SUVA, Fiji (20 July 2001) -- A strike by firefighters briefly shut Fiji's main airport on Friday, disrupting five flights and delaying hundreds of passengers before the military stepped in to provide stand-in fire crews. The airport at Nadi, the main hub for holidaymakers destined for Fiji's hundreds of tropical islands, was shut for about 90 minutes before the military moved in. Airport officials said one Air New Zealand flight from the Cook Islands to Nadi was diverted to Auckland during the strike. Four Air Pacific flights to and from cities in Australia and New Zealand were delayed. The Airport Workers' Association said it was upset the military had been called in to settle an industrial dispute. ''I am shocked to learn that the military has mobilised personnel to take over the fire services at the Nadi airport,'' association general secretary Rajeshwar Singh said, adding more disruptions to flights could be expected over the weekend. About 300 fire crew and support staff walked off the job to protest against the sacking of 12 colleagues described by Airports Fiji Ltd as being ''incapable'' of doing their jobs. Notices posted at major hotels warned tourists of delays. The Fiji Visitors' Bureau said this week that visitors to the South Pacific nation slumped 41 percent during the year after nationalist rebels launched a racially-inspired coup in May 2000. | | Racist violence kills Fiji's paradise spin Fiji's tourism and sugar industries, the backbone of the former British colony's economy, were both hit after the coup. The rebels held the government of ethnic Indian former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry hostage for 56 days in the name of indigenous rights before releasing the hostages in a deal with Fiji's influential military. Fiji media said the strike was backed by local villagers who say the airport authority is not paying them enough to lease the land on which the airport is built. The airport workers trade union has demanded that Airports Fiji Ltd Chief Executive Jona Koroitamana resign. |
