By Dennis Rounds
Kava sessions in Western Fiji can be quite “intellectual” with discussions around the tanoa ranging from fishermen’s tales to “bush lawyer” arguments about politics, democracy and the economy.
I recently heard one argument made quite eloquently about history and age. The two, in typical “Fiji speak”, were described as “cousin brothers”.
The grog-induced “intellectual reasoning” was that both have one thing in common – the benefit of hindsight!
Living in retirement, I’d like to think I have 65 years of “hindsight” tucked under my belt. I submit (with accompanying humility) that qualifies me to “reflect” without – as our Attorney-General would say – “languishing in intellectually barren space”.
Look at grassroots dance routines. In the 1950s and 1960s we burned the dance floors with the jive, the twist and the limbo rock.
Then in the seventies and the eighties we imitated John Travolta’s disco-style dancing and Michael Jackson’s “moon walk”.
Now, in 2021, we have something I will label for history as the “COVID 360 hustle”.
In late August, I sat in awe on Lautoka’s landmark downtown railway line just to get a first-hand view of how thousands of our now “truly equal citizens”, snaked-danced the “COVID 360 hustle” all the way to the Vodafone and Digicel payment centres.
Face masks of various sizes, colours and designs were evident. However, as with most other dances, the “COVID hustle” didn’t involve “social distancing”.
If anything, there was one thing common in the “hustle” – everyone was clutching their mobile phone like they would their bank books!
“Who wouldn’t?” I asked myself. After all, contained within it was confirmation of a $360 financial blessing from the Bainimarama government as a relief to the COVID-19 scourge!
In early August, Bainimarama announced a $360 allowance for each unemployed person on Viti Levu on condition that they had, by then, received at least their first vaccine “jab”.
By the end of August, government had paid out a whopping F$104.2 million (US$50 million) to 289,489 Fijians (84% of the total number of 345,289 applications).
With a Worldometer August 2021 record of Fiji’s population standing at 903,971, my ageing brain cells calculate the number of people who did the “COVID 360 hustle” as representing close to one third of all “Fijians”.
There’s more to come with the Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum predicting a further payment of $360 per unemployed individuals in November “in time for Diwali!”
Here in Fiji’s “burning west” the closure of Fiji’s international borders and the sustained absence of tourists has impacted greatly on employment.
According to Sayed-Khaiyum, a total of 149,400 people in the western division who are unemployed or without means of a regular income received the COVID $360 payment. A breakdown by city/town: Nadi – 45,506; Lautoka,-42,000; Ba – 24,444; Sigatoka – 16,749; Rakiraki – 11,743; Tavua – 8,958.
Regular international air traffic into and out of Fiji is expected to resume in November. One can only surmise that unemployment rates will drop and the length of the snake-like “COVID 360 hustle” will be shorter.
However, one thing is certain in Fiji – people have been “conditioned” to expect the unexpected and accept the consistency of inconsistencies.
One such example has contributed to on-going “tanoa debates” which are likely to continue for months, if not years to come.
Opposition parliamentarian, Mr Niko Nawaikula was “banished” from the august House recently for not using the name on his birth certificate to contest the 2018 General election.
Fiji’s Court of Disputed Returns helped him return to Parliament when it ruled the banishment unjustified.
This prompted the Attorney General, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum to publicly chastise both government lawyers and private counsel for not doing “a good job” in their presentations to the court.
This law has now been changed.
Grassroots discussions on this matter are intense, with one commonality – the usual “tanoa debate” opening statement – “Only in Fiji”.
