Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says he agrees that hospital services in the country need improvement after a man raised concerns regarding the Sigatoka Hospital during the budget consultation in Kulukulu, Sigatoka.
The man said that the Sigatoka Hospital is pathetic and just recently, his wife almost died because there was no injection for asthma at the hospital.
Sayed-Khaiyum says he understands that the man is frustrated and he would be frustrated too if his wife went to the hospital and there was no medicine.
He says it is inappropriate that people go the the hospital and certain drugs are not available.
While responding, Sayed-Khaiyum also told the man that he will give him answers if he is hungry for answers but the man should look at Sayed-Khaiyum when he is answering so that the man does not get distracted.
The Attorney General adds the Minister for Health does not know that there is no medicine at the Sigatoka Hospital and the people at the hospital need to inform the Government Pharmacy regarding the unavailability of certain drugs. Sayed-Khaiyum says this is why they are trying to improve the civil service so that people do their job.
The man also raised concerns that even a minimum wage rate of $4 per hour may not be enough for some families given the rise in the cost of living.
He says his son was getting paid $3 an hour by a company in Sigatoka which is making millions of dollars and they were not even paying for his son’s fare at night.
The man says workers have been told that they can leave if they are not happy with their pay.
While responding, Sayed-Khaiyum says before the National Minimum Wage came in, some people were paying house girls as low as $5 a day and some people were getting paid just $10 a week.
The Attorney General then told the man that if they put the minimum wage to $5 per hour, just like the man’s friend Professor Biman Prasad has said, then there would be job losses.
He says it is not just about the big companies because 60% of the people in the country are employed by small businesses.
Sayed-Khaiyum says they have to weigh things up when deciding the minimum wage.
The Attorney General says these decisions have to be made after taking everybody's well being into account.
The man then went on to say that the price of flour is nearly touching the sky because there is no price control and the poor people are dying.
He says the price of flour was not going up in the 1960’s and this has started lately.
Sayed-Khaiyum says it is nonsense for the man to say that the price of flour has not gone up since the 1960’s, and the Attorney General then said that the man has been brainwashed by someone.
The man also said that taxi permits in Fiji are being sold for more than $80,000 or even $90,000 and even if he earns $5 an hour, he will never be able to own a taxi in his lifetime.
The Attorney General says Government does not control the price of taxi permits and it is between the two parties concerned.
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