A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed today to assist in the selection criteria for those in rural settings to work under the Pacific Labour Mobility Scheme.

The signing was between the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs and the Ministry of Employment.

Acting Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Employment, Atish Kumar, says the MOU will address better coordination with regards to recruitment.

He says initially, when the program was first introduced, workers were selected from urban and semi-urban areas, and the first cohort of workers were not able to withstand working in farms, and the majority of them left the employer, thus tarnishing the image of Fijian workers.

Kumar says this resulted in the ministry working with provincial councils to recruit from the 14 provinces.

The acting PS says the MOU will only strengthen the process.

He says the signing of the MOU today establishes an official and long-term relationship with the iTaukei Ministry and will also ensure that the current issues of workers in Australia are resolved at the village or community levels.

Kumar says the Ministry would also want villages or communities to select their team leaders, who will take charge of the affairs of the group, including their performance under the program.

Ministry of iTaukei Affairs Permanent Secretary Pita Tagicakirewa says the MOU will enhance information sharing and the selection process, and it is going to empower the iTaukei economically at the community or village level.

“When we started receiving concerns from the villages through our Roko’s office, that propelled us to go forward. To go to the Ministry of Employment to see if they can share information on how best we can improve the process right down to the village level.”

Tagicakirewa says they will work closely with the Ministry of Employment to identify potential iTaukei community workers interested in participating in the scheme.

He adds that collaboration is long overdue; it should have started when the program was introduced.

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