The Hibiscus Festival Executive Committee confirms that they have dismissed former Chairperson of Hibiscus Events Group, Hirdesh Prasad and has requested him to hand over all property belonging to Hibiscus.
The case has also been referred to FICAC.
The new committee says this comes after they had made enquiries into Prasad's dealings after allegations of abuse by members before the AGM in early July.
The Suva City Council had also given Prasad a 30-day eviction notice in March this year.
The new executive committee says debts of more than $100,000 have remained unpaid since 2018 when the Hibiscus Festival was moved to Valelevu.
The Hibiscus Executive Committee is made up of members nominated by the Suva Retailers Association and SCC.
SCC has referred the matter regarding the former chairperson to FICAC for investigation.
Under the new Committee Chairperson, Vinay Kumar, positions for the Hibiscus Organising Committee were advertised in July this year. The committee says the members have been chosen via applications and merit and will be introduced by the end of this month.
The executive committee says they want to get things right before they proceed with the festival. It says they are concentrating on staging the festival next year which is also Fiji's 50th year of independence.
When contacted by Fijivillage, Hirdesh Prasad said that he will not make any comments
