THE Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority has terminated the contracts of two of its Suva-based senior managers for breaching their ethical standards.
FRCA chairman Ajith Kodagoda said last night the termination of Tevita Tupou as FRCA general manager Customs and Josefa Marawa as manager for Border Control, was effective immediately. Mr Tupou was cited for breaching the standards of conduct by failing to cooperate and interfering with an internal investigation by ordering subordinates not to cooperate with the authority’s internal investigations pertaining to allegations of corruption.
His email to the staff, which was disclosed on Sunday by Attorney-General and Finance Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, read: … No Customs staff is to allow any ESU (Ethical Standards Unit) staff into the Customs area or disclose any information to them…”
It further stated: “… Any staff in breach of these instructions will be dealt with accordingly.
“The CEO of FRCA (Jitoko Tikolevu) has also today terminated the appointment of the former manager for Border Control Josefa Marawa for misconduct, which has also been referred to FICAC for criminal investigations,” Mr Kodagoda said in his statement.
“The threats made by Mr Tupou should be disregarded and all FRCA staff must render their complete co-operation to investigators.
“We are cleaning up FRCA to get rid of corruption and ensure that all officers adhere to our strict ethical standards.
“In the future, corruption will not find a home at FRCA. We do not accept this sort of behaviour from staff, least of all from a senior manager.
“As the chairman of the board, I will ensure that all necessary actions are taken to protect against similar behaviour in the future.”
Meanwhile, Kumar Sami Gounder has been appointed as the acting general manager for Customs.
