Prof. Prasad says Manumanunitoga is misinformed about teachers’ FNPF while FTA General Secretary blames Finance Ministry’s system change

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says the Fijian Teachers Association General Secretary Paula Manumanunitoga has a habit of attacking him and the Ministry for Finance while Manumanunitoga is urging Professor Prasad not to lay blame on him or the Minister of Education for the teachers pay issue.

While responding to comments made by Manumanunitoga regarding the non-payment of teachers' FNPF, Professor Prasad says Manumanunitoga’s comments are doing more damage, and he should not make statements without knowing the full facts about what has happened.

While responding to Professor Prasad’s statement, the FTA General Secretary says since the beginning of last month, teachers' salaries had been affected where they had made inquiries with the Finance Ministry, and they responded that they were changing the system.

He says the IT system at the Ministry for Finance was having an upgrade or a new IT system was being introduced, which is the cause of the salary issue.

Manumanunitoga also highlighted that the deductions were not affected during the previous government.

He also claimed that two weeks ago, Professor Prasad had called him a racist, but he wants the Minister to know that he is not a racist and that if an iTaukei were the Minister for Finance, he would still do the same because workers should not be treated this way.