KEY POINTS:
Most New Zealanders living in Suva appear to be staying put despite the voluntary evacuations by Australians as the threat of another coup hangs over Fiji.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Wellington estimates that between 2000 and 3000 New Zealanders live in Fiji and another 1500 are
visiting there at any one time.
Bevin Severinsen, immediate past president of the Fiji-NZ Business Council, says things remain calm and people do not seem too worried about the situation, except for the Australians.
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Mr Severinsen, who owns a construction company in Suva, said yesterday that many Australians were overreacting and taking off.
His company was working on a project in a shopping centre near the military barracks but, even there, things appeared to be reasonably normal.
Mr Severinsen expects the military to achieve its objectives but believes it will do so without violence.
James Rock, an analyst working for an Australian company, said he felt safe in Suva despite the increasing tensions and the military exercises in the city early yesterday morning.
He said although some Government staff had left Suva, his employer had not asked people to leave and they certainly did not feel in any immediate danger.
"Most expat employees of private companies are staying."
However, some people were taking the coup talk seriously, queuing at petrol stations and stocking up on tinned goods.
Supermarkets were keeping stock at low levels in case looting broke out and car yards had similarly shifted their vehicles out of harm's way.
Mr Rock said as he lived in Namadi Heights he would not have known of an Army exercise without news reports.
The annual "Suva on Sale" festival, in which the city was turned into a market for a week, had been postponed until March but other big stores such as Tappoos and Prouds were full of customers doing Christmas shopping.
"The overwhelming feeling here is one of frustration and the desire for something to happen - coup or otherwise - as long as the uncertainty would just end," Mr Rock said.
Lawyer Bernard Avery, who has been working in Suva for the past 16 months, said he had heard of a few New Zealanders whose companies had given them directions to evacuate.
"One or two said, 'No - what sort of impression does that give local employees?' so for most expats it's business as usual."
Mr Avery said he had been out in Suva during the military exercise and had no difficulties or questions asked of him.
"Expats are not being targeted - this place is much safer than compared with when I was living in Papua New Guinea. It's got a long way to go before it's anywhere like what it was there."
Mr Avery hoped the military and Government continued their dialogue.
"The thing that's annoying to everyone is the uncertainty. Most seem to feel there won't be a coup but perhaps the military may take some steps towards achieving the results they want."
Terry Bowler, a waste management contractor from Waihi Beach, said he planned to remain in Suva until his contract ended in about 10 months.
He works for a New Zealand company and said he had been told "pretty much to just keep my head down".
He had been through Army checkpoints on Wednesday night without any problem.
Mr Bowler said he had heard of cases where expats had sent their families back to New Zealand or out west to the safer areas of Viti Levu but the bulk remained in Suva.
"It's mainly been Australian employees who have been told to go home."
Foreign visitors are also continuing to cancel travel plans to Fiji.
The Fiji Times reported that more than 3000 Air Pacific passengers had cancelled their bookings for the next six months, taking the booking intake level down by 30 per cent.
Chief executive officer John Campbell said the airline also suspended advertising and promotional programmes as they would be a waste of time.
He said the cancellations were primarily conventions or meetings arranged by companies who had decided not to proceed to Fiji, although the number of individual customer cancellations was also expected to increase.
