Fijian party manifesto promises 35,000 jobs

Press, 17 March 1987, Page 8

Fijian party manifesto promises 35,000 jobs

AAP Suva Fiji’s governing Alliance Party yesterday unveiled a 16-page election manifesto promising continued stable Government — a'nd creation of 35,000 jobs. At the same time, the deputy Prime Minister, Mosese Qionibaravi, challenged the opposition coalition to explain how it would pay for its promises for the April 411 election. The official manifesto, delivered with Fiji’s two daily newspapers yesterday, summarised the Alliance’s 17 years in office

and its economic record. The Alliance’s slogan — For the Good of ALL — was backed by an assertion that the party was “the product of an harmonious blending of the races that make up the Fiji nation.” It said Fiji’s stability was an example to the rest of the world with its constitution guaranteeing representation of the main races (Fijians and Indians) in Parliament. The manifesto said Alliance policies had brought inflation down to 1.9 per cent, and had led to industrial expansion and job creation.

It said the Government had created 8500 new jobs in 1985 and 9400 in 1986 “and it will fulfil its target of 35,000 new jobs in the next five years.” Unemployment in Fiji, which has no dole scheme, is about 10 per cent: the population of 720,000 is largely ruralbased.

In a broadcast formally launching the Alliance campaign, Mr Qionibaravi said tax relief and other promises of the National Federa-tion-Labour Parties’ coalition would cost SFI3O million ($204 million).