Ministry warns of Veilomani Food Bank fraud

The Ministry of Housing and Community Development is urging members of the public to beware of those selling the Veilomani Food Bank application forms at $0.20 cents each.

The Ministry is urging the public to be cautious and not to be victimised by such fraudulent activities. Permanent Secretary, Sanjeeva Perera, said application forms for the Food Bank initiative were free of charge and issued only by the ministry.

“The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) office used to issue these forms till last week but due to the large numbers of people gathering in front of the FCCC office in Lautoka in the last couple of days, we have decided to temporarily put it on hold,” said Mr Perera. Mr Perera said the number of applications received had increased significantly. In the last week alone, the Food Bank team received more than 1400 applications.

“Whilst there are families who genuinely need the assistance, there are also those who are trying to take advantage of the initiative,” he said.

“The aim of this initiative is to assist Fijian families who are genuinely struggling to put food on the table. We prioritise those who have completely lost their source of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic”

Mr Perera also acknowledged the support received from various organisations, charities and communities.