Worrying concerns that savings, government and FNPF assistance expected to run out by next month

There are worrying concerns that a vast majority of people who were sent on Leave Without Pay, sent home or have been put on reduced hours from March until the effects of COVID-19 subside, may be running out of savings and even the government and FNPF assistance provided is expected to run out by next month.

CEO of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association Fantasha Lockington says these people, including hotel and tourism workers and others previously working in the retail and services sector, face a bleak future until some positive signs emerge for the businesses.

  CEO of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association Fantasha Lockington

Those positive signs will not emerge until the threat of the global pandemic is over.

Lockington says they have been receiving many reports that many of these affected workers are now planting vegetables and root crops to survive.

While this provides some relief, there are growing concerns regarding how people will continue to afford to pay rent, put food on the table for their families and pay for their utility bills.

Close to 40,000 people working in the hotel and tourism sector in the country continue to remain seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockington says the assessment of the industry is that more than 150,000 people are directly or indirectly affected by the drastic drop in visitor arrivals as a result of the global pandemic. This includes all the businesses connected with the provision of goods and services when we have tourists in the country.

Lockington says it is devastating for the entire industry for now - with no light seen at the end of the tunnel.