The People’s Alliance party deputy leader Manoa Kamikamica has called on the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum to “listen”.
Mr Kamikamica claimed that Mr Sayed-Khaiyum has simply “followed the proverbial ostrich” by wanting to bury his head in the sand when commenting on the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) issue.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum in a news conference last week labelled Mr Kamikamica’s statement as “obtuse” when he said that the Government thinks that “FNPF was their own cheque book or petty cash fund”.
Mr Kamikamica said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum needed to stop using fancy words and try and look in the mirror to see the “reality of the matter”.
“There are genuine concerns with the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and its governance,” he said.
Mr Kamikamica said many financial and economic experts in Fiji and offshore had concerns about FNPF, particularly its governance and investment decision-making in recent years.
He said this was because of concerns about the Government treating the fund like its own “personal cheque book”.
Mr Kamikamica quoted from a recent International Monetary Fund report discussing FNPF, which said “FNPF should avoid conflicts of interest for its board members and all future nominations should be subject to a rigorous fit and proper test.
Moreover, FNPF should establish sound investment guidelines and a risk tolerance framework to guide equity investments and protect pension savings”.
“The success of any organisation rises and falls with governance. The governance of the FNPF board needs a thorough review. There are potential conflicts of interest with some of the board members,” Mr Kamikamica said.
He said the board traditionally had Government, employer and employee (union representatives) which the Fiji First Government had removed and which should be restored.
Mr Kamikamica also questioned the Fiji Airways share issue, asking why the Government raised capital when the airline was still recovering from the pandemic.
“Fiji Airways gearing or debt exposure would have no doubt increased over the pandemic and trying to value a business when things are extremely fluid and uncertain would be challenging.
“Common sense, not experts, would dictate that Fiji Airways hold off on any capital raising until tourism in Fiji has fully recovered.
“That would drive far better value for the airline’s shares. Or was the driver of the sale more about the need to inject some equity to plug Fiji Airway’s debt exposure?”
Mr Kamikamica said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum had exaggerated the EFL share purchase and onward sale to a foreign investor saying it was a ‘one-off gain for the fund’.
“The fund purchased the shares in EFL for $206 million and made a one-off gain of $F27.3m in 2021. This was a poor decision in my view and reveals a lack of fundamental understanding by the minister of the purpose of FNPF.
“Funds invested by the fund should always look at the stream of dividends that can accrue to the fund and EFL was an excellent opportunity. It is a monopoly. This was foregone to a foreign investor and the benefits of that relationship remain unclear.
“This year EFL announced a record before-tax profit of $96 million, and the foreign investor should have received at least $30 million in dividends. Just imagine if FNPF had held on to these shares,” he said.
Mr Kamikamica said the Government had foregone an excellent investment opportunity for the fund and there had been no material change to service delivery of EFL.
“On the ASPEN hospital deal, the Minister of Economy sidestepped the question about how it will take ASPEN 15 years to make money. The question then is, what does this mean for the funds invested by the || People Alliance || Kamikamica
