Islands Business: (Fiji) Pensioners Beware (Dr Satish Chand)

Dr. Satish Chand


....Pensioners beware!
It is time to be prepared and not to panic. If you are formally retired or likely to do so in the next few years, then some caution with your finances are warranted. 

Pension funds have historically delivered dividends upwards of six percent. These returns are unlikely to be delivered in 2012. Consequently, the payouts from your pension fund could be trimmed back. Particularly worrying are the cases of pension funds already in financial strife. 

The case of the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) is instructive on this count. FNPF is slipping into insolvency (i.e. where the value of current liabilities exceeds the value of assets).

It needs an injection of around half a billion Fijian dollars to make it solvent. Finding this sum in the current uncertain environment will be costly. 

FNPF is in the process of trimming down pension payments from the prevailing 15 percent of equity to 8.7 percent which is to take effect from  March 1, 2012. This amounts to a drop in income of a retiree dependent on FNPF of 42 percent. It will hurt, particularly in a climate of high inflation and in a situation where there are no other sources of income. 

The capacity to replenish income falls with age and when medical expenses are likely to rise. So pensioners, beware!...

Infowars: Fiji gov’t bans NON-FLUORIDATED toothpastes, threatens legal action against anyone who violates law

Ethan A. Huff
Infowars.com
January 13, 2012

Health freedom in the South Pacific nation of Fiji has taken an extreme turn for the worst with newly enacted government legislation that has banned the market and sale of any toothpastes that do not contain added fluoride chemicals. TheFiji Timesreports that, effective January 1, 2012, fluoridated toothpastes will be the only toothpastes allowed on the market, and that anyone caught selling fluoride-free toothpaste will be prosecuted.

Fiji’s “First Toothpaste Standard,” which is part of the country’s Trade Standards and Quality Control Decree of 1992, purports that high rates of dental cavities among Fiji’s children can be remedied through the use of fluoridated toothpaste. But rather than give residents and citizens the option to choose for themselves how to brush their own teeth, the government is using flawed and tired science to push its own totalitarian agenda.

“The First Toothpaste Standard for Fiji implies that all toothpaste sold in Fiji must have fluoride,” said Fiji Ministry of Health spokesman Peni Namotu concerning the new rules. “It includes all imported and locally-manufactured toothpaste. Toothpaste without fluoride will be removed from the shelves by health inspectors. Some companies have already removed their products but our inspectors are carrying out checks at supermarkets and shops.”

According to reports, the Fiji Pharmaceutical Society, along with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, the Fiji Dental Association, the Consumer Council, and Fiji National University held “extensive talks” with one another to establish the new toothpaste standards, which greatly inhibit individual health freedom. But the reasoning for the ban seems more aligned with trying to “keep up” with developed nations like the US that also force fluoride on their citizens, rather than with upholding sound science.

In an interview, Ministry of Health head Dr. Neil Sharma responded to inquiries about the toothpaste rule by asking the question, “If the developed nations are doing this, why can’t we do it in Fiji?” Dr. Sharma is apparently unaware of the fact that practically the whole of developed Europe is fluoride-free, or that in all developed nations, consumers have to option to purchase fluoride-free toothpaste if they so choose (http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=152924).

Nevertheless, Mr. Namotu in another recent interview cryptically stated that, “If anyone does not comply with the legislation, then there are legal actions to be taken, but I can’t specify the penalty now.”

Sources for this article include: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=190451

This story was originally published on Natural News.

SMH: Fiji dictator leads Newcrest talks

Barry Fitzgerald
January 16, 2012


MELBOURNE'S Newcrest will now have deal directly with Fiji's military dictator Frank Bainimarama on negotiations for the development of its $1 billion-plus Namosi copper and gold project.

Commodore Bainimarama has announced that he will be taking ''over responsibility for overseeing talks and negotiations related to the Namosi joint venture mining project in Waisoi area'', which is 30 kilometres west of the capital, Suva.

The move appears to be a response to anti-mining non-government organisations agitating in the Waisoi area for opposition to the project on environmental grounds.

Newcrest is the manager and 69.94 per cent owner of the Namosi joint venture, home to the Waisoi deposit and other copper/gold targets. The Waisoi deposit ranks as one of the world's biggest undeveloped copper/gold deposits, with Newcrest last estimating a total resource of 7.9 million tonnes of copper and 7.7 million ounces of gold.

Had it not been for Fiji's political turmoil, stronger copper and gold prices would have made the deposit a real development candidate.

A Fiji government website said that as a ''result of some people seeking to politicise the project for their own benefit by spreading misinformation, the Prime Minister wants to personally ensure all relevant parties' voices continue to be heard - in particular those of the landowners''.

The Namosi project is the subject of an environment impact assessment and Newcrest has said previously that it expected to complete a feasibility study into the development by June.

The website statement said Fiji was ''committed to maintaining a pristine environment in Namosi and throughout Fiji''.

''It is imperative to be forward looking to ensure a clean environment for future generations while trying to gain maximum benefit for landowners - as has been done successfully throughout the world,'' the statement said. Newcrest could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Hopes that development may proceed have risen since an address by Commodore Bainimarama, in which he said that emergency powers in place since 2009 would be rescinded and a new constitution was in the works. But that was followed by laws allowing for the arrest and detention of citizens without access to the courts for 14 days, said to have the purpose of preserving peace and public safety before the national elections in 2014.

Commodore Bainimarama seized power in a 2006 coup, the fourth since 1987. The fallout from the 2006 coup did not scare Newcrest away from pursuing Namosi's potential: its entry into the joint venture with Japanese partners occurred in July 2007.

Papua New Guinea Mine Watch Blog: Fijian villagers send a clear visual message to Australian miner Newcrest

JANUARY 15, 2012

Photos from a recent meeting at Namosi village where Newcrest Mining is leading a consortium hoping to build a gold and copper mine.

All photos courtesy S Pareti – Islands Business Magazine