SUVA, Fiji Islands (September 9, 1998 - Radio Australia)---Fiji's 10,000-strong Melanesian community is to receive special development assistance under recently introduced affirmative action measures.
Information Minister Filipe Bole said the Melanesians were singled out because they are among the "poorest of the poor."
The General Electors Party, which represents the Melanesians, said it wholeheartedly welcomed the government's decision.
The Melanesians are descendants of Solomon Islanders taken to Fiji under the notorious 19th Century "blackbirding" scheme to work as slaves in cotton and sugar plantations.
Special assistance --which also will go to some other disadvantaged groups-- will total almost $F 1 million (US$ 500,000) a year for such purposes as education and housing.
Information Minister Filipe Bole said the Melanesians were singled out because they are among the "poorest of the poor."
The General Electors Party, which represents the Melanesians, said it wholeheartedly welcomed the government's decision.
The Melanesians are descendants of Solomon Islanders taken to Fiji under the notorious 19th Century "blackbirding" scheme to work as slaves in cotton and sugar plantations.
Special assistance --which also will go to some other disadvantaged groups-- will total almost $F 1 million (US$ 500,000) a year for such purposes as education and housing.
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