Minister for Justice and Acting Attorney General, Siromi Turaga, Opposition Leader, Inia Seruiratu and senior politician, Premila Kumar have so far confirmed their attendance at the Fijian Media Association’s next town halls in Levuka, Ovalau for this Wednesday, and in Korovou, Tailevu for this Friday.
The FMA is still awaiting a response and confirmation from other key government ministers invited, including Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
Ministers and representatives from key government agencies have been invited to attend both events to hear the concerns of the public first hand, and respond to them.
A zoom link will also be provided for ministers or their reps to respond to.
The Levuka, Ovalau and Korovou, Tailevu town halls are the fifth and sixth organised by the association, this time through the support of the BBC Media Action Group.
Fijian Media Association executive and Communications Fiji Limited News Director, Vijay Narayan calls on people to come out in numbers to raise the issues that matter to them on the ground.
As with the previous forums, the upcoming Levuka and Korovou events will provide an opportunity for people to engage directly with the nation’s leadership in an open question-and-answer setting.
Members of the public will be able to pose questions directly to government leaders in attendance, with each session moderated by senior editors and journalists to ensure a fair, balanced discussion.
FMA General Secretary, Stanley Simpson says this is also a joint partnership between all the major media organisations in Fiji who will broadcast the forum live through the FMA Faceboook page and through their own platforms.
In the last 12 months, the association through the support of the US Embassy has held four town halls in Savusavu, Labasa, Tavua and Ba attracting about 800 people in attendance and more than 650,000 views on the FMA Facebook page alone, not counting simultaneous broadcasts by Communications Fiji Limited, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Fiji Live, Fiji Sun, Fiji TV, Mai TV and The Fiji Times.
The Tavua and Ba town halls were attended by the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka with a number of ministers.
The Savusavu town hall was attended by Assistant Minister for Works, Naisa Tuinaceva who also attended the Labasa town hall with former Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Biman Prasad.
Issues raised at previous town halls include consistent concerns over roads, water and electricity infrastructure, under-resourced hospitals and communities waiting too long for government agencies to respond.
Residents in Levuka are expected to raise questions about employment opportunities, the upkeep of the town's UNESCO World Heritage buildings, the reliability of ferry and inter-island shipping services, healthcare and infrastructure.
Farmers, families and young people in Korovou and across Tailevu are expected to come with questions on Korovou about land, livelihoods, roads, rural crime, health services and the reliability of water and power supply.
The town halls come days after Finance Minister, Esrom Immanuel presented the 2026-2027 National Budget in parliament, which he described as a responsible plan for a country facing a fiscal deficit of $1.07 billion, public debt approaching 85 percent of GDP, and economic growth revised down to 1.5 percent because of the global fuel crisis.
The Levuka Town Hall will be held at the Levuka Town Hall from 7pm to 9pm on Wednesday.
The Korovou Town Hall will be held at the Tailevu Hotel from 5pm to 7pm on Friday.
These forums are deliberately being taken beyond Suva as rural communities have the same concerns as urban ones, often more urgent ones but they have fewer platforms to raise them and less access to the officials who can respond.
