$30m complex | Plans to build police credit union multi-storey building

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Fiji Police Families Savings and Investments Cooperative Ltd manager Luke Narara presents the details of the new company to police offi cers after its launch yesterday. Picture: DIONISIA TABUREGUCI

The Fiji Police Credit Union (FPCU) has unveiled plans to build a $30 million commercial complex on McGreggor Road in Suva’s Central Business District.

The investment will be made through the Fiji Police Families Savings & Investments Cooperative Ltd (FPFSICL), its newly registered cooperative limited liability company, launched officially yesterday by Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives and SMEs Manoa Kamikamica.

“The intention is to develop this land — lots five and seven. They are worth $4.1m as of August of last year and the vision is to build a multi-storey building,” said FPFSICL manager Luke Narara. FPFSICL membership is open only to FPCU members and their families.

“We have 2065 members at the moment. If we are able to sign all of them, we can raise half a million, which can be the working capital for the cooperative.”

He said talks were in progress with a number of banks and financial institutions on the financing of the project, expected to be “somewhere between $30m to $40m”.

The multi-storey building will have office spaces and a high security top floor with public spaces allocated for restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, doctors, pharmacies, a merchandise shop for the police force and a flea market concept type of outlet for women to sell their wares.

There are also plans to host the police headquarters within the complex, a move that has received the endorsement and support of acting police commissioner Juki Fong Chew.

As a cooperative, FPFSICL is entitled to Government’s eight-year tax free holiday incentive so the race is on to get the building up and running as soon as possible.

“From now until 2031, we will enjoy eight years of tax free so that means we need to do a project plan that can be eventuated or realised within three to four years,” Mr Narara said.

“So we’re looking at groundbreaking at end of Q2, Q3 of 2024. Project completion would be around 2026,” he said.