Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says we must have faith and be united in our resolve, in working together as a nation addressing any adversity we face, because “only together we can”.
In his New Year message to the nation, Rabuka said the Government cannot do things by itself and everyone should play their part.
“We are the joint authors of the Book “Fiji: 2024 and beyond.”
“When the Coalition came to office last December, we were emerging from 16 years of restrictive dictatorial rule. We’ve put that behind us. It’s gone.”
“Much infrastructure – such as roads, water supplies and medical amenities – was broken and rundown from prolonged neglect and mismanagement of funds and efforts.”
“The economy was burdened by massive debt; investor morale was low, therefore investment was also low.”
He said from day one, the Coalition Government began the enormous task of reconstruction.
“It is not easy; it will take time. However, in the first 12 months we have made visible progress.”
“Newly restored freedom empowered Fijians to once again make their views known publicly without fear of persecution. We removed an oppressive law that hung over the media like a sword poised to strike.”
“The Government told Fijians we would always listen to them. We put this into practice in a tangible way by staging an economic summit attended by 500 delegates representative of the community. We also appointed members of the public to a new Fiscal Review Committee.”
“Our aim was to hasten Fiji’s journey of recovery with the assistance of the views and ideas of this cross section of the citizenry.”
“More specifically, the objective was to stabilize and manage the massive debt we had inherited.”
