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Issue No: 560; 7 March 2001
While the country is on the doorstep to constitutional democracy, thousands of the country's evicted farmers remain without any state assistance. Over 2000 farmers who have been evicted from their farms by the regime backed Native Lands Trust Board have remained either as refugees or are now squatting throughout the country. So far the regime has not provided a single cent of assistance to the farmers and their dependents. Including the dependents, it is estimated that over 25,000 people have been made homeless by the regime and the NLTB. A vast majority of these homeless are people of ethnic Indian origin. The National Farmers Union has made provision for temporary shelter for these people in refugee camps. But these camps suffer from shortage of resources. Poverty in the country is rising as workers are continuing to lose their jobs and farmers are being evicted. Meanwhile Radio Fiji reported yesterday that a three-member group of lawyers is meeting to ensure that the 1997 Constitution is abrogated. Two of the three members of the committee are NLTB's General Manager Maika Qarikau and its Legal Manager Niko Nawaikula. Both these are active supporters of the terrorist George Speight. |
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People's Coalition Government - Fiji Islands |
