Prof. Biman Prasad on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad admits that the coalition government is not implementing things on time in all ministries as expected and this is a major concern in terms of civil service delivery.

While speaking on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan, Professor Prasad says the ministers are well aware on what they have to do as the budget allocation is there but the delivery and execution for the people of Fiji is lacking in certain areas.

He says they are now focusing on monitoring and evaluation.

Professor Prasad says the new implementation plan based on the National Development Plan will be used for monitoring of the execution of the work to be carried out based on the National Budget.

He also says the World Bank Report on our health system to be launched tomorrow, will be very damning as it says we are middle income country but our health outcomes are that of a low income country.

Professor Prasad hopes this report will trigger actions and policies to address the fundamental problems.

The current budget allocation by the government is sufficient to begin some of the necessary work for the drug rehabilitation centre.

This has been highlighted by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Professor Biman Prasad, during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when he was asked what is the cause of the delay since funds have been provided for the drug rehabilitation centre but still, there is none as yet.

Professor Prasad says the government needs to accelerate the implementation of projects for which funds have already been allocated, including the construction of a drug rehabilitation centre.

He says various ministries and the government have been collaborating to raise awareness about drug-related issues, with law enforcement taking action against those involved in drug activities.

The Deputy Prime Minister says the drug problem has grown significantly as the issue has become more exposed.

The Deputy Prime Minister also highlighted that in the next budget, the government will need to carefully review and reconsider allocations with the relevant ministries to ensure adequate funding for such critical needs.