Sainiani Boila 
Villagers are finding it challenging to engage in business because of the disconnect between assistance programs and available markets.
Great Council of Chiefs chair Ratu Viliame Seruvakula highlighted the issue during a press conference yesterday.
He said that discussions on one of the confederacy’s reports back to the council highlighted the disconnect between villagers and markets.
Ratu Viliame said a contributing factor to the disconnect could be governance issues within provincial councils.
“So there are two separate issues. One is the governance that needs to be corrected. The second is the link. There’s a missing link between the villages and the people. We tell them to utilize their resources and go into business and all that. They do that. But there’s a lot of disconnect and they don’t understand. Who do you talk to to find a market? Who do they talk to to find assistance? So there will be a paper that will be discussed tomorrow that will go into that and to try and connect the dots.”
Ratu Viliame said a possible solution was establishing a ‘’commercial hub”.
“And I think it will be put to the council, you see, if they agree to it, that we have a representative within each province to link the provincial council and that person will be the link to the ministry, the iTaukei Affairs. And there will be a commercial hub, if you like, within the iTaukei Affairs to be the link to try and connect them.”
