SUVA, Fiji (Fijilive, Jan. 28, 2008)
Chiefs in central Fiji have placed a ban on the drinking of kava and alcohol for the next three years so their people can have more time for sex. According to the Fiji Times, the Lomaiviti Provincial Council’s ban, which begins this month, also prohibits the smoking of cigarettes for the latter two weeks of every month. Lomaiviti Provincial Council chairman Ratu Jolame Lewanavanua told the daily newspaper, the council made the decision out of concern for the low number of children at the 15 schools in the province, particularly for classes one and two. Apart from urban drift and schools being close to each other for certain villages, the council noted that the main reason for the decline was that couples were not conceiving. Ratu Jolame said married and single men spent too much time drinking ‘yaqona’ [kava] and went straight to sleep when they got home. He said the council hoped the ban would help improve the daily, spiritual, educational and financial life of people in the province and see more children being born in the three-year period. The Fiji Times reported, the council may also consider encouraging less use of condoms in the province to boost population growth in the villages. According to the Ministry of Health Director Public Health Dr. Timaima Tuiketei, condom use in the province increased steadily from 18.35 percent in 2004 to 41.1 percent in 2005 to 47.3 percent in 2006, the report said.
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