Fiji’s Immigration Department is unable to meet the demand for new passports.
It has run out of blank passports. Since the attempted coup by George Speight,
demand for passports has surged from 100 passports of a day to 700.
Since the crisis, 2,038 passport applications have been received.
The blank forms are expected to arrive from London in July.
Hundreds of garment workers stand to lose their jobs as the political crisis
in Fiji continues.
The industry, which sprang up soon after the 1987 coups, was poised to take
over as the leading foreign exchange earner and employer in the country in the
next few years.
The industry employed about 20,000 people, mostly women from poor backgrounds.
They earned about $80 to $100 a week, their wages usually sustaining the whole
family.
Factories are now at risk of closing down or reducing the number of staff as
overseas customers cancel orders.
Mark Halabe of Mark One Apparel in Suva told the local television, Fiji One:
"We can expect a complete shutdown of the industry in a very short period
of time."
Backlog of work due to non-attendance during the height of the attempted coup
led to a lack of orders and confidence of buyer’s abroad.
Another garment factory owner Ramesh Solanki says customers have lost confidence
after not receiving their delivery on time.
He said they have been told that if they don't resolve this quickly, they will move away from Fiji to other countries like Indonesia and China.
"We will end up losing business."
He said the only solution for them would be to reduce the workforce. His 1400
workers have been told of reduced hours this week. At least 700 jobs are set
to be lost if the situation continues next week.
This text may have been edited to protect the writer.
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