DEVELOPMENT PM to villagers: Know your budget
Fijians have been urged to know about the 2018-2019 National Budget, so they will be able to take advantage of different types of Government assistance.
There has also been a plea for Fijians to learn about the different Government programmes that benefit them. Speaking at the Ra Provincial Council meeting at Nanukuloa, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said some Fijians had very little knowledge about the budget.
Mr Bainimarama said a budget team from the Ministry of Economy would visit villages to explain the 2018-2019 National Budget.
“The 2018 – 2019 Budget is designed at every level to support families in Fiji from the ground up,” he said.
The Government, Mr Bainimarama said, introduced a series of initiatives that aimed to empower Fijians to purchase leases and buy or construct homes for the first time.
This was through the provision of thousands of dollars in Government subsidies.
These programmes, he said, were designed to provide assistance to those who needed it most.
“For many Fijians living in Ra, this assistance will truly be life-changing,” Mr Bainimarama said. He said Government had ensured it would cater for all potential homebuyers, including those who met the FNPF home building criteria under the Village/Mataqali Scheme.
These housing assistance programmes are managed by the newlyformed Ministry of Housing and Community Development.
The new budget, he said, went far beyond the home.
In the province of Ra, Government allocated new funding for extending electricity grid to Nasau, continuing construction on the multi-species hatchery, preparing to build the new bus station, completing the market in Rakiraki and more. Government services were also being extended - from fire stations to municipal markets to roads and crossings, health centres, schools and police posts - all throughout Ra.
Full details and the steps to apply for assistance, he said, would be advertised in the Fiji Sun.
Meanwhile, Mr Bainimarama said Fijians already knew what they would get with the FijiFirst Government because they saw it around them every day.
“The real change that you and your families deserve,” the Prime Minister said.
He said his Government brought in changes since 2007 and there was more to come.
In another development, Turaga Na Tui Nalawa Ratu Epeli Niudamu said its service delivery to the people was what set the FijiFirst Government apart from past governments.