Priorities of Fijians crucial for NDP: DPM Prasad

IT IS critical to have a National Development Plan to understand the priorities of Fijians and to ensure that the voices of people are heard. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, said getting the views of the public will help develop a good plan for the next three to 20 years.

“We started by very closely looking at what was the state of our country, we looked at our debt situation, we looked at our economy, our infrastructure, we also looked at what was happening in the health sector, and education and what was happening to the people’s quality of life. We wanted to know where they needed help.”

DPM Prasad said highlighting the areas that need help will develop a constructive plan.

“We identified where the priority was. So we began by supporting our students immediately. We allocated $50million and provided $200 to all students whose parents’ income was less than $50, 000,” he explained.

“When we made that analysis, we realized we needed a new plan, so we decided that we would have a Three-Year, Five-Year and 20 Year Development Plan so that we can safely say that we want to do this in the three-year plan, we want to do that in the next two to three years so that people understand that we have a plan,” DPM Prasad added.

He said suggestions are being sought from ordinary Fijians outside the Ministries and Government institutions to determine key areas.

“We realise that there is a lot of wisdom and knowledge that resides in people outside the Government, and a lot of suggestions that people will give in different sectors of roads, water, health, infrastructure, we will then know what are the priorities and what people want so we can dissect the whole plan into a timeline that we can deliver.”