A snake can change its skin, but it will always be a snake, even after it has stopped hissing and has slithered away – PM

Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama says a snake can change its skin, but it will always be a snake, even after it has stopped hissing and has slithered away.

While opening the Ra Provincial Council meeting, Bainimarama believes that the last century’s failed leaders cannot improve or even sustain the new Fiji they have built together.

He says these leaders cannot solve this century’s complex challenges.

The Prime Minister says prior to 2006, the only people the leaders of Fiji listened to were the society’s elites.

He says our entire political system was built for the benefit of a privileged few who served themselves in the comfort of our cities without sparing a thought for rural development.

Bainimarama says these leaders lacked the courage and compassion to heal a nation traumatized by the upheavals of 1987 and 2000, which sent scores of our best and brightest citizens overseas.

He stated that those leaders failed to see unity as our strength, and so Fiji was weak.

Bainimarama adds that Fiji needed a new approach and a new direction—and they provided that.

He says that they took the country down the path of unity, meritocracy and equality.

The Prime Minister says we have certainly had challenges during his time as Prime Minister, and their share of setbacks.

He says luckily, he is no stranger to adversity.

Bainimarama says he has experienced stormy weather at sea that has put his very life at risk –– God has guided through those rough waters, and he has guided Bainimarama’s leadership as Prime Minister.

He reminded the people of Ra that they can trust that their concerns will be heard and that their leaders will act — because this is not the Fiji of 1991, in which Government made a decision that affected their lives and told them to like it.

He adds that this is not the Fiji of 2005 either, or any year before it.

Bainimarama says this is the new Fiji.

He says Fiji is stronger, our people are more prosperous and the Government serves the people — not the other way around.

The Prime Minister says they not only took on the pandemic, they took on the super-storm of ignorance and indecisiveness preached by those set against the government, and the government won.

Bainimarama says our economy has never been growing faster than it is today, we have welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors since last December’s re-opening and Fiji has earned $446.9 million from tourism in the first half of 2022 and, last month, visitor arrivals were 89 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

He also says today is about what the government can do next.

Bainimarama told the Ra Provincial Council members that their provincial boundary was re-drawn without consultation in the 1990s.

He says they are committed to consult with the council and others who are affected by this as they have always done.

Bainimarama says they can trust that their concerns will be heard. He also says his Government has worked hard to confront and solve the major problems Ra has faced through investments of around $74.5 million from 2014 to 2021.

The Prime Minister says out of this, over $27 million has gone towards social pension programs, poverty assistance schemes, and disability schemes to protect those most vulnerable.

He says they have also invested over $16 million in grid extension projects to connect remote areas to the national energy grid.