Police tell USP staff and students to get a permit to stage a protest

Some University of the South Pacific staff and students who were gathered near the USP Library to show support to the now suspended USP Vice Chancellor, Pal Ahluwalia have been told by Police that any continuation of the protest would require a permit.

The Police Officer at USP also reminded them of the restrictions of the gathering of 20 or more people and the social distancing rule.

Meanwhile staff representative Elizabeth Fong says that they are of the opinion that this is not a protest but a show of support to the Vice Chancellor.

Fong says the staff used their lunch hour to gather and show support to the Vice Chancellor.

Ahluwalia has been suspended pending investigations regarding alleged misconduct.

Concerns continue to be raised about the operations at USP and students are also saying that all this drama is affecting their education.

Ahluwalia had earlier raised serious concerns regarding governance issues when the previous Vice Chancellor was in office.

Now the allegations of governance issues are against Ahluwalia.

The staff and students who gathered to support Ahluwalia yesterday maintain that he should be assessed based on his Key performance Indicators, and there should be no interference.

Fiji provides the biggest funding towards the running of USP.