Fiji Pine assures landowners of good future
Landowners are in good hands for the future because Fiji Pine Limited is now doing well.
Fiji Pine Trust Board of Trustees chairman, Taniela Nakibo said this in response to a daily newspaper article titled “Group wants Fiji Pine Ltd CEO to step down”.
The Vanua Levu Landowners Association had written to Forestry Minister Kalaveti Vodo, seeking his intervention and called for an investigation into Fiji Pine Ltd.
In the letter, they also asked for the removal of Fiji Pine chief executive officer Vimlesh Kumar, to allow for the investigations to go ahead unimpeded.
Mr Nakibo said that he had conducted beneficiary meetings with landowners nationwide, and they supported the current management of Fiji Pine.
He mentioned that after a reform in 2014, landowners began to receive returns, and the company was now debt-free and had more than $100 million in reserves.
Fiji Pine Limited is owned by the Fiji Pine Trust and the Government.
Mr Nakibo expressed sadness at the news that a group in Vanua Levu wanted the CEO to step down, stating that they were not representing all landowners.
Mr Nakibo also mentioned that landowners were receiving good benefits under the current management, such as land cruisers, tables, and tents for hire, as well as funds to support their children’s education. He assured landowners that they had a good future because the company was doing well. Mr Nakibo guaranteed that Fiji Pine was running its operations well and was financially sound. He added that he was not favouring the current CEO or management, but compared to the early days of Fiji Pine, the current management was the best.
Mr Nakibo