More than $10million worth of community development projects remain unfunded across Fiji, with the Office of the Prime Minister hoping for a major budget allocation to address years of pending requests.
Appearing before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Office of the Prime Minister head of corporate services and project planning Moape Rokosuka revealed the scale of the backlog facing the office.
“In our budget submission this year, we requested for a capital budget fund of $10 million,” he said.
“That shows the number of projects that has been pending for quite some time till today.”
The revelation came during discussions on annual reports covering the period from 2019 to 2023, when committee members questioned the status of projects requested by communities around the country.
Committee member and Assistant Minister for iTaukei Affairs Ratu Isikeli Tuiwailevu probed the OPM representatives on how many projects remained incomplete since the reporting period.
In response, Mr Rokosuka said the answer lay in the office’s latest budget submission.
“So $10million worth of projects is sitting there with us, awaiting funding,” he said.
“And we hope maybe the committee can help us in getting this budget of $10million for our 2026-2027 in order to fund this pending project.”
The disclosure highlights growing demand for assistance from the Prime Minister’s community development grant scheme, which officials say was heavily oversubscribed.
Committee members were told the office receives requests far exceeding available funding, forcing officials to prioritise projects and work with other ministries to share resources.
The Prime Minister’s Office had argued that additional funding would help address long-standing community needs that have remained on waiting lists for years.
