Local Government ministry approves nine development projects worth $48m

Special investigation into Housing Authority’s lot and tender issues completed

The Auditor-General’s special investigation on the allocation of lots and awarding of tenders by the Housing Authority of Fiji has been completed. The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) confirmed this in its statement issued this afternoon as it handed the special investigation report to Housing Authority chairperson Lorraine Seeto today. The report highlights the findings...

Fiji Airways to operate freighter services to and from Singapore

Fiji’s national airline Fiji Airways has scheduled two freighter services between Fiji and Singapore in October. The airline says the Fiji-Singapore freighter service will operate on October 7 and 21; and the Singapore-Fiji service will operate on October 8 and 22. In a statement issued this afternoon, Fiji Airways stated while it did not have...

New fuel and LPG prices effective from tomorrow

Consumers are expected to dig just a little deeper into their pockets come October 1, 2020, when new prices of fuel and LPG prices come into effect. The Fiji Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) has determined the new regulated prices of the fuel and liquefied petroleum products and made the announcement in a statement this...

Fiji’s kava export market growing; U.S largest market

Fiji’s kava export market is growing with the United States being one of the largest, earning the country about FJ$32million from kava exports last year. United States Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu Joseph Cella said the interest of kava beverages was growing in the USA, especially as most of the drinkers were...

Taxi operators to seek legal advice on new mobile app

The Fiji Taxi Association has raised $5000 to legally challenge the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) bid to introduce a mobile phone application called Vodo next year. Association president Raben Bhan Singh said members gave $10 each to raise the funds needed to pay for a lawyer. “This is something that we have to do because...

LTA plans to make mobile app for cabbies mandatory

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) says it plans to make Vodo, a mobile phone application for cabbies, mandatory for Fiji’s 8952 taxidrivers by next year. In a public notice on its website, the LTA said the app would be fully funded by all licensed taxi operators. The LTA invited software developers to send in proposals...

United Airlines pilots avert layoffs, other workers hope for bailout

CHICAGO (Reuters) – United Airlines’ pilots voted on Monday to accept a deal that would avert 2,850 furloughs set for Thursday, while thousands of other U.S. airline employees are hoping Congress will extend federal aid to save their jobs. An initial $25 billion government bailout that covered airlines’ payrolls and protected jobs for six months...

USP to run on contingency funds

The Fijian Government’s decision to withhold its grant contribution to the University of the South Pacific will not have an immediate impact on the institution’s operations. USP’s executive director finance Kolinio Boila said even though the money was not forthcoming, the university could run on its contingency funds. He said Fiji was the first of...

Bulalicious active wear brand turns five

The Fiji-based active wear brand Bulalicious turned five years old on the weekend. Creative director and owner Lauren Jagger said in a statement how over the years they appreciated the many challenges and changes which had come with running an online business. These included changes in logos, factories, to originally only shipping within Fiji and...

Rabuka labels board members as ‘highly unsatisfactory’

Opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka says board members appointed and controlled by Government were “highly unsatisfactory”. He made the comment in relation to the findings of a Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) survey. Mr Rabuka said the membership of state-owned enterprise (SOE) and statutory body boards were not representative of the range of talent and expertise...

Company joins investment scheme

Close to 325 staff members of Asco Motors Fiji will get the opportunity to contribute to the financial wealth by a way of salary direct deductions to Unit Trust of Fiji (UTOF). According to the UTOF chief executive officer Vilash Chand, Asco Motors Fiji was the 45th company to come on board and become a...

COVID impacts unemployment

There has been a reduction in unemployment in Fiji during this COVID-19 pandemic, says University of the South Pacific disaster risk management supervisor and co-coordinator Viliamu Iese. During a virtual discussion on the results of a research by the University of the South Pacific on the impact of COVID-19 on nutritional and socio-economic status of...

$5m in security lease bonus paid to 20 landowning units

Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama handed $5million in security lease bonus payments to 20 landowning units at the Tropik Woods headquarters in Drasa, Lautoka today. He said thousands of Fijian families depended directly on the continuity of the country’s pine industry and this was the reason Fiji Pine refused to give up, even in the...

Brexit positivity returns: UK ‘confident’ of a deal, EU ‘determined’ for one

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain’s Brexit supremo Michael Gove said on Wednesday that he was confident of securing a trade deal with the European Union, while the bloc’s chief negotiator said he was determined to clinch an agreement. Prime Minister Boris Johnson plunged Brexit into chaos earlier this month by unveiling, and then pressing ahead with,...

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