Suva

Fijian Drua slashes ticket prices for fans

FBC Sports reports Drua chief executive Mark Evans said the historic win last weekend in Lautoka should encourage even more fans to come out and support the team.

“It locks the market when you do that you say yes it’s out it’s all sold out and that encourages people to buy more. Not so much in Fiji people didn’t get past sold out. I don’t think they read the rest of the sentence and we genuinely get loads of people saying oh no no it’s sold out, no it’s not, just that little stand over there, so we’re not gonna do that anymore.”

Overwhelming support for Fiji’s Api Tonga Community humanitarian relief efforts

The Volcano Appeal Bucket drive held at the Api Tongan Community Hall in Suva last week was hosted by Tongan students studying at the University of the South Pacific.

Tongan Olympian, Pita Taufatofua posted on his Twitter: “Thank you all we managed to get our flour and crackers biscuits headed on the boat out of Fiji to Tonga. Instead of waiting weeks or months we will have food in stomachs in days to help our campaign. We have also added smaller sacks to deliver to individual homes for personal use.”

Fiji police issue public warning after two major fires

The first fire reported at 8pm local time occurred in central Ba where 8 shops were destroyed.

The second case of fire at the Tappoos warehouse was reported at the Raiwaqa Police Station after 11pm. Police indicated the two fires were not linked.

But a police release says certain individuals tried to use the two fires to rally support against the government to incite violence and instability.

It says police won't allow this to happen, and that Fijians should expect more stringent measures to be implemented.

     

Apitonga Multi-purpose Hall opens in Fiji

The complex is conveniently located near the University of the South Pacific’s Laucala campus where many Tongan students are pursuing their studies.

An old building at the former site previously accommodated Sunday worship services for the Tongan community.

Apitonga Secretary, Sina Kami said they had fundraised for the new hall for the past four years.

“The building cost us $2.3million without the furniture but was able to fundraise from overseas for the past 4 years to build. This year we left with just over 100k FJD to raise for the building.”

Fiji Govt says Lautoka still locked down but not Suva

The country's second biggest city of Lautoka - where the first case was reported - has been in lockdown since 20 March.

However Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the risk of transmission in the latest Suva case was low and tracing teams were tracking down everyone who was in contact with the patient.

He said the man adhered to all the health advice offered and took the necessary precautions to isolate himself at home upon his arrival from abroad.

Mr Bainimarama took the opportunity to underline the importance of isolation.

Olympic Qualifier set to kick off in Suva

Group A rivals Solomon Islands and American Samoa will kick off the competition at Suva’s ANZ Stadium before Samoa face top seeded New Zealand in the later kick-off.

On Sunday the attention will turn to Group B in Lautoka, where Vanuatu meet Papua New Guinea, followed by Tonga’s clash with the hosts who will be hoping to represent Oceania again at the Olympics, after flying the OFC flag at the 2016 Games in Brazil.

With qualification for a major global sporting event at stakes, all eight teams have arrived in Fiji both physically and mentally well prepared.

USA’s Cummings sets new record in Youth M73kg event of IWF

Made his debut in the competition back in 2016, Cummings successfully lifted 192kg in his third attempt.

In the “snatch” category, he lifted 145kg in his first attempt but was unsuccessful in his second and third attempt with 148kg and 150kg respectively.

In the “clean & jerk” category, Cummings lifted 180kg in his first attempt, 185kg in his second attempt and his record breaking 192kg in his final attempt.

His overall weight lifted is 337kg.

PNG Barras return undefeated

The Barramundis made their dominance show from the very first game when Tony Ura smashed a century of just 47 balls, to guide PNG past 200 against Samoa.

Samoa barely put up a challenge and could only manage 129 in their 20 overs, with Chad Soper picking up 4 wickets - 3 of them coming in one over - for only 10 runs.

Hosts Fiji were next as the Hebou PNG Barramundis played back-to-back matches on the first day, this time falling shy of the 200 run mark by 12 runs.

$1.1m for Tonga hostel, hall

The money was collected through fundraising activities which started at the end of 2015 in Tonga and in the US.

Fiji Times reports construction work will be on its land located on Laucala Bay Rd, opposite the University of the South Pacific (USP).

It is known to Tongans as Apitonga, which means "home for Tongans".

Suva Tongan church steward Kisione Finau said they decided to construct a new building because the current one was really old.

Fiji records 913 dengue cases

According to the Health and Medical Services Ministry there was an average of six hospital admissions weekly with an average length of stay of four days being reported from the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva.

The ministry also recorded one dengue fever-related death at the hospital this month.

The ministry said the cases were high between the age group of 10 to 29 years with more males contracting the fever.

The government said interventions such as sub divisional clean-up programmes, perifocal spraying and awareness activities have been carried out.