca and the Yasawa group of Islands. Their prod-ucts include full and half day cruises, resort transfers, inter-island transfers within the Mamanucas, a variety of water sports including snorkelling, game and sport fishing, semi submersible submarine which are all

available at the magical Mana Island Resort.

We can fly or boat you to island locations such as Castaway, Likuliku, Mata-manoa, Tokoriki and many more for FJD$385 by air or FJD$159 by sea, said Mr Bradley.

Sea Fiji Water Taxi & Fishing Charters. Photo: SUPPLIED.

SeaFiji Launches New Products and Safety Video


Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and Development (FRIEND) staff together with the European Commissioner for Interna-tional Development and Cooperation, Neven Mimica. Photo: SUPPLIED.




MOTOR TRENDS/RAMADHAN

GT-TOY a Desire for Sharif

Sports car-lover, Mohammed Sharif is passionate for the beautiful sporty street legal sports car which he loves to call it his GT-TOY.

The Saunaka, Nadi resident Sharif, who has been working for Satellite Rentals for the past five years, says his passion for sports cars began in his childhood days and owning his first car as GT Star-let was exciting.

After two years of driving that, I moved on to Toyota Levin running 4-AGE 20-valve under hood which I drove for four years, he said.

His dream came true when he bought the 1992 model Toyota Ma-rino last year which runs 3SGT 2.0L five-Speed manual with aftermar-ket turbo running on 7 PSI boost and HKS Blow valve and the big-gest front mount intercooler.

Mohammed also mentioned some of the attractive feature of his GT-TOY.

It has stylish aerodynamic cus-tom made kits.

The Interior is fully after-market which includes yellow color, DVD screen, sports steer his running on.

It also includes 17-inch deep

dish chrome mag wheels with low profile tires.

He also participated in the Fiji car drags in Pacific harbor in 2013.

Taking part in the Fiji Car Drags

was a memorable experience for me as I was driving my dream car, the sports car-lover said.

Mohammed said as time goes by, his GT-TOY will also go with it and

COVER STORY

he is planning to move into some-thing big.

GT-TOY is member of modified Riders Fiji which is based in Lau-toka.

Mohammed Sharif with his very own GT-TOY. STORY AND PHOTO BY NAVINESH KRISHNA



TOURISM

Radisson Blu Resort Fiji and Sunergise Fiji Limited announced the launch of the Pa-cific Islands largest roof mounted solar power system for a resort on Thursday, June 11.

A 412.36kWp roof mounted solar photo-voltaic (PV) array was installed by the Pacifics leading solar energy provider Sunergise to provide clean, reliable energy at Radisson Blu Resort Fiji.

The system is be-lieved to produce an impressive 597MWh of renewable electric-ity annually which will also help in avoiding the importation of 175,000 litres of diesel per year.

Radisson Blu Resort Fiji General Manager, Gerard Knight, said this installation of the larg-est roof mounted solar power system will surely help the resort save a lot of money.

We are now able to enjoy savings on our total power bill, and to share our solar creden-tials with our guests, Mr Knight said.

Carlson Rezidor Ho-tel Group, one of the worlds largest and most dynamic hotel groups, is a pioneer of sustainabil-ity in the hospitality sec-

tor, putting in place the first ever environmental policy for a hotel in 1989.

Every year we moni-tor our carbon footprint and energy usage as we improve on it. Here in Fiji, collaborating with Sunergise gives us the opportunity to put our commitments into ac-tion.

Increasingly, tourists to Fiji are aware of en-vironmental issues and want the opportunity to make greener choices where they can. We are pleased that our initia-tive will help to create those options.

Director of Sunergise Ajay Raniga said they are pleased to be partnered with one of the leading luxury hotel in Fiji.

Sunergise is delight-ed to have the oppor-tunity to partner with Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island on this groundbreaking project, the site is the largest grid connected hotel instal-lation in the country and the Pacific region, Mr Raniga said.

Not only is the hotel one of Fijis leading lux-ury hotel and an iconic property at Denarau, but a global leader in the sector for sustainability initiatives.

Here in Fiji, it is great to see the rhetoric meet reality with the commit-ment of management to offer guests a truly world-class sustainable

Radisson Blu Resort Shines with Solar Energy

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

infrastructure. The system will dis-

place over 417 tons of carbon dioxide the

equivalent of planting over 2000 trees while the solar panels, installed by Sunergises engineering

partner Clay Energy, will enable the resort to save thousands of dollars in electricity costs.

It will further enhance Fijis reputation within the tourism industry and its community.

An aerial view of the solar power installation at Radisson Blu Resort. Photo: SUPPLIED.



PACIFIC NEWS

Prouds Offers Great Shopping Experience at PNGs Jackson International Airport

Following the opening of Prouds Duty Free stores at Jackson International Airport in Port Moresby on Thursday, July 2, exciting time looms for Papua New Guineas retail sector.

A joint partnership be-tween Fijis Motibhai Group and CPL Group of PNG, the Prouds outlet was officially opened by PNG Prime Minis-ter Peter ONeill on the eve of 2015 Pacific Games which is hosted by Papua New Guin-ea.

The stores which are lo-cated within the Departure and Arrival areas of the air-port is the result of many months of planning follow-ing the major upgrade and refurbishment of facilities at the terminal area by National Airport Corporation (NAC) of PNG.

The new stores with their innovative design and pre-sentation and great shopping ambience offer a number of International brands some of which are Johnnie Walk-er, Chivas Regal, Jim Beam, Absolut, Nikon, Sony, Gucci, Guess, Seiko, Oakley, Ray-ban, Emporio Armani, Prada, Mars, Nestle, Cadbury, Given-chy, Kenzo, Issey Miyake, Cal-

vin Klein, Allure, Toscow, J Hunter, Pacific Pearls, Vera May and Fijis famous Pure Fiji and Reniu.

Prouds Director Tejash Patel who was present at the official opening says the expansion into Papua New Guinea adds a new dimen-sion to the Groups expan-sion plans at a regional level.

He said the Group has ex-tensive experience in airport duty free and travel retail having laid the foundation of such concepts back in 70s.

In partnership with CPL Group, PROUDS foray in Papua New Guinea will pro-vide a world class shopping experience to travellers at the Port Moresby Jackson In-ternational Airport, Mr Patel said.

Aligned with the lat-est International Duty Free Travel Retail trends, we will carry international and ma-jor brands of liquor, tobacco, fragrances, confectionaries, watches and jewellery.

With the wide range of international brands, travel-lers will be able to purchase with confidence and will get value for their money, he said.

q PRESS RELEASE

Minister Peter ONeill officially opened the new Prouds outlet at Jackson International Airport in Port Moresby on Thursday, July 3. INSET: Staff members at the new Prouds outlet in Papua New Guinea. Photos: SUPPLIED



TOURISM

Fiji Airways has a new CEO and Managing Direc-tor - the current head of Air Mauritius, Andre Viljoen.

Mr Viljoens appointment to the national airline was announced on Tuesday, June 24, by the Chairman of Fiji Airways, Mr. Nalin Patel. He will take up the position before October 1, 2015.

Mr Viljoen has 33 years of professional experience in the airline and tourism industries and has been the CEO of Air Mauritius since 2010.

Mr Patel said the Fiji Air-ways Board was extremely pleased that the Company would be led by someone, who as CEO of Air Mauritius, had transformed that airline, restored it to profitability and attained the coveted Skytrax 4 Star rating for product and service.

Andre is an experienced airline professional with a strong business and cus-

tomer focus. We believe he is the perfect person to lead Fiji Airways and will have the full support of the Board, together with our ex-perienced management and team.

Mr Viljoen joins Fiji Air-ways after its recent trans-formation, including its rebranding from Air Pacific and a fleet upgrade, and at a stage when it is exploring further commercial opportu-nities, including new routes.

I am very excited to be joining Fiji Airways, the leading airline in the South Pacific, and will continue to build on its strong brand and lead its dedicated team to even greater heights, Mr Viljoen said.

The Attorney General and Minister for Public Enterpris-es, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, welcomed Mr Viljoens ap-pointment on behalf of the Fijian Government, the air-lines majority shareholder.

Im delighted that Fiji Airways has been able to at-tract yet another outstanding international airline execu-tive to head our national car-

rier and fulfil our ambition to make it the worlds best bou-tique carrier. Andre has big shoes to fill in replacing Ste-fan Pichler who produced a record financial result for Fiji Airways last year but this is an outstanding choice and we look forward, under his leadership, to expanding the airlines footprint into other international hubs, the AG said.

Biography Andre Viljoen, born in

South Africa, has 33 years of seasoned airline experi-ence. He holds an Honours Degree in Commerce and is a Chartered Accountant.

He started his airline ca-reer with Comair British Air-ways in South Africa in the 1980s as Financial Manager and soon grew to the posi-tion of Group Financial and Commercial Director, which he held for more than 10 years. He played an instru-mental role in elevating Co-mair from a small regional airline to becoming South African Airways principal domestic competitor flying

Fiji Airways Appoints Andre Viljoen as CEO and Managing Director

the British Airways brand.He then went on in 1992

to join South African Express Airways, the largest regional airline in South Africa, as Chief Operating Officer. He devised and led a turn-around program to restore the airline back to profitabil-ity and to expand its fleet to include regional jets.

In 1995, he joined South African Airways, South Af-ricas National Airline, as Chief Financial Officer and took over as President and Chief Executive Officer in 2000 until 2005. He imple-mented an aggressive trans-formation program known as Perfecting the Basics which restored the airline back to profitability by 2002. The transformation program also earned the airline a Sky-trax 4 Star Rating, as well as many travel awards such as The Leading Airline to Af-rica.

He then went on to join the tour operator group Cul-linan Holdings as Chief Ex-ecutive Officer from 2006. The group is well known for its travel brands Thomson

Holidays, Thomson Tours and Pentravel.

In 2009, he joined Air Mauritius, Mauritius Na-tional Airline, initially as Chief Financial Officer and then from 2010 as Chief Ex-ecutive Officer. In 2012, he launched a successful turn-around program known as the 7 Step Recovery Plan. The plan was focused on re-balancing the companys network, improving revenue management and commer-cial, as well as re-fleeting

with new generation aircraft. The plan restored the airline back to profitability by 2014 and it has ordered 6 Airbus A350-900 new generation aircraft to replace its aged fleet of Airbus A340-300s. The service quality improve-ment program implemented as part of the 7 Step Re-covery Plan has earned Air Mauritius the Skytrax 4 Star Rating, as well as the travel award of Leading Airline to the Indian Ocean.


Sports Tourism Boosted at FTE 2015

Uprising Beach Re-sort made a very excit-ing announcement on the first day of Fiji Tour-ism Expo at Sheraton Fiji Resort in Denarau on Tuesday, June 16, which is expected to boost the potential growing mar-ket of Sports tourism in Fiji.

Making this an-nouncement at the press conference, Re-sort General Manager, James Pridegeon says Uprising will be invest-ing in the development

of an International Sized Rugby Training Field (currently available), a High Performance Sports Gym, a Multi-Purpose Court, a 25m lap pool, sprint track as well meeting and physio rooms.

He said all these things are required by todays professional sports teams.

The Uprising Beach Resorts announcement was more of the plans to continue its passion for sports development in Fiji at national and in-ternational level by pur-suing the niche sports tourism market.


ANDRE VILJEON

The Resort has built a reputation as a strong supporter of local sports and teams, rugby in particular, and has also been able to produce world class Fijian rugby players.

Praising the an-nouncement, Executive Chairman of the Tour-ism Fiji Board of Direc-tors and Acting CEO, Mr Truman Bradley said sports tourism is grow-ing niches which Tour-ism Fiji is committed to supporting as they have seen the impact that sporting events which are held in Fiji annually have on the tourism in-

dustry. He adds such as the

Fiji Pro by the World Surf League and the Fiji In-ternational Triathlon.

The organic growth from these sporting events illustrates the massive potential that exists for increasing visitor arrivals, as sports tourism attracts large groups. We are dili-gently working on cap-turing this market and the announcement by Uprising Beach Resort is reflective of our com-

mitment, he said.Locally owned and

managed by a team born and raised in Pacif-ic Harbour, Uprising has a strong desire to con-tinue to provide oppor-tunities to ensure that local employment in the Pacific Harbour area is supported.

Uprising has identi-fied a need for better facilities outside of the major urban areas in order to provide more options for touring inter-national teams as well

From left, Executive Chairman of the Tourism Fiji Board of Directors and Acting CEO, Mr Truman Bradley, Minister for Tourism Hon. Faiyaz Koya and Uprising Beach Resort General Manager, James Pridegeon during the press conference at Denarau. Photo:MARGARET NAQIRI.

as local teams wanting a one stop shop for all their teams sporting needs, Uprising Beach Resort Owner, Mr Rene Munch said.

Sports tourism is a growing market that has the potential to boost the visitor numbers to Fiji, as well as contrib-ute to the development of sports in Fiji.



BUSINESS NEWS

InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa is ex-cited to announce the launch of their new Leisure Concierge ser-vice that falls within the realm of the Guest Ser-vices Department.

The Leisure Con-cierge team is located within the heart of the resort and is designed to be a cross section of the iconic concierge services that the Inter-Continental brand is renowned for as well as being able to of-fer recommendations and make bookings on leisure activities to en-hance the overall expe-rience.

The new Leisure Con-cierge desk will ensure better and quicker guest services to in house guests, including ser-vices such as key cut-ting, problem solving, account settlement and more. They will also be responsible for ensuring guests are also made aware of activities and services offered within the resort.

To coincide with the launching of the Leisure Concierge concept, In-terContinental Fiji also introduced new compli-mentary activities such

as Natadola Outlook Power Walk, Natadola Beach Power Walk, Sun-set Yoga, Taste of Inter-Continental Fiji Cooking Class and more. These activities are designed at enhancing the guest experience with a firm grounding in all that is unique to the Natadola Bay destination.

I am delighted that we are now able to en-hance the Guest Ser-vices experience for the InterContinental and be able to have the Leisure Concierge ex-perience as a point of difference compared to other brand resorts in Fiji, said Director of Guests Services, Shaun Cawood.

These services, to-gether with our new activities on a world renowned beachfront and ocean facing resort combine to make the InterContinental a more obvious choice when it comes to choosing a re-sort in Fiji.

This is a very exciting time for us as the guest experience is of the ut-most importance to the InterContinental family.

As part of further en-hancing guest services experience, InterCon-tinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa dive operation team; Reef Safari, have also initiated the Coral Gardening Program.

InterContinental Fiji Enhancing Guest Service Experiences

The program is cen-tered on coral health and resiliency in the waters surrounding the iconic Natadola Beach.

The projects main aim is to restore and re-vitalize the beautiful reef systems within the bay while additionally pro-viding a short marine bi-ology lecture to educate guests on what coral ac-tually is and the impor-tance of healthy reefs.

According to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-tration (NOAA) healthy reefs can provide up to 15 tons of seafood per square kilometer per year, however over 60% of reefs worldwide are unfortunately under im-mediate threat due to climate change, unsus-tainable fishing & land-based pollution.

Guests can now en-joy these additional ac-tivities and feel that they are contributing to help-ing maintain and grow our future sea life.

Our main objective is to give already bro-ken fragments of coral another opportunity to grow, alongside taking clippings of healthy sec-tions of reef to be grown within a coral garden which will, once thriv-ing, be replanted around the reef, says Reef Sa-fari Site Manager, Alex Rawson.

Guests have the op-portunity to participate and feel like they are making a difference to-wards our future.

With the majority of the local population dependent on the reefs here it is essential that we do all that we can to ensure their future.

InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa over-looks the azure waters of Natadola Beach voted by CNN as one of the best beaches in the world, and Fijis finest beach. Spread across 35 acres of tropical gar-dens, the resort offers all of the facilities and ser-vices expected of luxury international resort.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Divers doing corel gardening. Photo:SUPPLIED



BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

vep



LOCAL SPORTS

Sporting Successes of International School Nadi

As part of the Inter-national School Nadis vision to provide a bal-anced and world class education, the school employed one of Fiji Secondary Schools fore-most athletics coach Mr Antonio Raboiliku.

Mr Raboiliku has im-pressive experiences in the sporting field namely athletics, rugby and net-ball.

He is the National Coach for the Fiji Na-tional Athletes based in the West, Head Coach of the recent Fiji Second-ary Schools Girls Cham-pions Jasper Williams High School, assisted the recent Fiji Second-

ary Schools boys champi-ons Natabua High School which included coaching Fijis newest export to the French Rugby circuit Fiji sprint Champion Ba-tinisau and the technical advisor for the Primary School National Chow Games.

In rugby field, he was the Strengthening and Conditioning coach for the Fiji School Rugby team to the Tri-Nations competition in New Zea-land 2014 and Girls rugby coach from 2012-2015 including coaching the Secondary Schools Girl Champion team Jasper Williams.

Mr Raboiliku is also the coach for the Netball U17 National Champions Jasper Williams as well as the U19 Coach.

As part of providing

support to the stakehold-ers of the Nadi commu-nity, Mr Raboiliku with the support of International School Nadi will continue to support the develop-ment of sports in the re-gion.

This has begun with the establishment of Na-dis newest Athletic club Royals.

International School Nadi has recently made the region proud in the selection of five of its swimmers to National du-ties from the recent Sec-ondary Schools swim-ming championships.

The swimmers include Iris Pene, Talei Puamau, Matthew Browne, Misha Lucas and Saoirse Breen.

They have been select-ed in the Fiji Secondary Schools swimming squad representing Fiji at the

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Pacific Schools Games in Adelaide in November 2015.

Head girl Iris Pene has also been selected to rep-resent Fiji in swimming

at the Pacific Games be-ing held in Papua New Guinea.

Plans for the remain-der of the year include participation in an inau-

gural tag rugby compe-tition along with their involvement in the local schools netball and rugby competitions.

International School Swim Squad 2015 with coaches Alison Browne and Ashleigh Davis. Photos: SUPPLIED.

ISN Primary School tennis coaching Semester 1.

Fiji Airways Signs Partnership with FijiInternational

In an effort to promote Fiji as a golf tourism hotspot in the Pacific region, Fiji Airways signed on as the Official Airline of the Fiji In-ternational in a three-year sponsorship deal, which will take the professional golf tournament to new heights.

The deal means that Fiji Airways will be the Official Airline of the Fiji Interna-tional 2015 which will be held at Natadola Bay Cham-pionship Golf Course from October 15-18.

The new partnership singing took place during a press conference held at the Ports O Call Restaurant

in Sheraton Fiji Resort in the presence of the Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Honourable Faiyaz Koya on Wednesday, June 17.

Head of Commercial for Fiji International Matt Porm says they are extremely excited to now have Fiji Airways on board as their Official Airline of the Fiji In-ternational.

Over the next three years, we look forward to building on this wonderful partnership and increasing Golf Tourism numbers for the country, he said.

Fiji Airways already has a great reputation and we plan to build on this through our Live Broadcast of the Fiji International to over 300 million golfers across the globe.

Fiji Airways Board Direc-tor Stefan Pichler said Fiji In-ternational boasts a fantastic global television platform which reaches the key mar-kets.

We see this partnership as an investment in Fiji itself with golf tourism now on the rise as a result of the Fiji International, Pichler men-tioned.

Fiji Airways and the Fiji International team will be working together to maxi-mise exposure for Golf Tour-ism in Fiji by leveraging the partnership to ensure that certain key performance indicators are achieved through increased inbound golf tourism to Fiji.

Fiji Airways is the lat-est in a string of partners to support the Fijian Govern-

ments drive to increase golf tourism through the Fiji International including the InterContinental Fiji Golf & Spa Resort, Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course, Coca-Cola, and Total.

In terms of international marketing and exposure, the Fiji International is broad-cast to over 400 million peo-ple across 27 countries, and marketing tournament part-ners such as Flight Centre to more than 2 million people, with a total television cover-age equated to 462 hours 46% of which was televised live in 2014, said Tourism Fijis Executive Chair and Acting CEO, Truman Brad-ley.

Minister Pleased with Nadi Sports Council Initiative


Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism Hon. Faiyaz Koya taking a swing after the partnership announcement at the Sheraton Fiji Resort. Photo: IVA DANFORD-NAISARA.

The initiative behind the Nadi Sports Council is its intent to provide a collective voice for the promotion of sports and recreation in the greater Nadi area and this is in-deed greatly received and very welcomed by the Ministry.

Minister for Youth and Sports Hon. Laisenia Tuitubou made these remarks at the inaugu-ral meeting of the Nadi Sports Council at Nadi Town Council Cham-bers, Nadi on Tuesday, June 16.

He said sport has the power to do well in so-ciety as it brings people of different backgrounds and cultures together not only in its organiza-tion but also in its activ-ity.

Nadi has been a powerhouse for sport for many decades, Min-ister Tuitubou said.

Nadi is represented across a wide range of sports in the country and it is very hard not to witness a representative team from the Jet Set town amongst partici-pating teams.

I am therefore quite excited about the poten-tial for the Nadi Sports Council, and feel es-pecially gratified that the Council intends to work closely with Gov-ernment, Fiji National

Sports Commission and Nadi Town Council on ways to extend sports and recreation through-out the community.

He said potential exists in all communities but it is delivered through a col-lective approach.

What we are witness-ing here in Nadi where all sporting bodies have come together to estab-lish their own forum to identify their common needs and work coop-eratively to address these needs in a spirit of part-nership with other insti-tutions is a huge step forward.

Minister Tuitubou commended the hard-working and civic mind-ed citizens of Nadi who have supported towards the establishment of Nadi Sports Council.

He thanked the Nadi Chamber of Commerce for the support towards this worthy initiative.

I know there is a dream and a vision to turn Nadi into Fijis sports capital, and also the Sports City for the whole Pacific Region.

We know that all great journeys begin with the first small step. When the next generation looks back I am sure they will see the establishment and leadership of the Nadi Sports Council as a significant step in turning the present dream into reality. Todays dream, when acted upon, be-comes the next genera-tions reality.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR



LOCAL SPORTS

Digicel Boosts Team Fiji for Pacific GamesDigicel Fiji has further

boosted Team Fiji ath-letes and officials for the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea this month.

Team Fiji received a special mobile package from Digicel which they can use during their stay in PNG.

The prepaid roaming SIMs were distributed to the 453 member con-tingent during the final Team Fiji assembly in Suva on Saturday, June 20.

The specially de-signed package will see Team Fiji members pay-ing only local Fiji rates while roaming in PNG.

This package will al-low the athletes and offi-cials to use their mobile phones just like if they were making a call or using data at home, tak-ing away the roaming

charges which can be a challenge for custom-ers.

Digicel Fiji Chief Exec-utive Officer, Mr. Darren McLean said supporting the athletes and officials at this time are signifi-cant as they will be rep-resenting our country.

Its important to pro-vide the best support for our athletes and officials as they will be flying the Fiji flag at the Games in PNG, Mr. McLean said.

We are pleased to give each member in the team a Freedom SIM to use for the duration of the games. It offers the best package to call and use data.

It is important to stay connected with fam-ily and friends while our athletes are away in PNG.

They now have the ability to stay in touch with family and friends and they can call, text and use social media as we have removed all roaming charges for the

By ANUSHIL KUMAR whole traveling group.The special offer in-

cludes 40c on calls back to Fiji, within PNG and incoming calls, 25c on texts to any mobile net-work and 800MB data for $5.99 valid for 7 days.

Team Fiji chef de mis-sion, Mrs. Cathy Wong

was delighted to have Digicel Fiji on board.

She praised the com-pany for providing this special value package to call home for our ath-letes.

Communication is vital for our athletes and because we would be in

PNG for 18 days, talking to family back in Fiji is very important.

This takes care of corridor fever which is something our athletes face while on tours be-cause mobile bills are too high to call people at home.

This has made my team very happy be-cause we can call home and talk to family and friends and stay con-nected on Facebook and with calls at local rates with Digicel.

Team Fiji athletes and officials shows the prepaid roaming SIMs that were distributed by Digicel Fiji. INSET: Team Fijis Cathy Sims with the Digicel Freedom SIMs. Photos: SUPPLIED.

$100k Boost for Fiji International

Airports Fiji Limited has once again joined hands with Fiji Inter-national as they signed on for another year of sponsorship.

The $100,000 spon-sorship deal includes $46,000 in cash and $54,000 in kind with pre-event promotion of Fijis biggest sporting event in the Interna-tional Departures and Arrivals areas of Nadi Airport.

Airports Fiji Limited Executive Chairman, Faiz Khan said they are proud to be partnered with Fiji International once again as support-ing the Tourism indus-try is also one of their main intentions.

We are in the mid-dle of our Airport proj-ect to enhance and im-prove the experience of tourists coming into Fiji so it was an oppor-tune time to partner with the Fiji Interna-tional, he said.

We are proud of the partnership and want to send the message that Airports Fiji Lim-ited is heavily involved in Tourism and that we

will continue to sup-port the Tourism indus-try by supporting ma-jor sporting events like the Fiji International, which puts Fiji on the global map.

Head of Commercial for the Fiji Internation-al, Mattew Porm said Airports Fiji Limited plays a major role for Fiji International.

Airports Fiji Limited is an important partner for the Fiji Internation-al, Matthew said.

Being able to tap into all the arriving and departing tourists of Fiji and capture their attention upon arriv-ing in Nadi gives us the opportunity to promote directly to them.

Together with Air-ports Fiji Limited, we hope to be able to in-crease the number of international at-tendants to this years event and promoting Nadi airport to our huge global television audience through our strong TV platform. Said Matt Porm,

Airports Fiji Limited is the latest in a string of partners to support the Fijian Governments drive to increase golf tourism through the Fiji International including Fiji Airways, the Inter-

Continental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa, Natado-la Bay Championship Golf Course, Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Ltd, Coca-Cola, and Total (Fiji).

The countrys pre-mier golfing event, Fiji International, will be played at Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course from October 15-18.

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Airports Fiji Limited Executive Chairman, Faiz Khan (middle) presents the sponsorship cheque to Head of Commercial for the Fiji International, Mattew Porm while Fiji International Event Manager Harmony Thomas looks on. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.



The 20 member Vodafone Fiji Under 17 side for the Oceania Football Confederation Championship (OFC) in Samoa. Photo. Antonio Kitione.

JULY 2015. ISSUE 68 www.thejetnewspaper.com 50 CENTS

Page 22 Page 23

Nadi Muslim College (NMC) Un-der-17 soccer team is tagged as un-stoppable as the champions of Nadi topped the Fiji Secondary School South-West Zone play-off for the sec-ond consecutive year.

After winning the Nadi Secondary Schools Football Association U17 com-petition beating Sangam SKM College 2-1 in a scintillating final, NMC defeat-

ed Lautoka district champions Natabua High School 1-0 and Cuvu College 1-0 to qualify for the Fiji Secondary SchoolsIDC in Under 17 for their second appearance.

Head coach Nadeem Mohammed said they have a Mission Shalit Cam-paign as the team is dedicating every game to their fallen hero Muni Shalit Reddy who died in Samoa early this year while on national duties.

Phase one was the Nadi zone under 17 competition and we did it for our son (Shalit), phase two was the South-West Zone play-offs in Sigatoka and we did it

Unstoppable NMC

Nadi Muslim College players and officials celebrate after defending their Nadi zone under-17 title this year. Photo: ANUSHIL KUMAR.

Fiji AirwaysPartners withFiji Internaional

By ANUSHIL KUMAR

Digicel BoostsTeam Fiji

again, Mr Mohammed said.Next up for us is the IDC. Last year we

played in the final so we would try to go one step ahead this time.

The players want to win the tourna-ment for Shalit as he was part of our team.

According to Mr Mohammed, it all goes back to months of preparation, sacrifice and commitment from all involved that have helped them win two titles in two weeks.

Again, its great work shown by the boys who are just great to coach and watch play.

I am extremely elated that we came out the best as Natabua and Cuvu were both champion teams in their own dis-tricts.

The boys did move away from the game plan at times and we need to regroup and reflect to improve on the weaker areas before the IDC.

The support from all is just amaz-ing so there is no reason why this team fails

The Fiji Secondary Schools under-17 IDC will be held at Nausoris Ratu Cako-bau Park in August.

Documents

THE JET VOLUME 7 NUMBER 9.pdf