THE Local Government Ministry is reviewing its policies on monitoring small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating within town boundaries, breaching occupational and health regulations. Responding to claims raised by the Lautoka Chamber of Commerce and Industry that some small business operators sold bread from wheelbarrows and kerosene from their homes, Local Government Minister Maciu Nalumisa said there was a real need for this review.
“The mechanics of how businesses are operating within the municipalities used to be handled by the (town) councils but that has been changed,” said Mr Nalumisa.
“People just have to register their SMEs, and there is no regulation on certain things, for instance, I have seen the location of their business is a footpath, so it can be a footpath in any place.
“It is something that I’m reviewing within our Ministry. “I have instructed my PS to review that business licence process so that the council can manage most of the businesses operating within their municipalities.”
He said the councils have very little control over these obvious breaches.
“We are trying to review other Act that give powers to the council to go to these places and also have the powers to close them down if they find OHS breaches or health regulation breaches.
“It is really getting out of hand.”
Mr Nalumisa said what was supposed to be a move to streamline processes and make it easier for Fijians to register their businesses had turned into more problems for municipal councils.
“The idea was there of making the process more leaner for those that want to set up their own business, and it makes the process less bureaucratic, but once you remove that, it opened up windows for people to abuse some of the basic principles, like proper locations, so now you can see people selling food exposed to dust and from non-hygienic places.
“It is something that needs to be reviewed so that we can control some of the activities, and we can term it to be illegal that is being operated under the term MSMEs.”
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Note: This article was first published under the headline: SME crackdown – Ministry wary of OHS breaches in Page 18 of the print version of The Fiji Times dated Thursday, September 26, 2025
