Opposition Member of Parliament Jone Usamate has claimed in Parliament that FijiFirst’s investment in infrastructure is “unmatched”, a declaration which Minister for Infrastructure Ro Filipe Tuisawau has questioned.
In Parliament, Mr Usamate labelled the Coalition Government a “zero infrastructure government”.
“All they have done this year is to commission ongoing FijiFirst projects,” he said.
“FF’s investment in infrastructure is unmatched in the annals of Fijian history – schools, bridges, roads, hospitals, jetties, airports – we did it all. One of the reasons that Fiji is recovering so quickly is because of that massive investment.”
In response, Ro Filipe said FijiFirst had 16 years in government.
“So definitely, there should be results, which is what they came up with, which is normal. If they hadn’t done that, then what were they in government for,” he asked.
“In terms of when we came in, there were issues regarding the roads. FRA was basically bankrupt. So, I don’t know what they were talking about.
“We had to look for funds to pay the contractors, some of whom had laid off workers, and also, to start maintaining the roads.
“Not only that, but in terms of the governance, $400 million was the amount revealed by the audit, which had been approved without proper procedures, just fast tracking through.
“In terms of infrastructure planning, all the things ended with them. I don’t see any strategic infrastructure plan, there’s none. So that’s what we were working on.”
