More than 51,000 applications have been received by the Fiji National Provident Fund for the Cyclone Winston Natural Disaster assistance.
Chief Operating Officer Jaoji Koroi confirms that about $4million have been paid to members’ accounts by yesterday afternoon.
Koroi says majority of the payments are for those members applying for the $1,000 assistance.
He says additional resources have been sought to meet the operational challenge given the high number of applications received.
To put into perspective, FNPF received a total of 65,000 applications for the 12 months to June 2015.
For Cyclone Evan’s assistance provided in 2014, the Fund received 8,164 applications and paid out $7.4million.
Koroi says in one week, FNPF has received about 51,000 applications and expect a similar number to be lodged at their offices within the next two weeks.
He says FNPF has diverted all it’s resources to the Cyclone Winston assistance given the enormity of the exercise.
Koroi says they are pleading for their members’ understanding and patience in regards to delays that they may be faced in relation to payments.
FNPF teams are also currently deployed in Koro, Levuka, Naigani, Ra, Tavua, Navua and Tailevu North.
They also hope to cover Vanuabalavu, Taveuni, Laucala and Naitasiri in the next couple of days.
Koroi says any withdrawal from members’ general eligibility will affect future withdrawals and their total balance.
He says it may mean that you will have to forego some other assistance provided by the Fund, especially for those with low eligibility.
