Shining Journalism in Fiji

Hoorah ! Wananavu !

It's a wonderful weekend for free speech this weekend in Fiji!

Gold Stars and congratulations to Fiji Sun, Fiji Times and fellow Bloggers Solivakasama and TardwatchFiji for producing the sort of bold and shining investigative journalism that has uncovered the Fiji junta's DELIBERATE cover up of their internal blatant wrong doing,corruption, covert cronyism and constant nepotism.

This in the face of threats, violence, intimidation and possible (illegal) arrest and imprisonment.

Vinaka especially to the Fiji Times and Netani - you are a brave man and we salute you! Keep it up boys and girls !!!

We look forward to more breaking news in the mainstream media.


And by the way , as we fully expect, here is the start of the WITCHHUNT from the petty mindset that make up the Fiji junta :

http://www.fijilive.com/news_new/index.php/news/show_news/2226

And for those of you that are trying to catch up, as I am - I quote from the latest post of Jean d'ark on Solivakasama in response to a post from a coup apologist called Budhau:

Jean d’Ark Says:
February 24, 2008 at 5:25 pm

Businesses can be shut down and property can be confiscated because that is how serious tax evasion is.......

And it is even more critical where the Minister in charge is concerned.

Don’t you realize how ridiculous it looks having one set of rules for him, and another set for everyone else?

None of the 10 FIRCA sacked workers were sent home for doing anything wrong.

The only thing that linked them was their work on the Chaudhry file at some stage. And then all of a sudden, bogus charges were somehow magically trumped up against them and they were all sent home.

We hear constantly about how we need to encourage a culture of whistle-blowing in Fiji as a counter to our sub-culture of corruption.

But what do we see when the rubber hits the road for a Regime that prides itself on anti-corruption credentials? Sweet FA!

Chaudhry did NOT volunteer his tax information to anyone as you claim – remember, he was trying to cover this up, not sort it out. I

It was only when FIRCA appointed a tax agent for him that all these details started coming out.

Re-possessing his file is EXACTLY what Chaudhry had his pit-bulls do.

And that is exactly what some of the sacked workers were sent home for – having a copy of Chaudhry’s file in their desk, or office.

You would have to be pretty dim not to be able to work out what happened there.

One minute, a group of normal professionals with no political axes to grind are just following the trail of evidence and the merits of the case. And the next thing, they find themselves STOPPED from doing their jobs by their newly appointed bosses (newly appointed by whom?) or sent home on contrived charges.

With all the problems FIRCA is facing from having to try and recover tax arrears from businesses that are now languishing in the economic doldrums caused by the Regime’s coup, you’d think Chaudhry would spend more of his time trying to fix the economic problems he/they caused in the first place. But no – instead he just spends extravagant amounts of time and effort trying to remove all trace of his own misdeeds. T

his is the same complaint we hear in the FSC – that he spends all his time, focus and effort trying to establish his own control over the industry, rather than simply addressing its many problems.

And in the end, what benefits do we see flowing out of that expensively-won control? Nothing! Ditto for FIRCA! And ditto for the Fiji economy!

Dictionary definition of corruption ....:
“lack of integrity or honesty;
use of a position of trust for dishonest gain or personal benefit”.

Chaudhry has been completely bereft of integrity and honesty throughout this whole saga. He has thought nothing of allowing poor, honest workers take the fall for him on this!

And he has used his position to appoint cronies to quash ongoing investigations into his tax evasion case! This regime is supposed to be all about accountability, good governance and an end to corruption.

But is has been demonstrably WORSE than the ousted Government on all these counts.

And now, even when it is caught red-handed with irrefutable evidence, the Regime is simply unable walk-the-clean-up-talk!"

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Good on ya J'DA