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Dear Editor – This piece of news in your recent paper makes me feel as if a sword is being pierced through my rib-cage right into my heart, making it to either stop beating or raise increased palpitations to the point of having a heart attack or a mild stroke.
If the MPs could finally have such feelings, then maybe there is still some sense of morality in them? Is there? Who knows!
I have at several instances in your paper mentioned that these poor public servants deserve something better.
We have the lowest paid public servants in the region.
But how can we turn this around when we have mismanaged this little economy for far too long for the benefit of a little elite group at the top?
If MP____s could see now why the public has been crying foul and beating drums of protest all these time about their humongous salaries and entitlements.
Your individual salaries, if it were to be paid to these junior officers would be equal to the ratio of 1 is to 4 (1:4). That is one MP____s salary could pay approximately 4 junior officers annual salary.
Beside these salaries, you have a number of funds available at your discretion that add up to millions.
Yet you still do not see the little man____s suffering down here where we are walking and talking.
The current cash flow situation raised by the former finance minister is just a reflection of such mismanagement.
In fact, a conference was held in Suva, Fiji, sometime ago (2004 to be precise) to look at how our Pacific countries fare in terms of their economies and other issues.
They have noticed that within the Pacific region, only two countries are rich in natural resources. They are PNG and Solomon Islands. Their problem? MISMANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES!
Should we blame the junior officers for corruption as alluded to in your paper? No way!
They are trying to make ends meet everyday my friend.
They do not manage the resources, but rather as Mr. Hou stated, it is the ruling government or successive governments since 1978.
They are the ones mismanaging this economy and make sick decisions (I stated this this earlier) making this economy getting sicker and dying.
I said dying because cash flow is the life blood of any economy or government, and if it____s not flowing, then it____s dying.
Look at the loopholes! Treat the causes, not the symptoms! Get the corruption bill passed!
When I saw MPs speaking with sympathy like that, I say to myself “What a front! to the people of this nation.
Do they ever see beyond their noses? Do they ever hear beyond their heartbeats?
I hope they mean what they say and do something about this situation, or else it____s just a way of saying; “we hear you” when they actually don____t listen to you.
One day my friends if we don____t listen to the cry and sufferings of our people, the good times we have will come back to haunt us.
A nation prospers when its leaders are leading and serving its people and listen to their cries.
In the context of a christian nation, God honours the leaders of a nation when they honour God by prospering that nation for the sake of its leaders.
For example King David and his son Solomon – God prospered Israel to its zenith.
In the time of the later or minor prophets however, Israel was at its lowest point because the leaders exploit the people for their own good.
God saw this injustice and was rebuking the leaders through the minor prophets.
Those of us barking around here may not be prophets, but we sure see something____s not right; and God is not deaf.
He is listening to the cry of the poor, the hunger, the marginalized people of our society. God would surely act on their behalf.
So my good leaders, have a heart for us! Listen to us and treat us fairly! You____re supposed to serve us, not accumulate wealth for yourselves.
After all, this country and its resources belong to all of us.
Let____s share it equally among us.
Jackson Ray
Fulton College
Nadi, Fiji Islands
