Nothing wrong with having a bit of down-time and discussing things over a tanoa after a long day - Ditoka

Minister for National Disaster Management, Sakiasi Ditoka says he does not see anything wrong with having a bit of down-time and discussing things over a tanoa after a long day following criticisms levelled against Ditoka by FijiFirst MP, Ketan Lal.

Ketan Lal shared a post of the Attorney General, Siromi Turaga where Turaga said he made a brief visit to the HQ of Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management yesterday afternoon, after a meeting of Permanent Secretaries or the Emergency Committee. The post had photos of the Attorney General and the Minister for Disaster Management having some grog with other officials.

Lal says we should give them the award of Coalition Groggy Ministers for 2023, and that the Ministers should be fired as they were busy drinking grog while the people were suffering and preparing for the worst.

While responding to questions from fijivillage News, Ditoka says this was being done after a long day’s work.

While responding to our questions, Attorney General, Siromi Turaga says after the emergency meeting of Permanent Secretaries yesterday, he joined later to discuss with Ditoka about the National Disaster Bill, which they hope to table in parliament early next year.

Turaga says Ketan Lal does not understand the mechanics of disaster management.

He says Lal’s unfair criticisms speak volume of the usual naive and cheap shots at the government machinery.

The Attorney General says obviously, Lal fails to understand the collaboration of different agencies in times of natural disasters.

He says some civil servants and cabinet ministers are away from their respective families to attend to pressing national needs.

Turaga says government teams throughout the 4 divisions were deployed to attend to the community needs on a 24 hour basis.

He says people like Ketan Lal and so called commentators obviously stay indoors and make judgements from the comfort of their homes.

Turaga says the discussions and conversations around a tanoa is not an entirely a new experience during disaster briefings, it is also an opportunity for government officials to share their personal and professional experiences of past natural disasters.

He urges Lal to use his freedom of expression responsibly and in a concrete and practical manner.