Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Public Enterprises, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has spoken highly of the current Chairman of Energy Fiji Limited, Dakshesh Patel who he says has brought about a breath of fresh air in terms of his capacity to be able to negotiate sophisticated commercial arrangements.
Sayed-Khaiyum says those days are gone at Energy Fiji Limited where the only people needed were those who knew about engineering and generation adding they now need to take a holistic commercial approach.
While speaking on the Report on Fiji Electricity Authority Annual Report 2016, Sayed-Khaiyum highlighted that Energy Fiji Limited had some problems in the past.
While contributing to the debate, National Federation Party’s MP, Parmod Chand says they want the annual reports of all companies to be tabled on time.
He also stated that parliament needs to be told first about Energy Fiji Limited’s future plans. Meanwhile, the Chairperson for the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, Lorna Eden informed the parliamentarians that the Committee applauded Energy Fiji Limited for not only producing a profit of 59.6m for 2016 but also absorbing all costs related to restoration works after TC Winston without having to increase borrowings or increase tariff rates.
Eden also highlighted that the Committee did note that Energy Fiji Limited’s future power development plan would cost in the vicinity of 2.4 billion dollars and this could hinge on among other things, the right electricity tariff.
The Standing Committee on Economic Affairs has urged Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission, Energy Fiji Limited and other relevant stakeholders to engage in dialogue to ensure the best possible outcome for Energy Fiji Limited and the general public in the long run.
