Does the Illegal Government Have Any Disaster Relief Policies in Place?
Oct 8th, 2009 
The illegal government of Bainimarama has gotten lucky amidst the earthquakes and tsunamis hitting the South Pacific. Fiji has thus far been spared but the following piece gives us fodder for thought. Does the government of Fiji have any disaster preventative or relief efforts in case Fiji is hit by a tsunami?
ABOUT 800 guests from three resorts and a tennis club in Denarau were evacuated to the rooftops after the tsunami alert.
Guests of Sheraton Fiji, Sheraton Villa, Westin and the Golf and Racquet Club in Denarau were evacuated at about 10.30am.
Sheraton director sales and marketing Paul Yui said they did not waste any time after receiving the alert.
“We called all the guests to the lobby and we briefed them about the tsunami,” he said.
“We told them that they would be going to the rooftop of our hotel as it was about six to seven metres high,” he said. “We made sure that all the beach fronts were cleared.”
Unlike governments, a tsunami or earthquake does not kneel to heavy ammunition and cannot simply be overthrown. As Raw Fiji News reports, Vodafone was completely down and out of commission when needed in an emergency:
There are confirmed reports that Fiji’s mobile phone giant, Vodafone Fiji, was completely down when the tsunami warning reached Fiji earlier today.
Reports from that troubled state say Vodafone users were disappointed by the outage at the most crucial time when they were trying to contact their loved ones to warn them or to instruct them on what to do.
Observers say the junta failed yet again in launching a nation wide evacuation programme for the people, yet they are always quick to dispatch an office raid or molotov home bombing when freedom fighters dare speak against them.
Maybe if the illegal junta focused more on meeting basic needs and less on a ‘gaining credibility’ mission, Fiji would prosper rather than perish.
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