Fiji Sun Editorial
Tuesday 20th June, 2006
Water is not a luxury
It's time for a formal - and public - inquiry into the state of the nation's watersupply. The repeated interruptions are just too much for people to bear and the last straw was the sending home yesterday of nearly 1000 students from one of the nation's leading boarding schools for girls.
Of course it's true that successive governments have ignored the need to invest in water infrastructure, no doubt thinking that water would always flow from the taps. The condition of the water supply is not the fault of the present Government.
Nevertheless, it must face up to the responsibility of making the best of the situation. This is not happening.Stories of Public Works Department water trucks delivering to favoured areas and even of drivers seeking financial and other favours are far too common to be easily brushed aside. And the hiring of water trucks has been less than transparent. There is now serious doubt in the public mind that the Public Works Department is capable of or even willing to make fair and transparent allocations of water at times of restricted supply.
Only an open and honest inquiry will remove that and other doubts. The people who pay for this service - or, too often, the lack of it - are entitled to know what is being done to restore a reliable supply of clean and potable water. That is not to say that nothing is being done - but consumers could be a lot more confident if they were aware of what was happening.
Unannounced water cuts are what anger people more than anything. And they are all too commonplace. Another major source of public frustration is the attitude of the PWD. When a dose of truth would defuse much of the anger, people are fed a diet of excuses, false promises and old fashioned civil service obfuscation. It has to end. Water is not a luxury. It is a requirement for the survival of a fairly treated society.
Privatisation, as has been widely mooted, would take the problem off the Government's hands but that cannot be done overnight and in the meantime, the public wants to know when -or if - it can expect a reliable supply of clean water It also has a perfect right to know what its employees - in particular the PWD - intend to do about the water crisis in the meantime.
The long waits for the water trucks would be at least slightly more bearable if those waiting knew when the crisis was likely to end and what was being done to address their plight until that hoped for day arrives. A public inquiry would at least clear the air.
An independent study analysing the water quality from Fiji's domestic supply disputes the contention from officials that cholorine levels are according to international standards.
Study finds chlorine levels at low end of spectrum.
Fiji Times Thursday, June 22, 2006
WATER supplied to consumer taps did not carry enough chlorine, recent tests carried out by a tertiary institution laboratory reveal.
The survey found that the amount of chlorine contained in water taken from taps supplied by the Public Works Department fell on the lowest side of World Health Organisation standards.
It said the WHO required a minimum of 2-milligrams of chlorine per litre of water to make it safe for consumption. But the survey said the amount of chlorine contained in water tested from consumer taps suggested only 0.2 to 0.3mg/litre was in the system.
"The water tested was not in the main supply of PWD's reservoir but the running water from the taps in homes. And from what was tested, the water collected from the pipe in a cup only contained 0.2 to 0.3mg/litre of chlorine and this is not enough," the source said.
"The PWD may have 100 per cent of chlorine in their own source from the reservoir but what we are concerned about is what comes out of the tap and according to WHO, it has to be 2.0mg/litre and not 0.2 to 0.3mg/litre.
"This could be the cause of diarrhoea because it does not meet the standard of the WHO and is not healthy enough for consumer consumption."
But Principal Engineer Water Samuela Tubui said the WHO standard was not 2.
"We know that the WHO standard is about 0.1 and PWD has more than that in the reservoirs," Mr Tubui said.
"We are way above the 0.1 and have been practicing that over the past decades since the PWD came into existence". Mr Tubui said the supply and treatment of water at reservoirs was not a problem.
"Everything is alright and the PWD has always kept to the international standard of WHO in terms of amount of chlorine added in water," he said.
According to a 2003 WHO report, the guideline value for chlorine was 5mg/litre, which was present in most disinfected drinking-water at concentrations of 0.2 to 1mg/litre. It said it was normal practice to supply water with a chlorine residual of a few tenths of a milligram per litre to act as a preservative during distribution.
Public Health director Central Doctor Timaima Tuiketei brushed aside claims chlorine levels were under par.She said the Ministry of Health carried out its own tests with the science laboratory of the University of the South Pacific, which found chlorine levels met WHO standards.
"We have our own lab and so does the PWD and we have carried out tests over the past months since the diarrhoea cases were highlighted and the results have been satisfactory," Dr Tuiketei said.
"The results proved that water supplied by PWD contained enough chlorine and was of international standard. We have not received any tests, which stated that there was not enough chlorine in water. It has been so far all right," Dr Tuiketei said.
Since W.H.O standards on water quality was brought into the discussion, here are the W.H.O's own whopping 66 page publication on Chemical Additives. (PDF format)
U.S Environmental Protection Agency has their own comprehensive standards determining a whole range of other contaminants. Astounding considering their budget and resources that can be brought online if the need arises.
This independent report has outraged the New Taskforce formed by Ministry of Health and Public Works Department who are obviously trying so hard to bury the story, with more a factual "everything-is-normal" routine.
A worn routine that will not satisfy frustrated families who go without water for another day. Now residents have to worry about the purity of the contents; whilst settling for second best, knowing full well that a more premium level of water is being exported from the local shores.
SiFM wonders if Fiji Water is sensitive enough with that problem right on their door steps. Problems experienced by their own employees, who live in the areas that routinely face water cuts.
Can we expect some degree of social concern from the biggest exporter of natural resources that, benefit only a tiny handful of elites in Fiji and abroad?
Where does the general public's concern for a reliable water supply end and where does the concern for the investors begin?
Fiji has such meagre resources for public service simply because the development obligations determined years ago have fallen to disrepute. Sqaundered by the frivilous wants which drastically outweigh the basic needs of the nation.
On the matter of Special Assistants for Ministers:
The trend to have private secretaries for Fiji Government Ministers, underlines the exuberance that rears its ugly head every time a new Government is formed.
The Prime Minister's C.E.O Messr Jioji Kotobalavu was the original private secretary from Ratu Mara's days and has since overstayed his tenure in the Prime Minister's office.
Ironically Messr Kotobalavu is one among the many C.E.O's who refused to posted elsewhere by stonewallingthe P.S.C's reform initiative; to rotate C.E.Os routinely to prevent the stagnantcy settling into the office operations and facilitates new ideas to the table. Messr Kotobalavu's case underlines the danger for such a proposal.
Here is the post of C.E.O Kotobalavu's letter to the Fiji Times editor defending the practice of employing Special Assistants.
Special assistants
It is most disappointing that your newspaper has sensationalised Cabinet's decision to allow Ministers to have special assistants without genuinely trying to appreciate the considerations behind the decision.
Firstly, there is no additional cost to the Public Service because existing vacancies or existing staff in the Public Service will be used to provide for this assistance to Ministers.
Secondly, it is a practice that is normally done in all countries. Ministers are provided with special assistants in the form of private secretaries to attend to their needs.
Precisely, the needs to be served by the special assistants largely arise from the many people who visit Ministers every day to ask for various kind of assistance.
If a Minister were to spend all his time in a working day receiving these individuals or groups, the Minister would have no time to attend to his ministerial responsibilities.
It has therefore been felt for a long time that we should do what other Governments have done and that is to equip Ministers with special assistants to attend to members of the public, and also to facilitate the Minister's various commitments and
engagements.
There is nothing unusual in the decision that Cabinet has taken. Cabinet has been careful to ensure that whilst Ministers are to be assisted in this form, the cost is to covered within the existing Public Service budget.
I should also clarify that a Minister's constituency allowance is to help a Minister as a Member of Parliament during constituency visits in responding to requests from members of the community.
J. Kotobalavu
Chief Executive Officer
Office of the Prime Minister
The state's responsibility of conducting a national census was revoked by the S.D.L party. The same irresponsibility that will penalize the state in the longer term projections. How can a state know what the population is; when simple ground rules of the Government are routinely ignored.
An indication of familiarity losing its centre of gravity, while dancing on the precipice of contempt.
Scams in Fiji is becoming more of a trend nowdays. Considering these Fiji Sun reports on the matter. Disturbing development for Fiji Police who are more used to old purse snatching then white collar crimes. Case in point, the N.B.F scandal, 2000 coup financing etc.
Club Em Designs
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