Government remains firm on its deci- sion to hold back grants it gives to the University of the South Pacific (USP) until an independent investigation is completed.

Speaking outside Parliament, Attorney- General (A-G) and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said they were not going to release funds since they have made their position known.

“We are not going to do that. If they believe that they have done nothing wrong, as Honourable Gavoka said a few weeks ago. Now, he’s changing his tune. As he said, there’s nothing to fear if you have done nothing wrong, so why not highlight some of the investigation. This has always been politicised,” the A-G said.

This is in response to concerns raised by USP’s student association and its staff on social media concerning the release of grants, which is now in excess of $78m.

The Government’s position is that they will only release the funds once an independent investigation into certain human resource and management-related allegations at the university have been conducted. Government had stopped giving annual grants of $34m to USP since 2019.

Meanwhile, the A-G has rubbished claims made by the Fiji Labour Party leader, Mahendra Chaudhry.

Mr Chaudhry had claimed that the Pay-As- You-Earn (PAYE) tax and fiscal duty have been overstated in the national budget, and there was still unemployment in the country.

“He’s not true. Over 90 per cent of people have gone back to their jobs. As you all know the hotels are all full, people have gone back to their jobs,” the A-G said.

“The factual information is available on website: it’s all available, you can verify but they don’t do that, unfortunately.”

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