Author: Satish Chand

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, the head of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, the appointed Prime Minister (PM), and the Minister for another half a dozen ministries in his government, presented his vision for Fiji in an address to the nation on July 1st.  The Commodore espouses to have Fiji realise her potential, and possibly by September 2014 when the nation is gifted democratic rule.  Achieving the vision is a tall order, believing that Fiji is on the path to the above taller still.

There are many positives in this address titled the ‘strategic framework for change’.  For a start, the Prime Minister has covered hitherto uncharted economic territory.  Issues ranging from the deteriorating conditions within the global economy to the floods of February that had a devastating impact on sugarcane crop were canvassed.  Mention was made of the improving monetary and credit conditions to an ‘open skies’ policy to increase tourism inflows.  The PM emphasised that the focus of his government for the following three years would be the economy.

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Author: Satish Chand

Fiji was suspended from the Pacific Islands Forum on Saturday, the 2nd of May 2009. This decision was anticipated given that the military regime in Fiji had made clear of its intention not to pay heed to the ultimatum given by the Leaders’ following their meeting in Port Moresby last January.

The decision by the Forum, while understandable, is unfortunate. Fiji was a founding member and the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara an instigator of South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation, the predecessor to the Pacific Islands Forum. The Secretariat is located in Suva. Fiji’s suspension is evidence of the fact that the Forum family has fractured.

The political problems in Fiji are hurting. Hurting Fiji foremost, and her neighbours next. Fiji’s GDP contracted by 6.6 per cent in 2007, and was close to stagnant in 2008. Poverty in the two years since the December 2006 coup is likely to have risen by a minimum of 8 percentage points. As of 2002, some 33 per cent of the population were poor. The figures for 2009 would certainly be above 40 per cent.

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Author: Satish Chand

The third and final element of my proposal for assisting the Pacific achieve improved development outcomes involves underwriting law and order via the South Pacific Forum. Specifically, I am proposing a short-term, a long-term, and a bridging strategy to improve law and order within the island-pacific. The short-term strategy entails members of the Pacific Island Forum, as a collective entity, under-writing law and order in each of its member nations. This will require members first agreeing to a regional external intervention should laws of any state be usurped. This does not tread on their sovereignty since each individual state has the right to form its own laws; but then has to abide by these laws which have already been approved and legislated by its own legislature.

Credibility is critical for this strategy to deliver on intent. Multilateral commitment would be necessary for the above. The South Pacific Forum is the natural home for such an agreement. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Satish Chand

The level of access to basic services such as primary education and basic healthcare varies considerably across the nations of the Southwest Pacific. PNG ranks low, if not the last, on this count. Its geography in the form of the rough terrain and archipelagic nature, history in terms of a highly fragmented and sometimes strongly divided society, and climatic conditions which makes malaria (and other vector-born diseases) endemic to the nation is major handicaps to universal and effective delivery of basic services. The recent arrival and galloping spread of HIV compounds the problems many fold.

Education is critical for development. Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Satish Chand

A recent report by the CIS, describes the emergence of a dual or ‘bi-polar’ Pacific where two groups of islands have displayed markedly different demographic characteristics and different employment social and educational outcomes. The conflict in the Solomon Islands, Fijian coups, raskol gangs of Papua New Guinea, and stagnation of Vanuatu are contrasted with the relatively high growth success stories of Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Samoa..

So what can be done to help the Pacific correct its ‘bi-polar’ tendencies? Read the rest of this entry »

Author: Satish Chand

The recent Australian generosity to Nauru has the potential to reduce poverty and save the need for further transfers down the track. This would be the preferred outcome, but one likely to be achieved only if aid was effective in inducing development. There is no guarantee of that outcome. Worse still, large sums of unencumbered aid can undermine development by creating an expectation of ongoing support and the basis for a welfare state. As a taxpayer, I will be appalled by such an outcome.

What could be done to maximise the chances of aid being effective in inducing development? Read the rest of this entry »