Maqere Export, a Tavua-based exporter of fish and agricultural products, has pledged to stop selling kawakawa and donu during its peak breeding months, June through September, to help the fish stocks to recover.

Maqere joins a rapidly growing list of 4FJ business champions in supports of Fiji government efforts to revive the A-grade fish, which are important to the food security and livelihoods of Fijians.

Kawakawa and donu are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because they gather predictably each year, June through September, in the same channels to breed.

Those sites are commonly fished heavily, leaving few fish behind to restock Fiji reefs. Of the known breeding sites in Fiji, 80 percent are declining or gone, Fiji government reported.

The 4-month voluntary pledge is intended to ensure the A-grade fish release their eggs each year, and help revive the dwindling populations.

A government delegation led by the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation,Mereseini Vuniwaqa is currently on tour in the Lau group.

Vuniwaqa will be visiting islands in the Lau group including Moala, Totoya, Oneata and Lakeba and is expected to commission various development projects in these villages.

The visit by the government delegation provides an opportunity to the villagers to speak directly with the Minister during a ‘talanoa’ session.

Among projects commissioned is the declaration of four villages in Vanua Balavu as zero tolerance violence free communities.

The delegation will also be joined by the Minister for Fisheries, Semi Koroilavesau.

The inquiry in to the Fiji Taxi Association office has been completed.

It started in May this year after the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations Permanent Secretary who is also the Registrar of Industrial Associations had authorized an Inquiry to ascertain whether the Association, its office bearers and officials were observing the provisions of its Constitution following a dispute over the lawful office bearers of the Association.

Permanent Secretary Salaseini Daunabuna said that the Inquiry was conducted independently by Resident Magistrate Andrew See under the Industrial Associations Act and it has been found that the current office bearers are the lawful office bearers.

The officer bearers are Azeem Khan, Acting President, Mohammed Aslam Khan Vice President, Sammy Ali, Acting Vice President, Rishi Ram General Secretary, Mohammed Shameem Assistant Secretary and Balram Naidu as treasurer.

The Inquiry also found that Harish Chandra was not lawfully elected as the Interim Chairperson.

Daunabuna added that the current officer bearers hold interim positions until elections are carried out

Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Bakytzhan Sagintayev, to discuss key areas of mutual interest between the two countries.

At a meeting with the Fijian Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Faiyaz Koya, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister for Investment and Development, Khairov Yerlan said that Prime Minister Bainimarama’s visit to Kazakhstan has been viewed as an opportunity to deepen bilateral engagement between the Fijian and Kazakh governments.

At the meeting, Koya spoke on the favorable investment climate that Fiji offers to foreign investors due to its position in the Pacific as the hub of development.

Koya also expressed a keen interest in learning from Kazakhstan’s success in both the mining and organic farming sectors.

Prime Minister Bainimarama is leading a Fijian delegation to the 2017 World Expo to celebrate a “Fijian National Day” that will showcase Fijian culture and history, and trade and investment opportunities in the Fijian economy.

There’s more major good news for Fiji One viewers in the country.

Fiji Television Limited has announced this morning it will bring you the Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor fight Live and Exclusive for free on Fiji One next Sunday.

Fiji TV is again at the forefront of bringing compelling content to their viewers after securing the rights to air the fight for free not only in Fiji but the region as well.

Dubbed as the ‘Money Fight’ which is poised to become one of the most lucrative fight in history, the contest has dominated the sporting headlines worldwide and has fight fans counting down the days until August 27th.

‘We’ve got great news for our boxing fans, we are bringing you the much talked about fight known as ‘The Money Fight’ right here on Fiji One. It’s a big fight for fans and the boxing federations but it’s a pleasure for us to bring it LIVE and EXCLUSIVE right here on free to air television.’

‘We got rights for the Pacific as well, we are excited to be able to bring it to Fiji as well to our island partners and island brothers and sisters,’ said said Fiji TV CEO, Karen Lobendahn.

The President of the Pacific Games Council, Vidhya Lakhan, and CEO, Andrew Minogue, have completed a three day evaluation visit to Samoa, one of three countries who have expressed their interest in hosting the 2019 Pacific Games.

The evaluation visit included the following elements:

• Meeting with President Patrick Fepuleai and Executive Board of Samoa’s Pacific Games Association (SASNOC) to whom the Games would be entrusted if Samoa is successful;
• Meeting with the Samoan Prime Minister, the Hon. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, together with the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Sport, whose Government has agreed to fully support and financially underwrite Samoa’s hosting of the Games;
• Meeting with the Presidents and delegates of the sports proposed for the 2019 program;
• Tour of all the proposed competition venues and schools to house the athletes;
• Meeting with the Attorney-General to obtain approval for the draft Host Contract, which would, in the event Samoa is successful, be signed by the PGC President, the SASNOC President and the Samoan Prime Minister;
• Meetings with several business CEOs whose companies have a regional profile; and
• A full media conference at the conclusion of the visit.

The PGC delegation was very impressed with all of the elements of the evaluation visit, including the sporting facilities which have been well maintained since Samoa’s hosting of the 2007 South Pacific Games and 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games, and now only require a minimal level of refurbishment to be ready to host the Pacific Games in 2019. These relatively recent major Games also mean that Samoa’s sports federations have the degree of competence and experience necessary to deliver a large scale event like the 2019 Pacific Games in a short space of time.

President Lakhan said “Samoa has presented a very strong expression of interest to host the 2019 Pacific Games and has demonstrated during our visit that they have the facilities and capability required to deliver a successful Games in a short space of time. The full and financial support of the Samoan Government adds the vital component of stability and certainty that the PGC is seeking in the wake of the Tongan Government’s withdrawal as Games host”.

From here, the President and CEO travel to Port Vila for a meeting of the Chefs de Mission for this December’s Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu, before the 2019 evaluation process resumes next week to consider expressions of interest from Guam and Tahiti. The PGC Executive Board remains committed to completing the evaluation process this month and announcing the 2019 Pacific Games host at the start of September.

Fiji’s interntional golfer Vijay Singh is hoping for an improved performance on day of the championship.

Singh is the best-placed Fijian at Natadola Bay – he’s in a share of 24th place at one under par, while fellow major winners Angel Cabrera and Mike Weir are both even par.

Another Fijian pro Dinesh Chand is two shots back after an opening round 73, while local amateurs Abid Hussain and Apenisa Koroicure found the going tough and are currently propping up the leaderboard at 10 and 20 over par respectively.

Meanwhile the opening round of Fiji International yesterday has taken on a Kiwi flavour with Daniel Pearce topping the leaderboard.

Pearce fired 6-under 66 on the newly re-designed Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course layout.

He will hold a one shot lead overnight from fellow New Zealander Ben Campbell and Australian Daniel Valente.

Solomon Islands football coach Felipe Vega-Arango has named a 21 man squad to contest the first of two matches against New Zealand in the final stage of Oceania World Cup qualifying but says his side will be overwhelming underdogs.

Striker Clement Baegeni and Malaitian teammates Clifton Aumae and Andrew Raragia have earned call-ups to the senior Bonitos team, while experienced midfielder James Naka has been overlooked for the first leg at the start of next month.

“I am happy with the way the players have been responding in training,” said Vega-Arango, who was appointed head coach in April.

“We are working on our game plan to approach the two games and the players selected are based on our system.”

Clement Baegeni took home the Golden Boot award in the Solomon Cup domestic competition and featured in the recent friendly against Vanuatu but is keen to make a start in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

“It’s a dream come true for me to join the national team and I’ll do my best, as I will be expected to,” he said.

“I’m humbly proud now to represent the country.”

The overall winner will face the fifth placed team from South America in a home and away playoff in November.

President Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konrote yesterday farewelled the Non-Resident Ambassador of Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Fiji, Nguyen Viet Dung at the Borron House in Suva.

At the meeting, President Konrote noted the cordial relations between Fiji and Vietnam.

Ambassador Dung began his diplomatic career as the desk officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam and moved up the ranks.

Jarryd Hayne may have played his last game for Gold Coast after being ruled out of tonight’s NRL clash with former club Parramatta.

The Titans board will reportedly meet today to determine whether to sack coach Neil Henry and dump Hayne after another tumultuous week at the club.

The Gold Coast board met for three hours on Monday to discuss much publicised talk of a feud between Hayne and Henry but deferred a decision until next week.

Pressure was building on the Titans board after speculation a major sponsor who pays a third of Hayne’s hefty salary was threatening to cut ties with the Gold Coast due to the controversy.

Hayne will reportedly ask to be paid his full $1.3 million 2018 salary if forced out of the Titans, ruling out the chance of departing on a subsidised deal.

Hayne was ruled out of the Eels clash with an ankle complaint suffered in last round’s loss to St George Illawarra.

He is yet to face Parramatta since leaving his former club to pursue an NFL career in 2014, having also missed their earlier meeting this season with an ankle complaint.

The Consumer Council has reiterated that any shopping complex that provides parking for its customers is part of customer service and should not be seen as an additional revenue for the company.

This is in light of the recently introduced car park fees at the Damodar City which has not gone down well with some consumers.

According to the company, the car park fees were introduced to solve car park congestion at Damodar City.

While the Council notes the management’s decision to make the first 30 minutes parking free, the Council believes 30 minutes is not reasonable to complete basic shopping at the supermarket or to simply choose and compare prices of the items consumers want to purchase.

Consumer Council CEO Premila Kumar says the company should make at least 1 hour parking free and charge $2 for every 4 hours of parking thereafter.

Also consumers with movie tickets should not pay for the car park. Kumar says this would be a good gesture on the part of the company to demonstrate customer service and not use congestion as an excuse to make money

Floyd Mayweather will earn $25 million before throwing a single punch or even stepping inside the ropes against Conor McGregor.

The 49-0 king of boxing will earn the eye-watering payday from sponsorship and branding deals that will appear on the ring, on his hat and on his robe and shorts, according to the Telegraph.

The shorts are far and away the most expensive space on Mayweather’s body. His sponsorship partners, One Entertainment, broke the trunks down into six separate sponsorship areas, which when added all together are worth $15 million.

Here is a breakdown of Mayweather’s full sponsorship payday:

• Ring sponsorships: $5 million
• Robe: $1 million
• Shoes: $1 million
• Weigh-in trunks: $1 million
• Victory hat: $1 million
• Walk-out cap: $.5 million
• Fight shorts, front waist: Over $3.5 million
• Fight shorts, front seams: $3.5 million
• Fight short, rear center: $3 million
• Fight short, rear waist: $2 million
• Fight short, front thigh: $1.5 million
• Fight short, rear thigh: $1.5 million

Unbelievably, a betting company already has purchased the space on just the ring cushion behind Mayweather’s head for a cool $3.1 million.

While the sponsorship money is huge, it is just a drop in the bucket for the Aug. 26 superfight. If all goes according to plan and between 4 and 5 million people buy the fight on pay-per-view, the whole event could bring in nearly $600 million, according to ESPN.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know how much each fighter will earn because they both signed non-disclosure agreements, but most boxing experts believe Mayweather is getting between 60 and 70 percent of the total.

Meanwhile Fiji Television Limited will bring you the “Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor fight” Live and Exclusive – and for free on Fiji One next Sunday.

The Fiji Government signed the USP Convention at The University of the South Pacific’s Laucala Campus yesterday.

The USP Convention is an agreement between member countries of the University, aimed at legally embedding it in member countries, and supplementing the University’s founding legal instruments of the Royal Charter and Statutes.

Winston Thompson, Pro-Chancellor of USP, said today’s signing is indeed a major milestone for Fiji “being the home of the University”.

Ministry of Education, Permanent Secretary, Iowane Tiko said that government looks forward to supporting USP in the usual grants and provisions set aside for tuition of students through the TSLB support services.

Police are once again pleading with members of the public to assist police with any information regarding the discovery of two babies in Nabua and Suva Point.

Photos of clothing that was used to wrap the bodies of the two victims have today been released in the hope that someone may come forward with information.

the blue shorts was used to wrap the body of the baby discovered at Nabua.

This ‘bula Fiji” sulu and grey French connection t-shirt was used to wrap the body of the baby boy discovered at Suva Point.

Anyone with any information is kindly requested to call their nearest Police station or Crime stoppers on 919.

Twenty traders are under investigation by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service for non-compliance with Tax and Customs laws of the country.

From these twenty cases, five have been charged and are due to appear in court.

Revenue and Customs CEO, Visvanath Das says 535 traders have been visited so far in the Central Division, almost 40 percent have been found to be non-compliant.

These non-compliant offenses to name a few range from issuing incorrect tax invoices, not issuing tax invoices at all, VAT registered companies not showing the VAT component on the tax invoice and particulars on the invoices are incorrect.

Das stresses that those found engaging in such behavior will face the full brunt of the law and the cases will be made public to send a strong signal to those who are dodging the tax system.

The Health Ministry is adamant that the review report carried out by the World Health Organization is quite clear in its conclusion that there were some “systematic infrastructure issues” which contributed to the outbreak.

It also highlights weaknesses in the implementation of infection prevention, inconsistencies in cleaning and poor handling of fluids, all of which they have looked into to address further.

“The most obvious is inadequacy in the provision of some items that are needed for effective control of infections in the hospital setting: things such as single-use respiratory equipment that is needed to help very sick babies breathe; protective clothing that ensures staff do not carry bacteria from one patient to another; and supplies and equipment needed to help with regular and thorough hand washing among staff and visitors.”

“As you will all be aware, we have already acknowledged on several occasions that our systems and processes for purchasing and distribution of medicines and equipment are inadequate and have been for several years. Indeed, the report notes that similar criticisms of inadequate provision of supplies and equipment have been made by people who have investigated previous outbreaks over the past ten years. This year’s outbreak is, sadly, another consequence of those inadequacies. I shall outline shortly what steps we are taking to address them,” said PS Ministry of Health – Philip Davies.

The Minister for Health has reassured the public that they have a wealth of knowledge and experience to address the challenges and employ international best practices.

“No hospital in the world can promise that there is no risk of bacterial infection for its patients. But we have a very high level of confidence in the environment and level of services being provided at the NICU at CWM. The Unit is continuing to take patients and remains the safest place for any infant suffering from a serious medical condition. The efforts we’ve already taken have significantly reduced the threat of infection, and we will continue to ensure that we offer services in an environment that is as safe and effective as possible,” said Minister for Health – Rosy Akbar.

We also need the public to help us in this effort. People need to recognise how easily infections can be introduced and spread in the hospital environment. If our staff ask them not to visit a patient at a particular time they must respect that request.

It’s exciting times ahead when the new sevens rugby season gets underway in November.

The inaugural Raka 7s that will be held at the ANZ Stadium in Suva is a new 7’s tournament to look forward to.

Raka 7s is the new tournament that will hit our shores in November.

Three months out from the inaugural event – the tournament was launched today.

Raka 7s organisers aim to grow rugby and increase participation among men and women in the country.

This tournament is sanctioned by the Fiji Rugby Union and will feature 64 men’s team’s and 16 women’s teams.

All these teams will vye for the highest prize money on offer.

25 thousand dollars will be given to the winning mens team while the womens champion will walk away with five thousand dollars.

Overseas team have also been invited to be part of this two day event as registration closes on 31st of October.

Raka 7s tournament will be held on the 24th and 25th of November at the ANZ Stadium in Suva.

An independent inquiry into the sex scandal involving All Black Aaron Smith has been announced by New Zealand Rugby.

Smith was suspended last year for a test for apparently having sex in a disabled toilet at Christchurch Airport.

However, the Daily Mail Australia has published a series of lurid text messages it claimed were between Smith and the woman involved.

The texts suggest Smith lied to All Black management about his relationship with the woman and urged her to sign a false sworn statement.

In statement released this evening, New Zealand Rugby said based on the information published in the paper it needed to investigate the matter further and has hired an independent lawyer to do so.

The statement said until that investigation was completed it would not be commenting further.

At a media conference in Sydney All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said as far as he’s concerned the matter has been dealt with and he won’t be dropped from this weekend’s test against Australia.

Hansen refused to discuss the matter in any detail and referred to it as “the elephant in the room”.

He tried to head media off pursing the issue by addressing it first up.

“The incident happened last year, we dealt with it and we felt we dealt with it decisively.”

“There’s nothing more I can add to that, but if there is any more that needs to be spoken about it’ll come from the New Zealand Rugby Union themselves.”

He went on to say there was not much point in asking him anything more about Smith, because reporters would get the same answer.

“I don’t want to be defensive about it, it’s just that the facts of the matter are, that’s how it is,” he said.

The Health Ministry has today clarified the issue of the recent bacterial outbreak in the CWM’s Neonatal intensive care unit.

Following the completion of the report carried out by the World Health Organization on the recent outbreak, findings show that the ‘acinetobacter baumannii’ bacterium has been present in the Neonatal intensive care unit since 2015 and possibly earlier.

However, according to the Ministry majority of baby deaths that occurred did not test positive to the bacteria.

Discussing the findings of the review of the recent bacterial outbreak in the neonatal intensive care unit.

This is in light of  the number of babies who passed away during the first six months of this year.

Based on laboratory testing those babies were found to be infected with the acinetobacter baumannii bacterium.

“We’ve made clear on many occasions that is hasn’t been possible to establish that any babies have died as a direct result of the infection – as they were all admitted to the NICU with other very serious medical conditions – but the fact that they died with the bacterial infection has been a cause of great concern for us,” said Minister for Health – Rosy Akbar.

The Review team has confirmed that deaths of babies are sadly, not uncommon among babies admitted to the NICU at CWM Hospital.

“There are data in the report (Figure 4) which show there has been at least one death in the NICU every month since January 2015 and, in June 2016, there were in fact 11 deaths, none of which tested positive for acinetobacter baumannii. Also, during the first six months of this year, when the bacterial outbreak was occurring, more than 20 babies who were not infected also died in the NICU at CWMH. So, while there can be no doubt that the death rate was higher in the first half of this year while the outbreak was occurring, the reality is that the NICU provides care to some very vulnerable babies,” said Philip Davies – Permanent Secretary for Health.

According to the findings from WHO, this bacterium poses a significant health risk to those with compromised immune systems.

“Healthcare-associated infections due to baumannii are often linked to invasive devices or contaminated environments, such as colonized medical equipment. Ventilators, suctioning equipment, mattresses, sinks and portable radiology equipment are some of the more common sources that remain colonized for extended periods.^“

“Outbreaks such as the one in CWMH’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), are not unusual as similar outbreaks have occurred both in developed and developing countries. However there are a cause for concern that required immediate action to control and prevent the spread of the bacteria,” said Dr Corinne Capuano.

Akbar says considering the findings of WHO’s technical report this outbreak is not only in Fiji but worldwide.

“The reality is, these types of outbreaks affect hospitals all over the world, in developed and developing nations alike. For example, in Australia, it has been estimated that there are around 200,000 cases of hospital-acquired infection every year while about 10 per cent of inpatients in New Zealand will develop a hospital-acquired infection sometime during their hospital stay.”

Copies of the 42 pages Report  will be made available next week.