It has been an active year for Members, keeping government on its toes. A whole series of questions and important motions were filed by MPs on government policies and issues of public importance during the period in review July 2002 - December 2003.

a) the government restore retrospective to January 2002 the secondary school per capita grant to $14.00 -$18.00 which it had reduced to $7.00 -$9.00 in the 2000 Mini Budget; and

b) the government extend its text book grant for 2002 to all the poor children irrespective of their race.

§ Whether acceptable levels of returns are being received from the Funds real estate investments;

§ Whether the Funds exposure as a major lender to government/statutory bodies and public corporation
should be controlled through maximum limits being placed on such lending to avoid undue risk;

§ Whether the Funds investments in stock, shares and other commercial instruments are returning acceptable rates of dividends and are relatively free from exposure to risks likely to result in losses; and that the evaluation and review report be presented to this House no later than 31 April 2003.

§ High interest rate charges on personal loans, housing loans, commercial loans and other credit facilities.

§ High service and adminstration fees charged by commercial banks and other credit institution;

§ Other hidden charges levied by these banking and credit institutions, including all commercial banks and credit institutions,

this House calls upon the Government to regulate the schedule of fees and charges levied to clients by licensed financial institutions, including all commercial banks and credit institutions.

That such a committee be adequately staffed and resourced to enable the committee to procure expert advice, seek a facilitator, undertake travel to countries where such systems are in use and or have been tried.

That the Government shall first seek funding for the operation of this committee from a donor country. If no such assistance is forthcoming, the Government shall allocate separate funding to the Parliament for this purpose.

(i) immediately address the complaints raised by concerned residents over frequent water disruptions
(ii) investigate the complaints of muddy water being supplied to the residents of Cunningham an other areas
(iii) carry our urgent maintenance of the water mains where there are leakages
report to the House on the steps taken so far to address the water situation

a) present its survey report to the House on the extent of damage to homes, farm-crops, and properties suffered by the victims of flood/cyclone;
b) investigate the delay as well as allegation of racial-discrimination over the supply of emergency food rations in Vanua Levu;
c) provide special relief assistance/grant for housing, education, crop rehabilitation and other needs of the affected families;
d) supply food ration for the affected families for the next six months; and
e) appoint a bi-partisan special committee of the House to monitor relief assistance and make appropriate recommendation to deal with similar disasters in the future.

under what section or sub-section of the Finance Act or subsidiary legislations under the Finance Act did he get the authority to waive the portion of the revenue due to the State from Win Full Company Limited or to reduce the license fee due from Win Full Company Limited.

can the honourable minister for Home Affairs inform this August House as to the current state of investigations against the businessmen associated with these companies and indicate when these investigations will be concluded?

- Would the Minister confirm that the report on the shortage of drugs at Sigatoka Hospital is correct and to the extend that the hospital does not even have basic drug such as panadol;

- Is it true that the Government Pharmacy repeatedly short supplied drugs allocated to the Sigatoka District Hospital;

- If the answer is in the affirmative, then would the Minister explain the reasons;

- Is it true that hospitals and health centers around the country are facing acute shortage of drugs; and

- If the answer is yes, then would the Minister provide reasons and inform the House what is the immediate and urgent action plan of his Ministry to address the situation.

-How many doctors are required to serve at the Valelevu Health Centre;

-The present number of substantive doctors serving the Valelevu Health Centre;

-How many doctors at Valelevu are stationed on a relief basis;

- The list of major building facilities and back-up facilities that are required to host the South Pacific Games, 2003 scheduled to commence on 28th June ,2003;

- Particulars of the building facilities and other amenities that needed to be prepared, upgraded and constructed for the games;

- Report on state of readiness of the above facilities for the opening of the games; and;

- Particulars of major works that are currently incomplete and state the exact date of their completion.

- Whether any specific plans have been put in place during the South Pacific Games 2003 for the security and safety of the participants and their personal belonging;

- What specific arrangement will be put in place for policing and enforcement of law and order immediately after the Games;

- Is there any special provision to protect the safety of persons and property of local residents in view of the expected influx of people to Suva, both from local and overseas sources;

- If the answer to the above is in the affirmative, can the Minister enumerate on the arrangements, and if the Police are adequately equipped to carry out this function efficiently; and

- Does Police have adequate funds for providing the required services during the Games?

- Is it true that over 470 passengers were forced to remain inside two Aircraft for over an hour at Nadi International Airport on Monday the 9th of June 2003 because there was no electricity to engage the Aerobridge to disembark the passengers?

- Is it true the Nadi International Airport was left in darkness from 11am on Monday June 9, 2003 until early Tuesday June 10, 2003 morning?

- If it is true what was the cause of the Electricity failure, when Airport Fiji Limited have their own resources and a back-up generator to automatically switch on the electricity supply to provide critical essential services at Nadi International Airport on a continuous basis?

- What alternative steps and other necessary actions does the minister intend to ensure that there is no recurrence of electricity failure at Nadi International Airport to guarantee that passengers do not face any such inconvenience in the future?

- Why was the matter regarding the 20 year agreement between Fiji Electricity Authority and an American owned company, Telesource not tabled through Parliament to be taken through the process of consultation with the members of the public through the relevant sector standing committees before its implementation?

When will the minister table in Parliament the 20 year agreement reached between the two parties?

- The Fiji Constitution provisions on the Multi Party Cabinet are unworkable and must be changed

- Despite being overruled by the High Court, Appeal Court and Supreme Court on the inclusion of the Fiji Labour Party in the cabinet, he will never agree in his belief that he was wrong in excluding FLP from his cabinet

- The judges can be wrong or mistaken in their judgement

- Fijians should not worry about the participation of the 14 FLP Ministers in Cabinet because he has assigned them small and unimportant Ministries

- How would the Prime Minster explain his statement in response to a question that the Prime Minister's offer of 14 seats is but a trap to snare FLP members in the Cabinet in order to get them to agree to amendments to the present Constitution and ALTA legislation and then to sack them if they vote against the amendments in the House

- Is the Prime Minister's talk in Fijian compatible with good faith negotiation that he is required both by the Constitution and Supreme Court judgement to be engaged in?

- Does the Prime Minister believe that these actions and statements are consistent with his public declarations to the nation and the international community that he would abide by the Supreme Court's Judgement?

- Can he please explain why the Duavata Initiative Ltd (DIL) is registered undr the Companies Act, and allowed to trade commercially, if it is only meant to facilitate the establishment of a Trust Fund? Why is it not registered under the Charitable Trust Act?

- Can he inform that neither the Prime Minister nor any of his ministerial colleagues will receive a director's fee or any other form of remuneration, whether directly or indirectly, from the DIL?

- Has the DIL received any financial contributions to date?

-  Is it true that a sum of approximately $400,000 has been paid, or is about to be paid, to the DIL, by certain individuals or their business company/companies?

-  If so, who will be the beneficiaries of this money, and what is its purpose?

- Is the SDL Party a beneficiary of this money or any other money paid to the DIL?

- Does the Hon. Attorney General agree that since the Cabinet is directly involved in the DIL, and the DIL is therefore effectively a government company, that all proceeds raised by the company should be directed to the Consolidated Fund, for use by the general public, rather than by the SDL Party or any other private beneficiary?