23,388 people were assisted under the Help for Homes Initiative in Phase One.
This has been confirmed by the Minister for Economy and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
Sayed-Khaiyum says that 11,331 applicants received $1,500 each, 4,100 applicants received $3,000 each while 7,957 applicants received $7,000 each after Cyclone Winston.
Sayed-Khaiyum says people whose names were not in the NDMO’s list for this initiative were also assisted.
He stresses that there was a significant demand of building materials in Fiji and also internationally therefore it was noted that there was a shortage of some materials such as concrete blocks, iron and timber.
He says this is one of the factors that caused delays in delivering of materials to residents.
The Minister says hardware companies could not contact recipients since they moved from where they used to live and the tropical depression in December were also some of the factors that caused delays.
He also highlighted that hardware companies who had not performed well had also complied with the 4 percent interest imposed on them and paid government a total sum of $697, 662.
He says the companies who paid the interest are Vinod Patel, RC Manubhai and Carpenters Hardware.
These companies have been also excluded from the phase 2 of the initiative.
