The University of the South Pacific staff were given a pay rise in October last year and January this year because of their exceptional management of the budget.
This has been confirmed by the Vice Chancellor and the President of the University, Professor Pal Ahluwalia who says this was his top priority.
When questioned if the staff were given a raise after they received $10 million from the Fiji government, Professor Ahluwalia says they got the raise because of their exceptional management of the budget and the University has enough capacity that they wanted to recognise their staff for what they have done.
He further says they have a debt of $116.5 million to come from Fiji and from that they have only received $10 million so they will be working with the government as the funding comes in.
He says the staff will be key beneficiaries as they work through the unions to work out the best outcomes for the staff.
The Professor says the government is only about 110 days old and they are working very closely with them to see how they can get the funding but they are also very conscious that there is a lot of pressure.
He says they have a decaying infrastructure and as they get more funds released to them, they will work on that because it is not only about providing quality courses that USP is known for.
The Vice Chancellor says that is inevitable when you do not get funding for a long time so they are now prioritising and addressing it.
He says they are prioritising students over everything else but they want students to have that quality student experience and that will be the campus ambience.
He adds the University has enough funds for its operations.
