From today, August 1, rural allowances will be reinstated for eligible civil servants at standardised rates across different ministries and departments.

This follows the announcement made by Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum during his 2022-2023 National Budget address earlier last month.

This was for civil servants serving in the rural and most remote parts of Fiji.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said as announced in the revised Budget, the suspension of the payment of maritime location allowance was while a review of rural allowances had to be undertaken.

He said the review has been completed and from today, this allowance would be reinstated.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has also confirmed that in this financial year, the Government projected to spend $5.87million in rural and maritime location allowances for civil servants living and working in these areas.

This, he said, would benefit just under 5000 civil servants across 954 locations.

Mr Bainimarama added that single officers would receive $1200 per annum, while married officers would receive $1800 per annum.

What Else Will Come Into Effect Today?

•  The Government will directly subsidise bus fares by 10 per cent across the board for at least the next six months.
•   From today, school-based teaching staff will be allowed three days of annual personal leave with the approval of their Heads of Schools and/or the Divisional Education Offices; Permanent secretaries’ – 10 per cent pay cut will be reinstated. However, ministers, assistant ministers, and Members of Parliament will remain on 25 per cent reduced pay;
•  Teachers who are eligible to be on Band F, will transition to Step Three of Band F;
• Business visas will be granted on arrival for citizens of certain countries that have visa free entry to Fiji, we will start with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States. The visa on arrival will be valid for 21 days;
•  All new surveys for iTaukei land can be tracked online. Members of the public will have free access to the Vanua GIS system for all users, making this valuable information more accessible to the public.

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