FIJI Airports’ $8million solar project and its upcoming 3.25megawatt solar farm at Nadi have come under scrutiny, with allegations raised about contractors who may have been banned elsewhere.
This was revealed during the Standing Committee on Tuesday, a concern raised by Opposition member of Parliament, Ketan Lal saying he had received emails complaining about the contractors bidding for the solar project.
“I received certain sets of emails with regards to some complaints on the contractors that were bidding for this project or a recent project that is currently being the $8million something project. There was this Australian company and a local company that was in question.”
Mr Lal had also said that there were allegations and legal matters from this.
“There were some allegations highlighted that the particular company had some issues, and I think there were some legal matters arising from that.”
He also raised a direct question on conflict of interest in relation to the solar farm project. Fiji Airports responded that its procurement policy is “quite stringent” and that donor agencies also review its procurement.
“Our procurement policy is quite stringent. And with all our donor agencies as well, they also review our procurement policies as well. So we are confident of our procurement process,” Fiji Airports said.
On the conflict-of-interest question, Fiji Airports said it would get back to the Committee.
Fiji Airports is currently undertaking the largest solar farm project in Fiji — a 3.25-megawatt solar farm at Nadi Airport by 2029. Work on the project has already started.
The project is part of its medium-term energy security strategy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels following fuel price volatility, which included a rollout of solar panel systems at outer island airports and expansion of its EV fleet including specialised airside equipment. In response to fuel price volatility,
Fiji Airports said it had also implemented cost controls on transportation, fleet usage, electricity consumption and travel restrictions, while maintaining close engagement with fuel suppliers.
