Govt needs to do more for the thousands of people who are really struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table on a daily basis – Waqanika

SODELPA MP, Tanya Waqanika says the Government really needs to do more for the thousands of people who are really struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table on a daily basis.

Waqanika says while the Government continues to guarantee loans for Fiji Development Bank and Fiji Airways, many people continue to suffer.

Meanwhile, Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the Government has directly spent $300 million on COVID-19 related matters, and the point is that the machinery of the government has been working.

Sayed-Khaiyum says $160 million has been paid out in unemployment benefits through phases 2 and 3, $30 million in concessional loans have been given out for micro, small and medium enterprises, $10 million through the $90 MPAiSA grant through which 37,206 households in Nadi and Lautoka were assisted and 81,430 households from Suva, Nausori and Lami have been assisted.

The Minister for Economy says $100 million has been used for Health and Medical Services which includes frontliners like the Fiji Police and the RFMF.

He says on top of this, $150 million has been released by FNPF.

Sayed-Khaiyum says they continue to pay the same salary rates for the civil servants, infrastructure, education, access to justice, social protection, welfare payments have not been stopped, legal aid has not been stopped and agriculture is doing it’s work.