Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Prof Biman Prasad has accused Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry of “treacherous politics of grandstanding” over claims that he is to blame for the halt in outpatient pharmaceutical services at Lautoka and Ba hospitals.
The two hospitals are run by Health Care Fiji Pte Ltd (HCF) under a public-private partnership.
HCF is 80 per cent owned by the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and 20 per cent by Aspen Medical, which manages the facilities.
“If Mahendra Chaudhry is constipated then Biman Prasad is to be blamed. But it is not surprising because this is the only brand of politics that Chaudhry has played throughout the term of the Coalition government – blame me for all the problems,” Prof Prasad said.
“This is coming from a person whose political credibility drowned in a cesspool when he happily joined a military regime in January 2007 that was born out of the 5th December 2006 coup, which toppled a democratically elected SDL/FLP multi-party government,” he added.
Professor Prasad also said, “A man twice convicted of criminal offences, once for causing the death of a pedestrian while driving when drunk, and then for breaching Exchange Control regulations after keeping AUD$1.5 million abroad that he claimed was raised to resettle his family in Australia, should be the very last person to lecture me or anybody else.”
He blamed “pure politics and political interference” by the former FijiFirst government for issues surrounding the hospitals’ public-private partnership.
“The Concession Agreement is a blank cheque with serious consequences if it is breached. The coalition government is already re-negotiating its terms with the help of IFC to ensure it is cost-effective and delivers the best services to the people.”
Professor Prasad said the government had taken short-term measures to ensure patients still had access to free medicine from government health centres and private pharmacies, but stressed that “we will not fall for quick fixes but permanent solutions.”