Call for reinstatement of NGO grants
GOVERNMENT grants for non-government organisations should be reinstated, especially for those assisting families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was the view expressed by National Federation Party (NFP) leader Prof Biman Prasad after visiting the COVID
Response Rehabilitation Centre in Nadi.
“We saw a lot of people at the COVID Response Rehabilitation Centre, run by FRIEND (Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and Development) and other NGOs,” he said.
“We met a lot of people who were there to seek assistance, essentially for food.
“Many of them told us that they were really struggling to put food on their table for their children and for their families.
“I was very pleased that FRIEND, together with all of the other NGOs, set up this centre and they are doing an extremely good job in providing for all of those people who are seeking assistance.
“This is why we have called on Government many times since the COVID Response Budget that our prime responsibility as a country, as a Government and as a Parliament is to ensure that those who are falling below the poverty line and those in severe poverty are taken care of.
“We were in Sigatoka and Nadi and from what we have discussed with people in markets and in other places in the meetings, we feel that we are right in calling for Government to bring a revised budget or to reallocate expenditure so that more funds are provided to NGOs and people who are falling below the poverty line.”
Questions on the issue of a revised budget sent to Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum remain unanswered.