The Fijian Media Association Town Hall moves to Tailevu tomorrow (Friday) afternoon as we give the opportunity to the people of Tailevu to question the Cabinet ministers, Opposition leaders and senior government officials directly on issues that matter most to their communities, from roads, water and health services to agriculture, market access and rural development.
The forum will be held at the Tailevu Hotel, Korovou, from 5pm to 7pm.
Please be at the venue by around 4.30pm.
It will be broadcast live on the Facebook pages of association members, which are CFL, FBC, Fiji Live, Fiji Sun, Fiji TV, Mai TV and The Fiji Times.
FMA President, Rosi Doviverata urges members of the public living in and around Korovou to come and attend the town hall and hold Members of Parliament to account, ask their questions and make their voices heard.
Communications Fiji Limited News Director and FMA Executive, Vijay Narayan says this is democracy in action, and the people of Tailevu should not lose this opportunity to ask the leaders what matters most to them.
Minister for Public Works and Meteorological Services, Ro Filipe Tuisawau, Acting Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Siromi Turaga, Opposition Leader Inia Seruiratu, senior parliamentarians Premila Kumar, Manoa Kamikamica and Professor Biman Prasad including representatives of government departments will also attend the forum.
Since the series began in Savusavu in July last year, the Fijian Media Association has held town halls in Savusavu, Labasa, Tavua, Ba and in Levuka and Korovou this week.
Residents of Levuka used the FMA's first maritime town hall to confront ministers over decades of neglect such as roads that wash away months after repair, unreliable water supply, no ambulance on the island, no X-ray technician or private pharmacy and reduced working hours at the Pacific Fishing Company (PAFCO) cannery because of low fish supply.
The Government responded with a string of commitments including a re-established Public Works Department depot in Levuka, an immediate seawall inspection under the emergency works budget, a borehole project to ease water shortages within four months, one of ten Indian-donated ambulances for the island, recruitment of an imaging technician, and restoration of 16 heritage buildings starting within weeks.
PAFCO assured workers that normal operations would resume within a week under a new deal with a Spanish tuna exporter, while ministers conceded that quality roads would depend on funding.