$45,000 still owed to 2018 election workers

The Fiji Elections Office (FEO) still owes $45,000 to election officials from the 2018 general elections, a parliamentary committee heard yesterday.

FEO financial controller Romika Sewak told the Standing Committee on Public Accounts that the outstanding amount remained unpaid because the office could not verify employee data for payment processing.

The issue stems from the hiring of about 12,000 election officials for the 2018 general elections, where many failed to provide complete details including FNPF numbers and identification documents.

"The balance that is still left to be paid for the 2018 elections office is around 45,000. So, we are still not able to verify this employee data," Ms Sewak said during the committee hearing on Tuesday.

She explained that after the 2018 election, the office had transferred $160,000 from their operating account to a trust fund account to facilitate payments to election officials.

"So, from 160,000, it went to 63,000, as noted in the 2022 comments, where the entry was corrected," Ms Sewak said.

The office has been working with the Fiji National Provident Fund to clear the outstanding payments over the past two years.

Director for Procedures Sanjeshwar Ram said they had conducted considerable advertising on their website and social media, askin

"We have also been trying to reach with FNPF in regards to filling this amount. Over the last two years, we have managed to clear some slowly," Mr Ram said.

In contrast, Ms Sewak noted that for the 2022 General Election, they managed to clear most payments to election officials, with only $300 remaining for employees whose data could not be verified.

The 2018 election officials worked for just one day on election day, which complicated the verification process for their employment details.

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