Eye In the Sky: Fiji Govt Data Centre

The illegal and treasonous military regime laud the increase in Chinese tourists and are also enjoying the patronage of the renminbi backed loan from China for a grand ultra high-tech Government Data Centre that taxpayers will once again be forced to make good on, both against their will and knowledge.

New Government Data Centre for Fiji

After the commissioning, the Government of the Republic of Fiji will have it’s first Data Centre.

The Data Centre is aimed to achieve a tier 3 level. 

The centre is equipped with the latest technology and equipment which includes redundant and backup power supply, communication connections, environmental controls, (air conditioning & fire suppression) and security devices. 

Information security is vital, and for this reason entry into the facility is restricted to authorized personnel only, card access for the outskirts of the building, and biometric palm readers for entry into the core of the facility. This is to ensure a secure environment to minimize the chances of a security breach. 

ITC Services is the government department identified as the “Heart” of the Fijian Government that house all government information. The department is responsible for developing, supporting and implementing ICT across government. They are also the implementers of various projects like the e-Government project and soon the commissioning of the Fijian Government Data Centre. 

The department in the past month has had visitors to the Data Centre from stakeholders to government departments, including SPC together with officials from Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. 

The delegation accompanied by Secretariat of the Pacific Community staff had a chance to tour ITC Services office, located on Victoria Parade and the new Fijian Government Data Centre at Berkley Crescent. 

Through SPC, the department hopes to work with Pacific Island Countries in working together to enhance the relationship in terms of providing ICT support, in ensuring Information Security in their different Island countries. 

The Data Centre, upon commissioning, will be a great milestone achievement for the government as a whole. 

The Data Centre will see Government Information and data hosted on an internationally standardised environment to ensure:
- 99.982% up-time availability
- Standardised security features
- And State of the art redundancy plans.

Thanks to Google Earth however we can keep track with an eye in the sky view on what's going down with this hush-hush project.

It should come as no surprise to us therefore that all the recent military/naval posturing in this part of the world is in anticipation and response to China's growing power and technological outreach.

But make no mistake, the big boys and their military toys are no joke and they are not mucking around even if they say they are.

Tourism operators disagree over hotel turnover tax levy

No surprises here as tourism operators with especially close ties to the illegal and military regime turn on each other when it comes to reduced profit margins.

It's a dog eat dog world and Budget Day draweth nigh.

Turnover tax unrealistic: FRCAElenoa Baselala
Friday, November 11, 2011 

IT has taken the Fiji Rental Car Association by surprise. 

The comments by re-elected president of the Fiji Islands Hotel Association Dixon Seeto for a level playing field has drawn pictures of unlevelled roads from the FRCA. 

"We have read with total surprise that Mr Seeto proposes that all tourism related activity be levied a hotel turnover tax," FRCA president Bob Niranjan said. 

"He mentioned rental cars and tour companies, but failed to mention taxi operators, clothing manufacturers (these rely heavily on merchandise sold in boutiques in hotels) and handicraft outlets, plus a host of other industries that rely on tourist arrivals. 

"Mr Seeto's comments "a level playing field" but in our industry we have very high road levy, heavy maintenance costs because of poor road conditions, plus we pay full duty on vehicles and spare parts, whereas the hotel industry gets duty concessions and gets more support through Tourism Fiji, than we do as tourist related industries". 

Mr Niranjan said rental cars used and contributed substantially to road related costs relevant to vehicles, including full import duties, road levy costs, registration costs, rental permit costs as well as high maintenance costs because of road conditions. 

In the rental car business, tourists would amount to possibly 30 per cent average across the entire rental industry, while 70 per cent of clients include local individuals and corporate organisations, he added. 

"Would a level playing field for road upgrade costs include a road levy imposed on hotels, as its relies on good roads to bring tourists to resorts, is a question to be considered by Mr Seeto. 

"The Fiji Islands Hotel Association is supporting a call by the industry for greater marketing funds but listening to Tourism Fiji, who are confident that we will surpass the one billion dollar mark this year, would imply no need to bring in extra taxes especially as many small businesses are just recovering from soft economic conditions locally. 

"Fiji is still seen as an expensive destination even with the low exchange rate when it comes to rental cars, because of the factors mentioned above. 

Many rental car operators struggle to operate at a profit and the FRCA feels it would be inappropriate to rope rental car operators who get no concession whatsoever although they provide a valuable service to our visitors," Mr Niranjan said.

WSJ: U.S. to Build Up Military in Australia

This could get interesting in our little peaceful, tranquil patch in the Pacific.

Goes to show that our earlier assessment of the havoc of regional insecurity by the illegal and treasonous military regime could have deeper global implications.

More interestingly these latest military moves by the big boys gives rise to current whispers that the Queen Victoria School (QVS) in Matavatucou has been eyed by the regime (egged on no doubt by some cash-or dare we say renminbi-backed whispers) as a possible site for the relocation of military's naval base currently located in Togalevu. It is also whispered that the plan is to therefore move QVS to Nasinu.

NOVEMBER 10, 2011
Move Aimed at Countering China in Asia,Clarifying Free Access to South China Sea
By LAURA MECKLER 

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will announce an accord for a new and permanent U.S. military presence in Australia when he visits next week, a step aimed at countering China's influence and reasserting U.S. interest in the region, said people familiar with his plans. 

The agreement will lead to an increase in U.S. naval operations off the coast of Australia and give American troops and ships "permanent and constant" access to Australian facilities, the people said. While no new American bases will be built under the plan, the arrangement will allow U.S. forces to place equipment in Australia and set up more joint exercises, they said. 

The move could help the U.S. military, now concentrated in Japan and South Korea in Northeast Asia, to spread its influence west and south across the region, including the strategically and economically important South China Sea, which China considers as its sovereign territory. 

It was unclear how much the new presence would cost the Pentagon, which is facing years and hundreds of billion dollars in spending cuts. 

But the expanded military presence is designed as a demonstration of U.S. commitment to the region, part of an effort to refocus on Asia as the U.S. withdraws from Iraq and draws its forces down in Afghanistan, officials in both countries said. 

"It will demonstrate U.S. resolve, not just for Australia, but in the region," Maj. Gen. Tim McOwan, the Australian defense attaché in Washington, said in an interview this week. 

At a daily press briefing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Chinese officials "hope relevant countries' bilateral cooperation will be conducive to the Asia-Pacific region's security, peace and stability." 

The strategy comes weeks after China sent its first its first aircraft carrier to sea, a defining moment in its effort to become a top-tier naval power that seeks to challenge U.S. military supremacy in Asia and protect Chinese economic interests that now span the globe. 

Several Asian nations, fearful of the threat China poses, also are beefing up their arsenals, fearing that the U.S. security umbrella is being eroded by China's enhanced capabilities and possible U.S. defense cuts. 

One base slated for the stepped-up American presence is in Darwin, on the country's north coast. Other locations are possible, including one near Perth, on the west coast, one person said. 

"Strategically, we want to be able to reassure the rest of Asia that the American presence is still strong in the 21st century as China develops its force," said Ernie Bower, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. 

Officials declined to detail how many new troops or sailors would be part of the U.S. effort, or how many ships would be stationed in the area, ahead of Mr. Obama's announcement next week. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, while traveling throughout the region last month, vowed an expansion in U.S. influence, but also declined to specify costs or force sizes. 

An administration official said the stepped-up presence will be phased in over several years under the agreement. The deal isn't yet final and details could change. 

On his trip, Mr. Obama will mark the 60th anniversary of the U.S.-Australian alliance with a speech to Parliament and a visit to a military base in Darwin, where he and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard will jointly address Australian troops. 

Neither leader is expected to characterize the move as directly confronting the Chinese. But U.S. officials said one of the goals of Mr. Obama's Asia trip is to clarify free access to the South China Sea. 

Mr. Panetta, after a meeting with the Australians in September, said that enhanced military cooperation would counter "threats and challenges" to come. "Security and prosperity of our two great nations depends on the security and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region," he said. 

The full range of U.S. naval ships is expected to rotate through the joint facilities, stopping for exercises as well as repairs and other shore work. Naval aircraft also will have access to a base in Darwin. 

The increased U.S. presence will be a rotating force, one person said. In September, Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the enhance cooperation would be "more ships in, ships out; more planes in, planes out; more troops in, troops out." 

Gen. McOwan, the defense attaché, said the increase in U.S. naval operations will send a message to the Chinese that the U.S. is committed to defending the security of regional sea and air trade routes. The stepped-up American presence will reassure Australia and well as other countries in the region that the U.S. is engaged at a time when Chinese intentions are uncertain, he said. 

Still, Gen. McOwan added that the American commitments Mr. Obama plans to announce are "not going to frighten the Chinese." 

"It's more symbolic than real," he said. 

—Julian E. Barnes, Brian Spegele and Adam Entous contributed to this article. 

Write to Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com

Pacific Freedom Forum condemns unionist arrests, detentions

How utterly refreshing and exhilarating to witness true media freedom and condemnation of the illegal and treasonous military regime on the appalling and gradually deteriorating state of affairs in Fiji these days from  Pacific media folks:

Fiji: PFF condemns unionist arrests, detentions 

PFF, Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS: The arrest and detention of Fiji’s trade union movement leaders Daniel Urai and Felix Anthony continues the harassment and intimidation of citizens by the military regime, regional media freedom monitoring network the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF.

Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) president Daniel Urai was arrested on October 29, 2011 at Nadi International Airport after returning from the Commonwealth Heads of Government events in Australia, a move condemned as politically motivated by Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd. 

Urai was held incommunicado at an undisclosed location for eight days until he appeared in the Suva Magistrates' Court on Monday, November 7, 2011. He has been charged with "urging political violence” under the regime’s Crimes Decree. Bail was initially refused and he was granted release on bail with curfew and other conditions on Wednesday afternoon Fiji time.  

“It took more than a week of being held without charge, with no contact from family members, friends, colleagues, and legal support, for the regime to decide what to do with Urai. This deplorable situation raises obvious questions over charges being concocted out of politically motivated harassment. There just isn't enough information to suggest a timely process of evidence and investigation has taken place prior to his arrest,” says PFF chair Titi Gabi of Papua New Guinea. 

“Pacific communities outside of Fiji continue to freely express ideas and opinions which may be critical of their governments, free from the fear of being ‘disappeared’ from their loved ones at a moment’s notice. We urge the regime to cease the arbitrary detention of selected citizens on sham charges, and repeat our call for lifting of the Public Emergency Regulations of April 2009 and the Media Decree which should have replaced the PER when it was introduced last November.” says Gabi. 

“We are also concerned at news that FTUC general secretary Felix Anthony has also been made incommunicado and has yet to face charges since being ‘detained’ by the military at his office in Lautoka on Friday, November 4 and taken to Suva under heavy guard the following morning.” 

"The right to meet in public places, to organise, to share opinions, ideas and express them no matter how critical or unpopular they may be, is the most obvious sign that our Pacific leaders have come of age and accept criticism as an essential part of public life, “says PFF co-chair Monica Miller of American Samoa. 

“As the regime leaders continue to target citizens who express ideas and opinions that do not support their views, a culture of compliance and silence is being manipulated and misrepresented to future generations as the 'Fijian' way. The  'disappearing' of citizens held without charge or court appearance, rendered incommunicado by the military, is a madness that Pacific leaders must strongly condemn."ENDS 

LINKS 

ACT NOW campaign 

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1155 

Radio NZ International 

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=64267 

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=64279