09 Tuesday Aug 2011
Posted in Articles & Reports, Grey Power Editor
In 1991, the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Persons to provide a broader framework for action on ageing. The Principles are framed as 18 entitlements that older persons “should have.” They are organized into five areas relating to the status of the older person: Independence; participation; care; self-fulfillment; and dignity.
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07 Sunday Aug 2011
Posted in Letters
FNPF CEO Aisake Taito and his management team continue to demand that his generation should not support the pensioners of today. He conveniently disregards the fact that it was the pensioners of today that were the very people who were paying 70% of the personal taxes received by the governments when he was an infant and later when he and others of his age were receiving their education. We the older generation subsidised the needs of the younger generation.
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07 Sunday Aug 2011
Posted in Articles & Reports, Grey Power Editor
03 Wednesday Aug 2011
Posted in Grey Power Editor
When the Qarase govt was working on its Media Bill I made both written and oral submissions. I was appalled that our government would even consider curtailing our freedom of speech – a fundamental human right.
Indeed, John and I were among the earliest members of the Yellow Ribbon Movement which was set up to protest against the racist and discriminatory Bills being proposed at that time – and proudly wore our yellow ribbons and drove about with a yellow flag fluttering from our vehicle.
Therefore, when Commander Voreqe Bainimarama ousted Qarase and his government in December 2006, (having warned repeatedly that he would ‘clean up’ government if Qarase did not do so) promising to ensure the equality of all races in every way possible: to initiate a fair and equitable voting system: and to bring about a fair and equal Constitution – although slightly uneasy, I decided that I had to support him.
Improvements were made, especially in respect of our long-neglected grass-root citizens. But almost imperceptibly, many of those freedoms precious to any democratic peoples began to be eroded.
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03 Wednesday Aug 2011
Posted in Letters
From Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) Pensioners in support of Burness v FNPF, the Republic of Fiji and the Attorney General [HBC 183 of 2011]
Your Excellency,
Last week in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Commission’s Pacific Beat programme, the Attorney General of Fiji stated that the President of Fiji does not have the power to appoint a Commission of Inquiry into the Fiji National Provident Fund’s mismanagement of our funds. He was reported to have said:
‘the idea that the President might set up a Commission of Inquiry is laughable as he does not have that power’.
02 Tuesday Aug 2011
Posted in Letters, Link Information
The AG has said he thinks it is laughable to ask our President to appoint an Independent Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the FNPF, we do not and many of us have written to His Excellency. If you wish to join us, please click on whichever of the following links is applicable for your petition letter of choice.
Pensioner to President of Fiji FNPF petition letter
Employers to President of Fiji FNPF Petition
Employees to President of Fiji FNPF Petition
01 Monday Aug 2011
Posted in Letters to FNPF
Our dear Directors and Trustees, I fully support issues raised in Ross McDonald’s email below. In addition, I would like to add the following:
Ultra Vires the Law Cap 219 Section 12B (1)
(a) (i) This section states that any duty by the Board as trustees to be in the best interests of all beneficiaries of the Trust (including the 1209 pensioners whose pension rates the FNPF is about to reduce). The Board is neglecting in its duty as trustees to this class of pensioners and is breaking the law.
01 Monday Aug 2011
Posted in Letters to FNPF
This is a copy of Ross McDonald’s excellent email to Kogagoda of FNPF, it is well worth taking the time to read it all.
Dear Mr Kodagoda & Associates
Further to my earlier emails concerning FNPF pension reforms I refer you to the newspaper advertisement placed in the Fiji Times on 16 July 2011. This has inaccuracies and simply causes further confusion that leads to further questions being asked on just what FNPF is deciding with these reforms and is the very cause of undermining, misinterpreting and spreading of false information that you are so vigorously objecting to. These are just some points that need mentioning. There are many others that I will raise in later emails.
The good, the bad, the ugly and the sad
It is gratifying to read that 9,627 pensioners are not going to have their pension reduced. This is the good news. The bad news is there are 1,209 pensioners who are going to have their pensions reduced. And the ugly news is you won’t tell us 1209 pensioners what you intend to do, and the sad news is, you seemingly just don’t care.
31 Sunday Jul 2011
Posted in Grey Power Editor
To Grey Power Editor
During the past week the AG has (on Australia Broadcasting Pacific Beat) accused the pensioners who are fighting to have their long standing legal pension contracts honoured by the FNPF, as doing so for political reasons, which is clearly utter nonsense.
To compound the error the FNPF CEO in a National broadcast stated the only people objecting to pension reforms were wealthy business people who had withdrawn more money than they deposited. The simple fact is that regardless of the total equity an individual has in the fund, if he or she signed for a pension at 25% and lived in excess of four years, they would have withdrawn more than they deposited. However Aisake Taito has failed to state that the equity of any person who signed to accept a pension but died within the first four years was kept by the fund and not the members beneficiaries.
Fiji Pensioners 