Fiji Labor Party Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry

Fiji Labor Party Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry today paid tribute to the resilience, fortitude and tenacity of the girmitya’s forefathers who arrived in 1879.

Chaudhry adds that girmitya also shed blood, sweat and tears in the sugar plantation that was the backbone of the Fijian economy for decades.

He adds that the sugarcane industry remains a significant sector of the current economy, employing some 200,000 people.

He adds that the coups of 1987 and 2000 serve as stark reminders of the need to build greater understanding and trust between the two major components of our society.

Chaudhry adds that tens of thousands of our people, feeling unwanted and facing blatant discrimination, have left Fiji as a result of the political instability caused by the coups.