The owners of Fiji Water, Stewart and Faye Resnick of Beverly Hills, are the richest farmers in the United States, with a fortune of $F28.5-billion ($US12.6-billion), according to Forbes Magazine. But the poor dears are doing it tough. So tough that they are about to sack 51 people from their workforce in Fiji.
So what do we think about that, Fiji? Thanks to their local lawyer, Richard Naidu – the Chair of the government’s Fiscal Review Committee – and his powers of persuasion with the Coalition, the Resnicks, despite their fabulous fortune, were given a seven year company tax holiday. It has deprived the nation of tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Yet they have the audacity to cut local jobs and destroy the livelihoods of ordinary Fijian men and women surviving on a pittance.
Yes, things are tougher for the Resnicks. Donald Trump, who detests them for having given millions to his political opponents in the Democratic Party, is deaf to their protests about his new 15 per cent tariff on goods from Fiji. But that has been reduced by more than half from the 32 per cent that the US President initially planned to impose.
Fiji Water is still the most popular bottled water in the United States and enjoys healthy sales around the world. So while it will be undoubtedly tougher for it to compete in American supermarkets with domestically-produced water, how much difference will the wages of 51 lowly paid Fijian workers make to its bottom line?
Here’s the thing, Stewart and Faye (and Richard “I have the means Naidu”). There is a thing called a social contract. When you are making a fortune out of a precious natural resource in Fiji and have turned it into the nation’s biggest export, you have a duty of care to the Fijian people.
Quite unconscionably, you have been given a seven-year tax holiday that on your vast earnings, you didn’t deserve. How lucky you are to have “Richie Rich”, who you pay to represent you and was able to use his influence to persuade the Coalition government to save you a great deal of money. But here’s the thing again.
Start cutting the jobs of ordinary Fijian workers just because your huge profits are under pressure and all bets are off. You can be sure that other political parties will go into the election next year demanding that your tax holiday comes to an end. And the issue is simple. Your Wonderful Company has a duty to Fiji not to punish the locals while getting a benefit other exporters don’t get.
So there are 28-billion reasons for you to back off. And 28-billion reasons why your mates in the Fijian media like Stanley Simpson and Vijay Narayan better start doing their journalistic duty to the Fijian people to ensure that these jobs are saved. Your other mate, the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, also better start making a fuss or else his job will be on the line too.
When you are worth more than $28-billion as individuals, sacking people on a relative pittance isn’t a good look. But maybe it’s time for some global attention on your local tax status and propensity to deal with tougher times by putting ordinary Fijian men and women on the street.
So what are the swinging dicks of the Fijian media going to do? Continue sucking up to the Resnicks or stand up for ordinary Fijians?
POSTSCRIPT:
Question:
Do you think “Editor in Chief” Fred Wesley would have put this story in the Fiji Times without consulting Richard Naidu, who also happens to be the paper’s lawyer?
The headline is “Fiji Water plans restructure”, not “Fiji Water plans to retrench 51 workers”.
Qori.
It’s called spin – or damage control.
The billionares bought Fiji media with bread crumbs and now own the local kaicolo broke ‘journos’ to do their bidding.
No negative narrative, also known as the truth, is permitted. It is said to tell the truth is to shame the devil.
No can do when the devil is in the details.
GD..you’re expecting too much from people in power in Fiji- be they Ministers, judicial officers,Lawyers or journalists. The paramount principle is Every man for himself..bugger the rest.
This is a disturbing pattern but not surprising under a finance minister like Betrayer Baimaan and his accomplice, Richie Rich. They are there to serve the rich and line their pockets in the process.
When I say pattern, I mean that Richie Rich’s law firm Munro Leys clients are suddenly getting all these concessions and rewards from this government. These financial windfalls approved by the despicable finance minister is subsidized by Fiji’s overburdened taxpayers.
Both Fiji Water and Aspen are clients of Munro Leys. The former received seven year tax holiday and the latter an additional $27 million in the last budget, only to turn around and lay of staff in the case of Fiji Water and close their pharmacies in the case of Aspen.
The concessions were granted to the two companies in the expectation that they would benefit Fiji, but the opposite has happened – they have taken more without giving anything in return. Not only that, they have actually taken away employment and medicines after receiving the concessions.
Our liar of a finance minister should be sacked on the spot but Prime Minister Rabuka is both weak and clueless.
Richie Rich and Biman are taking the Prime Minister for a ride, but he is too old and too tired to do anything about it.
What the bastard from babasiga, Baiman, did was hit the population with a 15% vat to subsidize the tax holiday to Fiji Water, increase parliamentary salaries, and fund other wasteful expenditure of government.
This Dogla from Dreketi really is the worst Finance Minister in Fiji history.
The 15% vat was recommended by the Fiscal Review Committee which Baiman stacked with Richie Rich as the chair and Kirti Patel as a committee member. Kirti has absolutely no qualifications to be on this committee. Unless Biman has some special intimate knowledge about her that the public doesn’t know.
This corrupt Cabal will be wiped out in the next election. But hopefully Rabuka can grow some balls and kicks out his pathetic finance Minister and save the country.
Shipping water from the middle of the Pacific to anywhere over the ocean should be recognised for what it is – an absolutely horrible carbon footprint from its transport. Add to the transport of millions of tons of other stuff all over this planet , no wonder we have global warming from too much CO2 in the atmosphere.
Then there are the microplastics from those millions of plastic bottles in those proud exports. Tap water is vastly less polluting than bottling water.
Fiji should ban water exports to help the planet.
God help the world, and Fiji. Both need it.
Once again the poor people from Ra Province are being kicked out. The Poorest Province in Fiji has some of the worst Itaukei rabble among its leaders that thrive on pandering to the rich for a few dollars in their dirty pockets. And politicians who sell their people for a few dollars more. And a captive Itaukei population that continues to follow these leaders who beg with their Poorest Province begging bowl tagline
Had to laugh at the label on their shirts “Fijian Media”.
Should really be ‘Fijian Bajaroos’, bought for a pittance, a free ride in an aeroplane and a free trip ‘overseas’. As well, Government politicians get away without scrutiny by throwing grants at the Media and keep them well fed.
This is the level of the once proud Fourth Estate in Fiji. These two wannabes are an insult to journalism. They should try and view last night’s ABC 7.30 Report and see how Sarah Ferguson made the US Ambassador to Israel sweat and squirm in a direct and forthright interview, and perhaps learn something? Or is that asking too much?
Let’s not forget that in fiji, the home of Fiji water, you cannot even safely drink the tap water nowadays
Richard is a man of utmost integrity and it’s likely that he recused himself from any decision of the Fiscal Review Committee that he chaired as he would know it’s his client. Therefore it is 100% a committee decision and nothing to do with Richard. The meeting minutes will confirm this and are likely only not being released as Richard would not want anyone unfairly blamed.
Richard Naidu has been asked to explain his obvious conflict of interest and has refused to do so. To say that “it’s likely that he recused himself” is absurd. Did he actually recuse himself? You can’t say. You are merely assuming that he did and are asking the rest of us to accept that assumption from a position of ignorance. No.
Similarly, you say the minutes are “likely only not being released as Richard would not want anyone unfairly blamed”. This is pure speculation on your part. All of which renders your defence of Richard Naidu’s “integrity” worthless.
This would not pass the probity test in Australia and New Zealand and you know it. Nor does it pass the “pub test” – what citizens in the court of public opinion expect from those holding public office. Being Chair of the Fiscal Review Committee makes Richard Naidu a public figure who can expect to be held accountable.
Rather than answer the legitimate questions Grubsheet has posed to him about this and other matters, Richard Naidu has formally threatened to sue me. There’s “integrity” for you. Incidentally, I am still waiting for the commencement of proceedings almost two years later.
Perhaps planks and proxies like above think most that have interests in proper conduct, good governance, reusal, integrity, and influence peddling are the sole domains of the legal elites.
History, however, is littered with the most recent examples that this is not so and probably has not been for a long time. Clueless Lueng, whylie Clark’s, Richie Rich, drunk Bainivalu, rogue CJ, corrupt Baboon, green SG, nancy and nancy boy, vatuwaqa crab, titti, porn and weed queen have one thing in common-lawyers all. Make those two commonalities: lawyers and zero integrity.
No doubt this list is by no means all inclusive. These so-called lawyers are lecherous and leeching blight on society, wreaking havoc and tearing the fabric of societal norms.
Planks and proxies of government and the legal elite fail to realize the rot and malicious malice in our current legal system is not happening in a vacuum leave alone without active coordination and common theme: imprison political enemies.
We all know that the pm’s office, parliament, judiciary, police, investigative bodies, advisory branches, and state house are not interconnected nor interchangeable branches of government.
None of the above government branches are part of any one sole committee or commission. They are not a combined review committee, standing committee, sitting committee, or a combined advisory commission.
All branches operate independently of each other. In theory. In reality, the entire government machinery ate part of one large shitting committee.
If the theory of independent branches js true in practice, then how do we explain the handling of DPP Pryde and former AG Khaiyum former pm Bainimarama and former police commissioner’s cases.
It is time for planks and proxies to realize that not everyone can be fooled all the time every time.
@Ivan we not as naive as you think. One can recuse oneself after having influenced a decision. There are ways and means to influence decisions in boards and committees. Especially in the Fiscal Review Committee where certain people were appointed by finance minister Biman not on the basis of their qualifications but on the basis of who you know.
For example people are still scratching their heads how library clerk Kirti Patel got appointed on the fiscal review committee ahead of many other qualified people. Only Biman knows her ‘special attributes’ because to rest of us it makes no sense. In fact it sounds fishy. It reasonable to expect some special personal favors and being there to carry out Biman’s wishes such as vote ‘yes’ for the hike in vat to 15%.
Likewise, Richard Naidu is a lawyer, not an economist or finance expert so what the hell is he doing as the fiscal review committee chair? It’s the NFP connection and being there to ensure positive votes for Biman’s policies. And in return, Richard Naidu’s law firm, Munro Leys clients like Fiji Water get undeserved tax concessions as well as new clients and contracts, such as Aspen. There are the rewards of the political networks and connections based on the strategic ways in which boards are appointed – not for the benefit of the country but for the benefit of Biman and his cronies, it’s a form of corruption.
It’s the same with the other boards appointed by Biman. None of them are neutral. He controls them all. All the appointees are friends. All are expected to vote in a certain way. There are some real incompetents in his board appointments. We should be very worried about the FNPF board, for example. So @Ivan, stop trying to deceive the public. take your feeble and unconvincing defence of Richie Rich and shove it where the sun don’t shine.