Main revenue earners sugar, tourism and garments have been severely hit. Hotels still fill only 20 to 30 per cent of their rooms, while at least 12 major garment factories have closed their doors and laid off nearly 6000 workers. The local sugar industry s future is hanging in the balance, with thousands of ethnic Indian tenant farmers evicted from farms at the expiry of their leases. This does not take into account those who are under-employed particularly in the hotel, tourism and building sectors. The situation is pretty bad.
All major projects are on hold.
Hundreds of children have also been forced to drop out of school as a result of the crisis, he said. Both the FTUC and the Fiji Red Cross have said they are to start issuing food parcels to families in distress. Another sign of the troubled times is the large increase in mortgage sales and corporate and personal bankruptcies. The collapse of one of Fiji s largest family companies, Kelton Marketing, sent shock waves through the country. One of Fiji s largest trading banks, the Bank of Hawaii, also has announced it is closing operations by year-end further shaking investor confidence in Fiji.