FCOSS Executive Director Vani Catanasiga [File Photo]

The Fiji Public Service Association and the Fiji Council of Social Services reaffirmed their demand for an increase in both the national minimum wage and civil service worker salaries at a national rally for workers and communities held yesterday.

According to FCOSS Executive Director Vani Catanasiga, the increase in MP’s salaries should be put on hold for now as the government, she believes, needs to prioritize the people’s needs.

Catanasiga says that leaders are there for workers, they are there for the communities, the women, and the children.

FCOSS Executive Director Vani Catanasiga

She states that the government needs to reprioritize and look at the more pressing issues that needs to be prioritized.

“We heard from community workers in Vatulele a few weeks ago, sharing about a desalination plant that had not been working for seven years, and thought that that should be prioritized, given the issues of health and sanitation on the island. We heard from someone in the highlands of Ba talking about the need for better connectivity and thought that 8.1 million could easily fund the setup of another telecom tower to allow people to be able to communicate.”

The rally participants also called on the government to relook at Parliamentary Remunerations Act of 2014.

Catanasiga says the act should include sections on allowing the performance of MP’s to be assessed on a regular basis.

She adds that the Law must allow performance assessment and they want citizens to be engaged in the process as they have been voted in by Fijians.

She believes that when leaders are selfish and not listening to the public they are opening a can of worms as people will exercise their right and take action.

Catanasiga is reminding our leaders that there are other needs that need to be prioritized, and the unions have spoken in that regard.