The Indian Weekender, 15 April 2022

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Editorial Time for govt to take law and order seriously The audacious ram raids at the Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores in Auckland CBD earlier in the week should remind the government that it’s time to take deteriorating law and order seriously. To say that the law and order situation is deteriorating will be an understatement as the news of ram raids in dairy stores and retail outlets across the country continue to rise unabatedly. With hushed voices within the community even suggesting that not all incidences of ram-raids are being reported to police, out of a growing fear of attracting more such acts of adventurism or just sheer frustration. For dairy owners and retailers, life immediately after such boisterous acts of destruction and stealing is already quite stressful and risks several more hours of business loss when the police’s forensic teams gather the so-called evidence that seemingly rarely gets used, in the absence of arrests and successful prosecution in courts, is not worth reporting to police. Despite this perceived less reporting to police of such acts of burglary or retail crime, the latest data on retail criminal offending is outright concerning. As per the data released by the police under the Official Information Act, on the one hand, the retail offending is increasing while the police is making lesser arrests. In the first eleven months of 2021, the dairy and convenience store theft were up 30 per cent on 2020 figures, and burglaries were up nearly 20 per cent. Expectedly, Auckland is leading in this list, with retail offences rising by 25.8 percent, followed by Waikato (19.7 percent) and Christchurch (14.2 percent). Meanwhile, the fall in the rate of arrests during the same period is around 23 per cent. The Labour Party had stormed in the government in 2017 with a firm conviction that the current criminal justice system was skewed and dysfunctional and the high incarceration rates were not helpful in reforming or preventing the rate of criminal offending. It had an overt abnegation towards the three strikes law that was brought by the previous National government, which meant that if someone was caught three times for similar nature of the crime, they would then has to bear the consequences of their actions and be prosecuted. The law is being repealed now by the current government, sighting that there was no clear international or NZ evidence to suggest that the law has reduced serious offending. At the heart of the government’s thinking while repealing that law was the “unfairness of sentences handed down.” Many in the community, especially those at the forefront of experiencing the spate of retail criminal offending, argue that the “concerns of victims” remain amiss from this government thinking. They argue that while it is okay for the government to repeal a law that seems to have not worked in preventing repeat offending, it is not okay to repeal a law and not come up with measures that it thinks will eventually reduce the rate of crime. If high rates of incarceration is not the answer to fixing the systemic issues facing the judicial system, then what is the alternative? How does the government propose to quell the rising tide of retail crime, that has seen an audacious explosion in the last two years, when the government has been largely seen distracted in managing a global pandemic and the police had been spread out too thin on the ground to make a meaningful impact? Till now, the stories of ram-raids were less reported from the heart of CBD areas and confined to dairy stores located a bit remotely, thereby reinforcing a perception that there was enough deterrent of law enforcement agencies in those areas. Now, it seems that that pretence is also being removed and laying bare the government’s perceived confusion on how to respond to the rising spate of crime without shedding their ideological baggage. This government is already appearing as a third term government – tired, jaded and lacking in motivation to act energetically after having exhausted the option of hoping that any emerging issue will automatically self-fix by itself. The latest decision to change the traffic light system (moving the country into the orange light setting) ahead of the Easter break and school holidays seems to be another decision coming late and without any consistency. However, the issue of the rising crime-graph cannot be left till late and should not be left with the hope that it will be fixed on its own. It’s time for the govt to take the fast deteriorating law and order situation across the country seriously. Thought of the week "If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves." - Maria Edgeworth 15 April – 22 April 2022 Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thu Fine apart from morning cloud 23° 18° Partly cloudy 24° 18° Partly cloudy 24° 17° Fine light winds 26° 18° This week in New Zealand’s history 15 April 1868 First Māori MPs elected to Parliament Indian Weekender : Volume 14 Issue 4 Fine, then showers 26° 19° Showers Publisher: Kiwi Media Publishing Limited Editor: Dev Nadkarni | dev@indianweekender.co.nz Graphic Designer: Yashmin Chand | design@indianweekender.co.nz Multimedia Specialist: Karan Bhasin | 022 0772 156 | karan@indianweekender.co.nz Accounts and Admin.: 09-2173623 | accounts@indianweekender.co.nz Sales and Distribution: Utkarsh Tiwari | 021 952216 | sales@indianweekender.co.nz Auckland Reporter: Navdeep Kaur Marwah: | 021 952 246 | navdeep@indianweekender.co.nz Waikato Reporter: Sandeep Singh | 021 952 245 | sandeep@indianweekender.co.nz Wellington Reporter: Venu Menon | 021 538 356 | venu@indianweekender.co.nz Christchurch Reporter: Mahesh Kumar | 021 952 218 | mahesh@indianweekender.co.nz Views expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication Views expressed in the articles are solely of the authors and do not in any way represent the views of the team at the Indian Weekender Kiwi Media Publishing Limited - 133A, Level 1, Onehunga Mall, Onehunga, Auckland. Printed at Horton Media, Auckland Copyright 2020. Kiwi Media Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved. Send your suggestions and feedback to editor@indianweekender.co.nz 25° 18° Few showers 25° 18° The Maori Representation Act 1867 established four Māori seats in the House of Representatives, initially for a period of five years. The act gave the vote to all Māori males aged 21 and over. 15 April 2018 Black Ferns Sevens win Commonwealth gold New Zealand rugby sevens team turned the tables on 2016 Olympic champions Australia, winning a thrilling final at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast in extra time. It was the first occasion women’s rugby sevens was contested at the Commonwealth Games. 16 April 1892 NZ Rugby Football Union founded As rugby grew in popularity in New Zealand, it became necessary to standardise the administration of the game in the colony. Despite some opposition, a New Zealand Rugby Football Union was founded. 18 April 1840 Samuel Revans prints first newspaper The first newspapers published in New Zealand were printed by Samuel Revans a month after he arrived in Port Nicholson (Wellington). Revans had published the first issue of the New Zealand Gazette in London in August 1839, just before the New Zealand Company’s emigrant ships departed. He was also secretary to the colonists’ council, and the news in the first New Zealand issue was semi-official. 19 April 1884 First royal honour for New Zealand woman The Royal Red Cross was awarded to Miss Annie Alice Crisp, Lady Superintendent of Auckland Hospital, in a ceremony at Government House, Auckland. 22 April 1936 Rātana and Labour seal alliance The alliance between the Rātana Church and the Labour Party was cemented at a historic meeting between Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana and Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage.
The Indian Weekender Friday, April 15, 2022 NEW ZEALAND 13 Fiji losing skilled workers to poaching Fiji is losing a lot of skilled employers in different fields due to poaching and lucrative offers from overseas and the private sector. This was highlighted by Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum in parliament today, who says the government has now allocated $50, 000 to carry out a scarce skills review in the civil service. Sayed-Khaiyum says the money will fund research to identify World Bank. He has not become the contracts have come to an end and highly skilled positions across the regional expert for them and laying civil servants have been given shortterm contracts.” government and the underlying out projects across the Pacific.” reasons contributing to the scarcity Opposition MP Ro Filipe Tuisawau Sayed-Khaiyum dismissed these of those skills. claims that some civil servants are claims, saying Ro Filipe should not “Recently the Head of our Climate resigning because of a lack of job use one or two examples to shoot Change Division was poached by a security. down the entire system, which is UN Agency. We had for example the “Staff retention can also be affected working well. head of our Communications system by leadership and management “All of you are going out, trying – the guy who rolled out all the issues. Some of the major complaints to create this disquiet among civil groundbreaking work we did a few that have been coming through is servants. As any civil servant years ago has been poached by the the management of contracts, where would know, if you initially take up PM wants parents and guardians to stay involved in their children’s education Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is urging parents and guardians to stay involved in their children’s education and ensure that they are keeping out of trouble. With the start of the 2022 academic year today, Bainimarama is reminding students to be kind and respectful to each other and also to teachers. He says schools are not a place to bully other students. Bainimarama adds that COVID-19 protocols will be in place in schools. The Prime Minister has also thanked teachers for their dedication to the education of students, as some of them took the teaching materials to the doorsteps of their students. Term 1 of the 2022 academic year will be from today to July 8th, Term 2 will be from July 18th to October 6th and the final term will begin from October 17th to December 16th. Diaspora urged to invest in Fiji Fiji engages with Fijians abroad through the diplomatic missions which includes creating opportunities to participate in socio-economic development back home. Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama says the recent launch of a national digital transformation programme has made it easier for diaspora communities to invest in Fiji. Bainimarama says Fijians living abroad bring experiences, new perspectives and even skill-sets. The Prime Minister, at the same time, reinforced the Government’s stand in welcoming any citizen who wants to stay fully engaged with Fiji. He adds no Fijian who becomes a citizen of another country needs to give up their Fijian citizenship. Bainimarama has encouraged Fijians living abroad to vote in national elections. While opening the Global Diaspora Summit 2022 in Dublin, Ireland Bainimarama highlighted that remittances are now Fiji’s second-largest source of foreign exchange. Staff retention can also be affected by leadership and management issues. Some of the major complaints that have been coming through is the management of contracts, where contracts have come to an end and civil servants have been given short-term contracts a position you given a three-year contract. At the end of three years after the assessment if you perform above a particular level you given a five years contract. There were some issues with some of the ministries but that has been rectified. Bainimarama says remittances supplement the incomes of family members in normal times and they increase during emergencies, such as pandemics, natural disasters and conflicts. The Head of Government reiterated that Fiji fully supports the vision of the Summit to promote a wholeof-government and whole-of-society approach to diaspora engagement. India donates PPE, medicine for tuberculosis and Anti-Retroviral drugs for HIV patients India continues to support our health sector with medical supplies as they handed over more than $325,000 worth of Personal Protective Equipment, medicine for tuberculosis and the second batch of the Anti-Retroviral drugs for HIV patients today. While handing over the supplies, the Indian High Commissioner to Fiji, Palaniswamy Subramanyan Karthigeyan says they have always been with Fiji and are privileged to assist. Karthigeyan says the world is one family and this became much more evident in the last 2 years. Exams removed for Year 1-3; no external exams for Years 6-10 Exams for Year to Year 3 students in Fiji have been removed starting from this new academic year. Minister for Education Premila Kumar confirmed this was one of a number of changes the ministry was implementing in this new school year. She said for other classes, they would only have to sit the mid-year and annual exams. “Additionally, there will be no external exams for Years 6 to 10,” Mrs Kumar said. The Minister She said other changes were curriculum-oriented – Years 1-4 in 90 selected schools from around the country would be trialling the revised Literacy and Numeracy Curriculum. She said Years 1 to 3 students would be trialling the new Moral and Civic Education curriculum. The Ministry is also rolling out its new Year 11 Life Math curriculum this year after last year’s successful trial, she adds. “We are introducing some changes this year, which I am sure students, parents and teachers will find to be positive and helpful. “We will continue to bring about reforms in education, and we will improve the learning experience for our students, so as we leave 2021 behind. He says when global supply was disrupted due to the pandemic, India provided critical medical supplies to over 150 counties including Fiji. Karthigeyan has once again reaffirmed India's support to Fiji in times of need. Health Minister Doctor Ifereimi Waqainabete thanked India for the support. The Health Minister says this assistance will complement the work of our health care professionals as we do not know when the next variant or the next wave will hit us. Turmeric among Fiji’s top non-sugar agricultural exports Turmeric is among Fiji’s top non-sugar agricultural exports. Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Dr Mahendra Reddy said while kava was on the top of the list, it was interesting that turmeric was third on the list. “The 2021 data shows kava exports were $41.9 million followed by dalo $30.1 million and interestingly, followed by number three is turmeric $22.9 million exports only,” he said. “Then ginger $13.9 miilion, then assorted vegetables $5.7 million, cassava $1.7 million, chicken meat and eggs $4.7 million, these are the top seven.” He said turmeric had a competitive advantage. “Our turmeric has a particular cumin component, which is much higher than turmeric from other countries and so for this reason turmeric is high in demand in US. Turmeric is not only used for food purposes, but also for medicinal products.” He said they had spent $100,000 in this year’s budget on promoting turmeric expansion and they had seen that turmeric grew 33.3 per cent last year compared with the previous years. With kava on the top of the export list, Dr Reddy said kava made an extremely important contribution to exports. “And we see the kava export in terms of volume and value will increase.” PM assures FNPF members their savings are safe and the Fund sits in a strong financial position Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has assured Fijians that due to government’s reforms and Fiji National Provident Fund’s prudent management, their savings are safe and the FNPF sits in a strong financial position. Bainimarama says one question he has been asked before is whether the FNPF will run out of money. The Prime Minister says FNPF’s total assets are more than $8 billion which includes more than $600 million worth of cash and deposits. He says the FNPF Act allows the Board under certain conditions to assist its members in times of need and it has done so during serious cyclones and other disasters. Bainimarama says as of 4th April 2022, 141,377 FNPF members have been assisted through the COVID-19 relief scheme where the members received a total of $368.3 million. He says out of this amount, $185.6 million was paid by the government and $182.7 million came from the general accounts of the individual FNPF members. The Prime Minister says it is important to remember that members receiving relief could only access funds from their general accounts and their preserved accounts were not touched.
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The Indian Weekender, 15 April 2022

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