ABOUT 1600 Fijians are still active servicemen and women in the British Army.
This is despite the four phases of redundancy undertaken by the army last year.
British High Commission spokeswoman Vineeta Nand said 90 Fijian soldiers were selected under the fourth and final tranche of the Armed Forces Redundancy Program, which was announced in June last year.
Ms Nand said 81 of those made redundant had applied for it while nine non applicants were pioneers and were given the option of transfer if they did not wish to be made redundant.
Responding to questions from this newspaper, Ms Nand said tranche four was the final tranche of redundancies announced on June 12 last year.
All those servicemen and women who were made redundant, she said, received the standard financial package for redundancy and this varied on individual basis, depending on length of service among other reasons.
She added that clear direction was given in the redundancy Defence Instructions and Notices (DIN) for those who wished to stay in Britain.
“The changes announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and Defence Transformation meant that the regular army would reduce to 82,000 by 2020,” she said.
“To achieve this, reductions were required to bring the regular army to a strength of 82,000. The number of Commonwealth personnel made redundant is proportionate to the total number in the army.
“A total of 452 Fijians were selected for redundancy. The majority of Commonwealth redundees were applicants.”
After these four phases of redundancy, the British High Commission in Fiji confirmed a total of 1665 Fijians are still being employed by the army.
