Issue No: 689; 20 April 2001

Speaking at the Lau Provincial Council Meeting yesterday, Mara questioned the reasoning behind giving provincial councils cash grants for use at the will of bureaucrats leading the councils.

The Qarase regime has been dishing out various forms of cash grants to the councils. These are seen by most in Fiji as vote buying by Qarase for the Qarase team. This year it gave out $100,000 each to the 14 provinces under what it calls its blueprint scheme (see: http://www.pcgov.org.fj/docs_o/blueprint_000713.htm ). The $100,000 per province scheme was begun by the Rabuka regime in 1993. None of the funds were audited or their use queried. It was widely known that Rabuka used these funds as slush funds in the hands of his trusted lieutenants who manned the regional development offices. The People's Coalition Government had started asking for audited reports before releasing any further funds under the scheme. This had irritated the SVT politicians who claimed that by asking for the audited reports, the government was anti-ethnic Fijian.

Media quotes Mara as saying: "I am concerned in the kind of leadership in the last seven years that allows so much money thrown out to provincial councils. For government funds to be distributed in such a way needs careful discussions and endorsement of Parliament, money is not supposed to be just given away…. I have no doubt that these excessive amounts are used without the knowledge of those who its meant for…. I am not comfortable that the Roko be authorised to use this money as he wills. Such monies become like a heap of coconuts… it slowly disappears. I am a bit worried that when large sums of money exist but are not accounted for, its usage is very easy as opposed to when money is accounted for".