Monday, May 19, 2008

Macuata's pragmatism

from w
Hmmm. Myopia or pragmatism?
Macuata accepts new-look GCCTuesday, May 20, 2008

Macuata has become the first province in Fiji to accept regulations gazetted by the interim Government to govern a new-look Great Council of Chiefs. The decision was made today at the Macuata Bose Vanua. Three chiefs - the Turaga Nai Sausauvou of Udu district Ratu Emori Waqanivalu, the Turaga Na Tui Macuata Ratu Aisea Katonivere and the Marama Na Tui Labasa Adi Salanieta Tui Lomaloma have been appointed Macuata’s representatives to the GCC.

GCC review team leader Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo says Macuata’s decision is good news. “This is very good news for us and its quite and achievement since there been a number of negative responses from certain province but we are sure and quite certain of the fact that most of the provinces that we have attended. “They are now seriously looking at complying with the regulations that we have and that they will within the next few weeks bring forward names for the GCC,” he said.

Fiji Broadcasting Corporation

(later - on Wednesday) However another newspaper item reports that Macuata Province does not agree to the Charter, which is a separate issue to that of the new-look Council of Chiefs. From Fiji radio I think.

Charter not accepted says Macuata
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Macuata has not accepted the proposed People’s Charter says the province’s new council chairman Isireli Leweniqila. Chiefs attending today’s Macuata Provincial Council meeting have appointed a committee to hold further consultations with villagers in the province. The committee will compile a report on the results of the consultation. The report will be presented before a special sitting of the Macuata Provincial Council.

“We have decided to form a committee and the committee to asses the position of the province, how it will view the charter. Consultation has been agreed to by the Tui Macuata for them to go down to the villages and get whatever they can, that’s the consultation but the position of the Macuata to the charter, no there is no decision. They haven’t decided anything yet,” he said.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank god for that! I hope that those people who agreed, were thinking of the people and not their own Agenda's. You can't dump the whole of Macuata as agreeing to the new look GCC. Speak for yourselves please.

Peceli and Wendy's Blog said...

Bula sia Anon,
It's a strange world where a discussion somehow has to be resolved as 'Yes' or 'No'. I think a better answer always would be 60% say yes, 35% say no, and the others are undecided! I know this happened one time in the Uniting Church here - there was a majority view and a minority view expressed in the final report.
It seems that the outcome of the Macuata Province discussion was pragmatic re. the chiefs, and yes, it is good that they don't just say 'scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' to the other main point of discussion.
w.