The Housing Authority Board and Management has undertaken significant steps to address the issues highlighted in the Housing Authority – Special Investigation Report by the Office of the Auditor General.
Housing Authority and Public Rental Board Chairperson, Viliame Vodonaivalu says all HA staff on an annual basis sign a Conflict of Interest declaration form and he as the Chair makes it clear that none of the current board members sit on any tender evaluation committee as was the practice before.
All tender documents are kept in both digital and hard copy by the HA Corporate Governance Team and is subject to annual key control testing by the Risk and Compliance team on the end to end tender process including document storage and retention.
Vodonaivalu says the Investigation Report deals with the special investigation done into the lot allotment processes and approval of tenders for development of subdivisions for the period 2010 to 2020.
He says the current Housing Authority and Public Rental Board Board of Directors were appointed in October 2021 following the resignation of the previous HA and PRB Board.
Vodonaivalu says the new processes include formally endorsing and implementing the Housing Authority’s Lot Allocation Policy and the HA/PRB Procurement Policy and Procedure, that address the gaps and issues identified in the Auditor General’s Special Investigation Report.
He says lots have since been allocated under the new transparent lot allocation process.
The Chair says the policies have been aligned to industry best practices and peer reviewed to avoid a repeat of the issues in relation to both processes.
Under the current Housing Authority Lot Allocation Policy, HA will conduct independent verification of applicants’ income with relevant agencies such as Fiji Revenue and Customs Services, title search for the applicants are conducted with the Registrar of Titles to ensure that these applicants are first homeowners, customers are required to provide a signed HA Standard Statutory Declaration confirming that they are Fiji Citizen, they do not hold dual citizenship, are first home buyers, current residential address and status (if staying with family or renting), not in the process of buying any property from any external parties, their marital and employment status, annual gross income, confirmation if any other sources of income (registered or unregistered) and that their combined annual household income is below $50,000.
By signing HA’s Standard Statutory Declaration, applicants confirm that the allotted lot is for the purposes of their permanent residence and provide consent to HA to conduct income check with FRCS.
Vodonaivalu says this Statutory Declaration needs to be administered by the Justice of Peace or Commissioner of Oaths.
He also says the reselling of lots policies have been amended and benchmarked with other statutory bodies such as the iTaukei Land Trust Board, the aim of which is to ensure they provide land to first homebuyers.
The Board clarifies that in every subdivision, there are some high-end lots allocated during development and this is to subsidize the cost for the low-end lots.
However, HA’s focus remains on serving the low-medium end market.
All high-end lot allocation goes through a tender process and is awarded to the highest compliant bidder under the new process.
Customers that usually qualify for these lots have household income above $50,000.
The HA Board says it has also approved for the establishment of a Risk and Compliance team which has been fully operational since mid 2022 to embed improved processes and avoid such reoccurrences.
The Risk and Compliance Team is independent and reports directly to the Audit and Risk Board Subcommittee.
Vodonaivalu says all HA staff undergo mandatory annual training on policies and procedures throughout the year including a special training by FICAC.
As far as Lot Allocation is concerned, the HA Board and Management as part of the digital agenda will soon launch the HA Customer Portal which will host Lot Allocation – Expression of Interest (EOI).
He says this will serve as a more transparent platform whereby eligible Fijians will be able to log in, apply for lots online, and track their application status.
Vodonaivalu also says the Housing Authority is now under Reserve Bank of Fiji supervision that strengthens its operating and governance environment.
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