of fishing

A lifetime of fishing

Saturday a five-year-old Fi-

B B jian boy went out fishing with his father and beat him to the first fish. Today Mitieli Baleivanuala la is still fishing. Only now he is re sponsible for a catch of millions, and a workforce of up to 1000. At 32 years , he is general manager of Pacific Fishing Company (PAFCO), the Fiji government owned company which has won interna tional markets for its canned tuna.

The pace is fast but I like it this way, he says. When you’re on the go, you seem to get a momentum that helps you to reach your objectives. Miti’s success serves as an inspiration to others, espe cially Fijians who aspire to reach the top in commerce. He was first manager administration and personnel. He also served as assistant general manager.

Unpretentious and unassuming by na ture, he’d prefer to maintain a low pro file. But Miti quickly found out it wasn’t really feasible for 1 a general manager to retire totally from the limelight. He re calls with amusement his first Fiji Em

ployers Consultative Association meeting

in Suva this year: When I arrived at the venue, the re ceptionist informed me I couldn’t go in as a FECA meeting was in progress. She was surprised to hear that I was on the register. In the conference I sat quietly

in a corner listening to the proceedings.

The delegates wondered who I was until the general manager of the Tucker Group, Malcolm Harrison, gave me a formal introduction.

On a more serious note Miti says: The big boost that comes with my job is to see the number of people we employ, especially since most of them are Fijians.

We all know the Fijians have fallen be hind economically, so it is important for Fiji as a nation to recognise that in our

industry the indigenous people are mak

ing good progress.

My ambition now is to help lead the way and try to inspire by example. If Fijians are to succeed in commerce they must put their wholehearted effort into

whatever they are doing.

For Miti, work usually means an aver age of 12 hours a day. We are now looking at manpower operations, so maybe I can sit back a bit more within the next three years, he says, smiling.

Miti is the youngest of nine children.

His father is from Fulaga in the south ern Lau Group and his mother is from nearby Moce. My parents both attended primary school in Lakeba, he says.

He entered the University of the South Pacific in 1976 and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science. □

Baleivanualala: still fishing.