PM rejects recommendation for him to attend COP28 and could send Seruiratu instead

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says he has rejected a recommendation for him to go to the COP28 meeting in December and he is thinking of sending Opposition MP, Inia Seruiratu.

While debating on the Review of the Office of the Prime Minister and Department of Immigration 2018–2019 Annual Report, Rabuka says they will be wasting all the data Seruiratu has as a champion for climate change if he is left out of the discussions on it.

He says while on the other side of the Parliament, he had the thought of a bipartisan approach to universal issues like climate change.

He further says they had some teething problems with regards to the e-passport issue but this is the way the rest of the world is going so they must sharpen up their performance and provide e-passports for all new passport holders.

The Prime Minister says the issue surrounding the Vatukoula Gold Mine issue is a very sad episode in Fiji’s industrial relations history.

It was highlighted in the report that the issue has not been resolved for three decades.

Rabuka says they all agree that all parties should be involved to resolve this issue.

The Prime Minister also says the Small Grants Scheme has been successful but it is only as strong as the economy.

He says it has been very well accepted and distributed and brought a lot of joy to the recipients. While speaking on the Rotuma Subvention Funds, the Prime Minister says they would like to maintain a good relationship with the leadership of Rotuma and have promised to cooperate and ensure that accounts are in place and have recommended someone to be liaison between the Office of the Prime Minister and the Rotuman Council.

Rabuka adds they are working with the Rabi Council to get their accounts audited.

He says there is an outstanding invitation from the Parliament of Kiribati and the President for them to send a representative from Rabi but the only problem before was that they did not have a Rabi Council because there was no election and audited accounts.

Rabuka says hopefully all those can be corrected so that someone can be sent to attend the Parliament in Kiribati.