Attorney General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum stresses that the audited accounts of Fiji Airways which is signed off by Price Waterhouse Coopers is available at the Companies Office to any member of the public.
Sayed-Khaiyum says this needs to be understood by the members of the opposition after NFP parliamentarian Professor Biman Prasad asked the Minister to clarify why parliament has not received Annual Reports of Fiji Airways for the past two years given that taxpayer funds of 18 million dollars per year has been granted to Fiji Airways for marketing.
Sayed-Khaiyum says the point that the opposition is missing is that there are many other entities in Fiji that get grants like Northern Air, Corpus Christi, Fulton College, University of Fiji, Sangam, Monfort and Swami Vivekananda College however their annual reports have not been tabled in parliament.
Biman Prasad again asked if the annual reports of Fiji Airways will be tabled in parliament.
Sayed-Khaiyum says the opposition is picking on Fiji Airways because it is running very well.
Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says looking at the debate from early this week, it is apparent that the opposition is finding itself into political oblivion.
He says they are becoming irrelevant.
Biman Prasad said the ministers must give their answers in a concise and precise manner.
Opposition MP Ratu Sela Nanovo said that Fiji Airways takes loans from FNPF but he is concerned that the employees are getting bonuses.
Sayed-Khaiyum then said that FNPF is receiving payments from Fiji Airways way ahead of time and the Fund is also making a profit from this.
He says it is a wonderful thing that Fiji Airways has a profit sharing scheme for its staff where 1.3 million dollars was paid out to the staff in 2013, 3.5 million dollars in 2014, 5 million dollars in 2015 and 6.5 million dollars last year.
Sayed-Khaiyum says he hopes Fiji Airways staff knows that the opposition does not want them to get bonuses.
Related story: Fiji Airways reports a record profit of $84.5 million
