Fiji
Getting Things Under Control
Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase Takes Stock
What follows is the full transcript of the Pacific Magazineinterview with Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. The interview was conducted by our Fiji correspondent, Matelita Ragogo.
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Pacific Magazine: You entered the political arena rather suddenly when you were appointed to head the interim administration after the May 2000 coup and now you lead a government as an elected Member of Parliament - how has it been like for you personally?
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase: I have made a lot of sacrifices, particularly during the interim period, I had no idea then that I would go on to contest the elections. I gave up a very good job, much better paid and with much better conditions that the remuneration package for the Prime Minister of Fiji. I gave all those up because I thought I had something to contribute and that it would be on a temporary basis. Later when the decision to hold the elections was made, almost two years after my first appointment, I was then faced with a challenge, it was a challenge for me personally and that's the factor that influenced me in contesting the general elections. By that time after my experience from the interim period, I was convinced that I could contribute to a post-coup Fiji particularly in our attempts to take the country back to stability and economic growth and so on. These factors played a great part in my decision to contest the general elections even though I knew that I was giving up a very lucrative job which was still available to me until that time but I want to state that the decision to go to the elections was my personal decision, no one influenced me to go and do it so I cannot complain if I'm finding the job too tough now. I went in there voluntarily.
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PM: How do you think you've performed?
LQ: I always think that other people are the best judge for my performance - if I say I've done well then maybe I'm biased but there are certain things that I think stand out in the progress that we have made since we became the elected government. One is that we've gotten law and order into place. We have embarked on an economic growth policy and we have been strong on that. We have put in place some policies, which we believe will take the country forward, we have a three-year strategic plan for the country and we are implementing that plan through our annual budgets. So the return to normality in terms of law and order, political stability, economic stability and social stability I think are some of the highlights of the government's performance during the last two years. I want to stress that even though I lead the government, it has always been a team effort. I am a great believer in teamwork so any credit must go to the team. I am there simply to lead the team and I have been very happy with the team that we have, I have received tremendous support from my party the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua and my coalition partners, the Conservative Alliance, Kenneth Zinck from the New Labour Party and the two independents.
PM: Generally speaking, the private sector seem to be satisfied with how your government is progressing as far as economic growth policies - do you think your background as a banker assisted your leadership?
LQ:Certainly. My experience as a banker has helped greatly and on top of that, I have a few of my ministers who have had experience in the private sector so we have a strong team in that sense, we have a lot of strength in our ability to see business as the driving force of the economy. All of us recognise that and we have done everything we can to try and bring back confidence, get investors into the country from outside and encourage our people within to invest and I am glad that is taking place.
PM: Apart from the recent infrastructure development in preparation for the South Pacific Games, the fact remains that there still are state institutions and schools that are deteriorating and in dilapidated forms, water cuts have become a norm and so on - do you have plans and/or capital to reverse this process?
LQ:Yes, even though I have mentioned some very positive developments since we came into power, there are quite a number of very serious problems that confront the country. One of those problems is the question of unemployment, it is very high and that phenomenon has not happened just now. It is a problem that had been there all the time it just got much worse since year 2000. In addition to that, we have some serious national problems that had been there all the time as well and have been snowballing and they are now requiring some very urgent solutions. One of those is the question of the sugar industry, which is in a very bad state and we need to restructure that as soon as possible and make it a commercially viable industry. Another problem is the issue of land tenure and that has been going on for years now without a solution and we are trying our best to find a solution. And then we have the issue of constitutional changes that is going to be a difficult one and a challenge for us. And then of course, the serious water problems that we have, particularly between Suva and Nausori. Now the water problems, we have been saying all along that it is one of those problems that should have been sorted out years ago but the priority of governments at that time was something else and we are now paying the price. I have mentioned a number of time to put the water system between Suva and Nausori into a perfect and upgraded condition, we will need FJD150million dollars to spend on capital programmes over the next five to ten years. At the moment, all the measures that we are taking are virtually just a fire fighting exercise and this year, we have just approved in our cabinet meeting yesterday another 9million dollars and that will be funding another reservoir in Tovata. We hope that reservoir will be completed at the end of the year. One is just about completed in Nasinu so between the two of them, our capacity to distribute water will be greatly approved but in addition to those two, we will have to upgrade some equipment particularly pumping equipment from the source so that we can fill those reservoirs. So hopefully by the end of the year, we will plug a lot of lose ends as far as the water system is concerned but I must say it wont solve the problems completely, as I've mentioned, we need to spend over 100million dollars for the next five years to do that and that is what we propose to do.
PM: What do you say to suggestions that the water system be privatised? Generally speaking, what is your stance to the privatisation of essential services but specifically on water supply?
LQ: There are advantages and disadvantages like most things. I personally feel that a lot of government functions should be corporatised first, in other words take them out of government departments and ministries into commercial companies. Privatisation is another step further down the road, to sell shares to the public that will follow naturally from the process of corporatisation. I am in favour of corporatising the water and sewerage system but not at this stage because there is no point in transferring those assets, which are run down to a new commercial entity, it would be unfair. So I think the best thing is for government to upgrade the system, perfect it and then corporatise at that point - if we follow that, we are looking at a few years down the road. The other important point when you corporatise is what would be the charges to the consumers. Now with the government running it as a department, we can easily leave the charges as they are and that is a policy for this government, to leave water rates as they are during this term in office. If you corporatise then of course they will have to operate commercial basis and that might mean increase in water charges and a lot of our people cannot afford that.
PM: Where are we going to get the 100million dollars to fully upgrade the system?
LQ: Over five years, we can get it from our capital budget annually. We might out aside 20million dollars every year for the next five years.
PM: For the sugar industry, you have launched a restructure programme - could briefly describe your plans on this issue?
LQ: I think there are certain facts we should accept and understand. Firstly, the industry is bankrupt. The Fiji Sugar Corporation is bankrupt and that is the result of problems accumulating over a number of years and the parties that are involved we never able to resolve that and now it is up to this government to resolve those problems. We cannot afford to wait too long to restructure because the problems is so serious. I have said we need to restructure urgently and the deadline I had mentioned was (April 1 2003) but now we have gone past that date. It does not mean we are postponing the restructure to next year, April 1 2004, which is what a lot of people are saying. I'm saying, a lot of minor changes, we will implement those. April next year will be when some of the key decisions would have to be made. So there seems to be confusion on the timing, what I can say is the restructuring will start this year and will continue into next. In fact, it will be a five-year process as well; the changes are going to take place over five years.
PM:What say you to the opposition your plans are facing especially from the Fiji Labour Party that has been the main group opposed to this restructure?
LQ: They are against the restructuring from a political point of view really and it is politics that has caused the problems in the sugar industry. I am hoping the Labour party will see the light of day and accept that we must restructure the sugar industry on a commercial basis, that is the only way that can ensure survival of the industry. If we continue to play politics, then the industry will simply die away.
PM: Your government seems adamant to restructure the sugar industry, why not seriously consider alternative crops?
LQ: The sugar industry is the biggest agricultural export from Fiji, it has been a mainstay of our economy for decades and continues to be a major factor even though it is diminishing in terms of the total economy. We have over 200,000 people dependent on the industry either directly or indirectly so we simply cannot take it away. We have to continue with it and also we feel if we restructure on a commercial basis and our farmers are able to perform as commercial farmers and the milling companies (proposed in the restructure) are operating efficiently, we see that the prospect look good but that requires everybody working together. Time itself will tell whether the industry will continue to survive after the restructure but we are certainly optimistic that it will. At the same time, we are looking at alternative crops. In fact, there is a study on it by the Asian Development Bank. In the restructuring exercise, we expect that a few thousands farmers, the small inefficient farmers, will have to leave the industry; there will be no choice. Again, we cannot just leave them aside without doing anything for them; they are part of the population of this country, they have families and we have to look after them somehow and we are looking at alternative crops that have markets and also crops, which they can plant on the land, which they hold at the moment.
PM: The legitimacy of your government is still before the courts…
LQ: I think that multi-party cabinet case will be heard on June 18.
PM: I was going to refer to the talanoa sessions that have been initiated by Tongan academic, Professor Sitiveni Halapua; there has been talks of how both yourself and Mahendra Chaudhry are simply too stubborn; from where you're sitting, why are still waiting for another talanoa session?
LQ: The government has always been willing to discuss national issues in the talanoa sessions. Twice already, Mr. Chaudhry has backed out, not us. We still express our willingness to go to the talanoa session to discuss national issues such as land and so on but we are not the one backing off so it is really up to him and we need his participation on these discussions if we are going to resolve these issues so the longer he keeps away from the talanoa, the longer we will have to continue with these problems. That is not going to help anyone; it is not going to help the country.
PM: Would you say this backing out is simply political rather than the preferred action by people he represents?
LQ: Of course. He is a seasoned politician.
LQ: We cannot afford to stay out of the ACP, in fact the whole Pacific islands cannot afford to stay out of it. It is one of the most important institution which regional countries are members of. The ACP has a very close relationship with the European Union and as you know, the EU is a very strong economic, political body in the world comprising some of the richest countries in the world. There has been a long association between the ACP and the EU for a number of decades; the relationship has been in terms of aid, trade, there is increase in political interaction so it is vital we remain in that group. Now, the current arrangement of Fiji sugar will end in 2007. Already negotiations have started in relation to sugar and other aspects of relations between the ACP and EU. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (Kaliopate Tavola) is participating personally in key discussions in current negotiations and in a lot of cases, he is leading the Pacific region in those discussions. Our African and Caribbean friends, they look up to him because he is a very experienced person in matters relating to the EU and ACP since he was in Brussels as our representative there for a number of years so we are very fortunate that we have in him someone who is thoroughly knowledgeable in the ACP-EU relationship that is taking a lead role in negotiations on behalf of the Pacific region and the ACP as a whole.
PM: It strengthens our bargaining power when talking trade…
LQ: Yes, that is the critical factor because we stand together within that group, we are very strong because a lot of members of this group are suppliers of raw materials and other goods to the EU so they have to take seriously the thinking of the ACP group as well. Similarly, the EU is a very strong group so they would like to work as a team and that is what's' happening.
PM: Closer to home, how has the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat facilitated your relations with other countries regionally and internationally?
LQ: Bilateral relations between countries will have to continue no matter what happens and that's what's important - we have ours with Australia, with New Zealand, the US and a lot of other countries but at the same time, it is important that the Forum remains. We should do everything to strengthen the forum because as mentioned earlier, the unity of a group is a strong bargaining power. When dealing on multilateral issues, it is important that groups of countries that have common ground stand together in order to gain maximum benefit. Both are important - bilateral and multilateral relations through a common forum like the Pacific Islands Forum.
PM: In tourism, Fiji Visitors Bureau statistics reflect increasing arrivals, we may have another airline operating in this route, what is your understand of this industry and what plans have you?
LQ: Tourism is one of the economic sectors that this government is focused on. It is one of the sectors that will drive the economy. In our strategic plan, tourism comes up at the top end of the scale because of our belief that tourism has huge potential and we have the capacity to absorb tourist numbers so without doing too much, we can gain a lot from tourism. To prove our faith in the industry, we have encouraged some new hotel developments, Air Pacific Hotels is likely to start in June, the Momi Bay Resort is likely to start in June and one or two of these big hotels are likely to start at the end of the year. In addition to that, government itself is putting infrastructure into Natadola, one of the most beautiful tourist location in the Pacific, we are tar sealing the road, we are taking water to the site and we hope to complete that by next year but already, there are a number of international hotel chains that have expressed keen interest in starting to build in Natadola once infrastructure is in place so things are looking very good for tourism. Last year we were just about 8000 or 9000 short of breaking the 1999 record, this year the projection is between 420 to 430,000. If we achieve that, it would be a record year. And provided everything else remains the same, the Iraq war and other elements, tourism is going to grow rapidly in the next five years. In fact the industry itself is expecting the earnings from tourism to reach one billion dollars in the year 2007, that is a huge growth front the current 500 to 600,000 dollars.
PM: Very positive projection but there has been criminal activities against visitors here, the most publicized and recent one was the all-night systemic rape of an American tourist - what's being done about the adverse international image such actions may have caused.
PM: The image overseas is not that bad at all. In fact, the record of crime here in relation to other places that have a lot of tourists is not that bad. That is not to say we should do something about it to reduce or eliminate it. We have been very concerned about the problem and we have trying to do something about it, slowly and within the resources that we have; we are trying to devote more resources to our police force and will continue to do that over the next few years. There is a lot of training offered by countries such as the USA and Australia for our police officers not only to help them in their everyday work but to also to train them for possible terrorism activity in our country. I think we will continue to receive that kind of aid from at least those two countries. There has been a discussion between the government, particularly the police department with our tourism and banking industries where some of these activities may take place. To try and see if the both the security force and the public can work together to discourage people from committing some of these offences so I think if we all played our part, I'm optimistic we can keep this problem under control and even reduce these incidences.
PM: Rumors of possible coups continue to pop up. Does you government have the confidence of the military's loyalty and reduced chances of further insurgencies?
LQ: I don't want to be like my predecessors who guaranteed there would be no more upheaval…nobody can give that kind of guarantee. But law and order is back, military is back playing its normal role and the police is also back playing its normal role…
PM:You are sure of your relationship with the security forces?
LQ: Yes.
PM: Fisheries in the region has of late attracted the attention of the European Union, the Japanese are strengthening their already established relationships here - what do you think should be the attitude of regional countries to these approaches?
LQ: Our fisheries resources in the Pacific are the biggest in many respects. It is also the biggest natural resource that each of the Pacific country has, we haven't got the land but we have the sea and it is very important that we manage our resources wisely. I am concerned about the increase in interest of overseas countries in our fisheries because if we are not careful and not manage our resource well, some of these countries will simply come in, deplete our resources and then take off. The unfortunate part about this is our countries are so small we cannot police our EEZ so we are in a very difficult position but this is an area I belief the Forum island countries should stand together because if we don't stand together then it will be very difficult to deal with these large and powerful countries coming on to utilize and take away our resources. But the signs are not very encouraging because individual country is beginning to listen to these countries, some of them giving licenses left, right and center. We have been doing that in Fiji, we are trying to control it now but even them it is not easy because we have given so many licenses before but hopefully, we will get ours under control.
PM: The Pacific Islands Leaders Forum communiqué made reference to the pandemic HIV/AIDS. Regional commitments and national actions to honor the are two different things - what is Fiji doing? How serious are you about this issue?
LQ: I am personally very concerned and in fact, I had asked the Task Force on HIV/AIDS to get a very comprehensive paper on the problem just to see what has happened, what is likely to happen and I really want to get to the bottom of it and try and put in place some policies, some action plans to combat this health issue. In our Cabinet meeting yesterday, there was a very good paper on this subject, the proposal now is to really try and tackle the issue on a national basis involving the government, the churches and the Vanua. I believe the problem is so serious that we should tackle the problem on a national basis over a period of time involving those three groups. I am determined to go that direction and that has been the recommendation of the Ministry of Health as well so I am very pleased about it. But we need to consider the issue further and try and work an action plan together with the resources that will be required to implement that plan.
