OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF FIJI

03 Wednesday Aug 2011

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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’.

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Petition Letters to Our President

02 Tuesday Aug 2011

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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

Ross McDonald’s correspondence with Kodagoda and Taito

01 Monday Aug 2011

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Ross McDonald’s series of emails to Kodagoda commencing on 15 June and his and Ross responses.

Click on the Link to open the Word file
McDonalds emails to Kodagoda and his replies
You can also access these emails on this link :
http://data.axmag.com/data/201107/U19097_F41982/index.html  

Ross McDonalds letters to Aisake Taito

Proposed Changes to FNPF – 15 6 11

 

Jackson Mar’s Letter to the FNPF

01 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by in Letters to FNPF

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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. 

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Ross McDonald’s email to Kodagoda 28/7/11

01 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by in Letters to FNPF

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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.

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Human Rights in Fiji’s Laws 1970-2011: Problems and Prospects By Dr Shaista Shameem

31 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by in Articles & Reports

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1.0       Background to human rights laws in Fiji: the St Julian connection

The very first Constitutions of Fiji (commonly known as King Cakobau Constitutions) contained in them a set of human rights principles modeled on the French and American Constitutions. The far-sighted person apparently responsible for placing core rights principles in these Constitutions was an individual by the name of Charles James Herbert de Courcy St Julian (1819-1874), a journalist (with many other talents) who was in 1872 appointed the first Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Kingdom of Fiji. Interestingly, St Julian was recommended for a pension of 600 pounds by Sir Hercules Robinson but he died in November 1874, apparently before he could collect it.

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Truth and Justice

31 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by in Grey Power Editor

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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.

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