THE vast number of unemployed Fijians has prompted Toko resident Satish Chandra to urge the Government to prioritise its own citizens in terms of employment opportunities.
Mr Chandra posed the question to panellists during a press event in Tavua on Wednesday, requesting that the Government give employment opportunities to its citizens first rather than bringing people from overseas.
“We have so many unemployed Fijians on standby for jobs,” he said.
“The Chinese are being brought to the Vatukoula gold mine, the Bangladeshi are being brought to Fiji, so what we are saying is our people don’t have a job.”
Employment Ministry acting permanent secretary Atish Kumar said the ministry was aware of the situation and working closely with the Ministry of Immigration in terms of the processes involved.
“Currently we have authorised agencies, and we have set the criteria for those agencies so that we have decorum in place for all these agencies when they bring in workers,” he said.
Mr Kumar said the Immigration Ministry had statistics on how many foreign workers were in Fiji and what industries they were employed in.
“If only we don’t have local talent available, then they can come in, the foreign workers.”
