Deep cracks disfigure troubled Fiji

TEUILA TUALAULELEI visited Fiji to find out the lingering effects of coup backlash.

SUVA - The seven months since the overthrow of the Fiji Government have brought an unprecedented level of violence, racial intolerance and division to Fiji.

The May 19 coup itself was followed by the swearing in of an interim Administration, many of whose members, including the Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, have links with the SVT (Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei) - a party which is both populist and fiercely nationalistic.

Early last month, a mutiny within the military forces claimed the lives of eight soldiers.

Most recently, the interim Administration has decided to appeal a ruling of Chief Justice Anthony Gates that the interim Administration is illegal; the 1997 Constitution must be restored; and President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara must be returned to Parliament to form a Government.

The climate of fear and uncertainty which these events have created has by far the greatest impact on the Fiji Indians, who make up 44 per cent of the population.

It is their future that is the real subject of the debate and battle currently under way in Fiji.

What is the paramount body in the land? Is it the justice system and, in effect, democracy? Or is it the Great Council of Chiefs and Fiji's indigenous culture and traditions?

Former High Court judge and High Chief Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi believes the decision of the Great Council in agreeing to appoint a President in place of Mara while the People's Coalition Government was held hostage, sealed the fate of the nation, and singlehandedly destroyed democracy.

Madraiwiwi said it was a defining moment when the Council of Chiefs stood up and demonstrated their leadership but in hindsight he did not know that it was realistic.

"You're talking about a group of men, mostly in their 50s and 60s, who have a particular idea of the world, in which the place of the Fijian is central," he said.

"That idea of the indigenous Fijian, and his identity, comes before everything else. Everything, whether it be politics, the law, religion, whatever ... is subject to that view."

Since the coup, Sashi Kiran, founder and coordinator of Pride Fiji (Promoting Rural Initiatives, Development and Education), has received many accounts of Fiji Indian farmers and their families terrorised or forced off their farms; women have been raped; possessions have been stolen; and, in some instances, framers and their families have been beaten by indigenous landowners.

One family's brutal treatment was witnessed by police, who refused to intervene for fear of being assaulted themselves.

"I had one case where a family were forcibly removed from their farm," said Kiran.

"The husband, who was in his mid-30s, died of a heart attack from shock. The wife came to me. She has three children and the soonest Social Welfare can help her is January.

"A lot of these farmers have worked the land for many generations, worked alongside the mataqali [landowners]. Since the coup, there is now so much distrust between farmers and indigenous Fijians. Many [farmers] want to get out but they cannot afford to."

Within the sugar-cane industry, which has been a cash-cow for successive governments, it is predicted that more than 13,500 leases will expire in the next seven to eight years. Up to 2000 leases are due to expire at the end of this month.

Conservative estimates are that 15,000 to 18,000 families will be affected.

Added to the equation are seasonal workers, who rely on cane-cutting and working the mills as their main income.

Deposed Prime Minister and Secretary of the National Farmers Union Mahendra Chaudhry believes the displacement of the thousands of farmers is a problem too vast for the union to handle alone.

"It is an immense problem. The union by itself will not be able to cope with it. So we are now putting in place a plan for international assistance.

"I am compiling a report ... which will look into the historical aspects of the situation as it exists today. It will look into the future and the implications of it on the farmers, the economy of Fiji and make recommendations for the consideration of the international community in terms of providing relief for displaced farmers.

"Depending on the world price of sugar, the industry has the potential to earn between $F230million to $F300 million ($239 million to $312 million) in foreign exchange earnings.

"The demise of the industry could occur within the next three to five years if the issue of leases is not resolved."

Also under threat is the textile clothing and footwear industry, which employs up to 18,000 people.

The Chairman of the Fiji Australia Business Council, Mark Halabe, believes the industry could easily expand within the next five years and absorb an additional 18,000 employees.

But because of Fiji's political instability and the possibility of the Australian Government not renewing the import credit scheme, which allows Fiji discounted fabric costs, the industry could be lost.

"We had a massive drop in trade in the months of June and July," said Halabe. "The months of August and September have begun to swing back up again.

"But overall, you're talking about a third in loss of exports to Australia - quite substantial. Yet imports from Australia have maintained at a pretty high level. So the deficit has been increasing for the country."

Halabe believes the textile, clothing and footwear industry has a vital role to play in Fiji, especially for school-leavers.

"There are up to 12,000 school-leavers every year. Five thousand of those will not find employment.

"By Western standards, $F80 a week is not much, but many of these people are able to have gainful employment through pattern-making, machinery operators and so on."

Tourism has recovered more than other industries, with last month's figures down by just 20 per cent on last year.

Last year, the industry accounted for $F543 million in earnings.

Almost 80 per cent of those employed within the tourism industry are women.

Of the layoffs or reduced working hours that have occurred, women workers have borne the brunt.

A spokeswoman for the Fiji Women's Rights Movement, Gina Houng-Lee, believes that women have suffered the most.

"I think that women are finding it particularly difficult now. They are very vulnerable in terms of survival and managing household incomes.

"We interviewed the women who were lining up outside our Fiji National Provident Fund, and they said to us how their whole household income might have been $F80 a week. This moved to about $F40 a week."

"Also, if you look at our current poverty level, it is based at about $F80 a week to feed approximately a family of five.

"The Family Assistance Scheme, which is your last hope of getting some sort of Government assistance, is about $F35 a month and 80 per cent of the recipients are women."

Unofficial figures from the Fiji Council of Social Services estimate that up to 60 per cent of Fijians live below the poverty line.

A curfew is still in place in Suva, despite a prevailing "normalcy."

Armed guards stand at the entrance to the country's telecommunications centre and locals say more beggars are on the streets than before.

The armed patrols on suburban streets and rural highways create elaborate, maze-like routes, where they pass their time watching weary motorists.

Will Fiji return to democracy? Can Fiji afford not to?

The social, economic and human costs of not returning may prove too costly for all Fijians today and in the future.