First Wailiva Edition For 2017

1. Volume 43 | Issue 1 | 2017

2. Kick Start 2017
The beginning of each new year pro-
vides us with a few moments to
deeply and quietly reflect on our pre-
vious 12 months and on our many
accomplishments and gives us mean-
ingful time to plan out an even more
extraordinary year to come.
According to the Chinese calendar,
2017 is the Year of the Rooster. Chi-
na will celebrate its New
Year on Jan. 28, 2017.
The lucky colors for the
year are gold, brown and
yellow, while lucky num-
bers are 5, 7 and 8.
Framework. We achieved a mile-
stone. We again applied in 2015 but
had to settle for Prize Award. It is
not that we had gone a level down
but we must always remember that
this is a journey of continuous im-
provement that never ends. The big-
gest challenge is maintaining it. We
cannot afford to be complacent. As
Team FEA we need continuously
challenge the status quo. We need to
move together as a Team.
We now have a new chairman of the
Board who has come in with new
commitment. Together with the
Board and EMG are very supportive
and continually driving this process.
We need everyone to come on
board. We need to think beyond the
box. We need to recommit ourselves
to our organisation, as at the end of
the day the real winners are our peo-
ple and that is every individual who
had chosen to have a career at FEA.
Why? Because business excellence is
not the responsibility of any one indi-
vidual or department; it requires all
parts of an organisation to work
closely together as a team to the best
of their ability. It entails consistent
and dedicated effort over a long peri-
od of time. As the Greek philosopher
Aristotle observed “We are what we
repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is
not an act but a habit.”
As Team FEA we will continue to
align and strengthen our resolve to
be recognized with the President’s
Award in 2017, we need all your sup-
port. The journey will include written
submission by our own pool of FBEA
Evaluators and in house committee
to the FBEA Secretariat. Once this is
completed, the check phase will fol-
low for implementation of systems
and processes wherever required.
Workshops for leaders will be con-
ducted in the 3 regions and will start
in the West on the 23rd
and 24th
and
in Central on the 25th
and 26th
with
the Levuka workshop on the 27th
. It
will move to the North in the follow-
ing week. The callout for this work-
shop will be sent out soon and the
Authority needs your 100% commit-
ment. Please continue to be informed
and be attentive to the needs of the
systems and processes of the Busi-
ness Excellence as “This is FEA”.
Fiji Business Excellence
This year 2017 will be another excit-
ing and challenging year for the Or-
ganisation. We will once again be ap-
plying to be evaluated under the Fiji
Business Excellence Awards Frame-
work for the President’s Award. The
Fiji Business Excellence Awards is a
set of prestigious national awards
designed to improve productivity and
quality in organizations and promote
business excellence both organiza-
tionally and individually. It is indeed
an equally important ingredient for
the success of our Organisation. The
Framework provides organizations
with a developmental roadmap by
articulating the relationships between
leadership, customers, strategy, peo-
ple, processes and knowledge, and
how they translate into results.
We had embark on this continuous
improvement journey from 2011
when we achieved the Prize Award
the second highest and 2012 was his-
toric since we were the first monop-
olized business organization to be
recognized as a President’s Awardee.
We challenged our own processes,
systems and strategies and aligned to
the criteria of the Business Excellence
Page 2 WAILIVA

3. Somosomo Hydro Fully Operational
THE $15 million Somosomo hydro
on Taveuni is fully operational.
Fiji Electricity Authority Chief Execu-
tive Officer Hasmukh Patel confirmed
that operations started on December
23, 2016.
"The Somosomo Hydro is fully oper-
ational and the official opening de-
pends on the prime minister's availa-
bility," he said.
Mr. Patel said FEA had established a
diesel power station as well to oper-
ate in conjunction with the Somoso-
mo hydro plant in the event of little
or no water.
He also clarified that it would take
time to supply electricity to the en-
tire island.
Mr Patel has advised business houses
to apply for electrical connection,
after they raised concerns about the
current situation of intermittent pow-
er supply at Naqara.
"Business houses will need to apply
for connection and FEA will then give
them a connection cost, depending
on their electrical load to the FEA
grid," he said.
"My staff on the ground have in-
formed representatives from business
houses who have inquired."
Some business owners on the island
who did not wish to be named said
that they were still struggling with
accessing electricity. Mr. Patel said
electricity would be fully set up on
the island.
"Initially the plan is to supply custom-
ers who were previously being sup-
plied by the government power sta-
tion plus a few villages that are close
by. To supply the entire island will
take time and substantial funding."
Page 3 WAILIVA

4. Unit Trust & FEA Sign A MOA
The Fiji Electricity Authority has
signed a deal which will allow the em-
ployees to directly invest in Unit
Trust of Fiji in buying shares.
Speaking at the agreement signing
FEA Chief Executive Officer Mr. Has-
mukh Patel said that agreement was a
great opportunity for the staff of FEA.
“This agreement will provide FEA
staff the understanding on the activi-
ties and operations of Unit Trust of
Fiji:, Mr. Patel said.
He also said, the staff through the
agreement, would be able to utilize
the services and products offered by
the trust which will increase the
wealth of each employee.
He urged employees to invest for
various reasons.
“If you invest in Unit Trust of Fiji, by
buying their shares or units, their
dividends are tax free which itself is
an incentive for FEA employees”, he
said.
Unit Trust of Fiji CEO, Vilash Chand,
thanked FEA for accepting their initia-
tive of promoting savings investment
at workforce.
“Essentially what this agreement does
is it creates a platform for FEA em-
ployees to save in addition to what
they save under the FNPF act”, Mr.
Chand said.
“This will help them some sort of
savings in addition to what they re-
ceive from FNPF after retirement”.
Mr. Chand added the trust had creat-
ed a lot of incentives under the
agreement.
“One of the incentives we have cre-
ated is the employee can register
without having a minimum balance”,
he said.
Unit Trust of Fiji chairperson, Shae-
naz Voss, said the employees savings
scheme was savings plan that would
bring good dividends to those invest-
ing”.
“it is easy to save under such a sav-
ings scheme provided by Unit Trust
of Fiji and FEA Staff and management
should take up this opportunity and
invest”.
Page 4 WAILIVA
From Left: Unit Trust of Fiji chairperson, Shaenaz Voss, Unit Trust of Fiji Chief Executive, Vilash Chand with Fiji Electricity Authority Chief Executive
Officer, Hasmukh Patel.

5. On behalf of the Organizing
Committee, we are now un-
folding to you with the approval
of the FEA Board your pro-
grams in 2017.
It’s that time of the year where
all employees including families
come together and will have a
“rock” on celebration.
Yes! It’s time to celebrate your
success, your achievements, re-
flecting on the past year and
recognizing our very own peo-
Upcoming Events
Page 3 WAILIVA
ple who make up the organisa-
tion.
Fiji Electricity Authority on
Saturday 25th
March, 2017
commencing at 8.30am will
be celebrating its three ma-
jor programs:
Celebrating FEA’s Golden
Jubilee - 50 Years
Every employee will be presented
with FEA’s merchandises two
weeks before the event
Corporate Fun Day
Sports Coordinator will be releas-
ing the details
Employee Recognition
Awards 2015 and 2016
Employees will be advised ac-
cordingly
Pencil in on your calendar and
definitely an event not to be
missed. At regular intervals
you will be updated with the
progress of the majors events.