Normal to raise issues with various line minister - Singh
EMPLOYMENT Minister Agni Deo Singh says it is normal for ministers to raise issues with various line minister on matters brought to their attention, however, it was up to the line minister to inquire if the complaint had any merit to it.
He stated this in response to queries from this newspaper regarding a statement from ousted education minister Aseri Radrodro that he moved to terminate four Fiji National University (FNU) Council members because they refused to reinstate former Registrar Sarita Devi.
He claimed Mr Singh had brought the case to his attention, saying that Ms Devi was terminated by the FNU Council which failed to accord her natural justice.
“I do that with all other ministers, I do that with Water Authority whenever there is water shortage somewhere, I do that with roads where there are bad roads, I do it with health so it’s normal for us and that is what I would have done with Honourable Radrodro,” Mr Singh said.
He declined to comment further. National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad came to Mr Singh’s defence saying there was nothing “untoward” about one minister reaching out to another.
“I mean, all ministers, if somebody comes to you, and you’re not the minister directly responsible, what will you do? You will refer any issues or complaints to the relevant minister,” he said.
“So, there is nothing untoward about that point. I get a lot of the issues from people who know me, who want to relay it to us, and it’s most of them most of the time, it is for different ministries.
“All I do is just refer those to the relevant ministries, relevant permanent secretaries and that’s how governments work everywhere and nothing untoward about one minister referring complaints to another.”