Retaining the number of military officers but deploying them to execute other civilian work is part of the Fiji Labour Party’s plans.

Leader Mahendra Chaudhry highlighted this last night after he was questioned by a resident of Muanikoso Village in Nasinu about his view regarding the work done by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.

He says military officers can also play a role in the communities around Fiji.

“There’s a lot of work that can be done in which they can assist, one is to clear our waterways which get congested from time to time and so we can use them for civilian kind of things, we can retain the number and deploy them better.”

Chaudhry adds that peace-keeping duties must be self-financing and the United Nations can negotiate better reimbursements for Fijian peacekeepers.

He says it is important to negotiate with the UN and get full reimbursements from the UN on peace-keeping duties so that our money is not spent as we are providing peace-keeping to Middle-East countries.

The former Prime Minister says FLP’s manifesto focuses on improving the standard of living of every Fijian.