Housing Authority stuck with $5.8m in bad debts

The Housing Authority of Fiji is carrying $5.8 million in doubtful and bad debts, nearly $3 million of which comes from village loans that have turned problematic.

Manager Suresh Chand told the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday that the provision represented about eight per cent of the authority’s total loan portfolio.

He said that $3m of the provision was contributed by village loans given in the past, where repayments did not happen well through the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB).

“Out of that four million, we have about three million, which is contributed by village loans that we have given in the past, and they have been repayment issues with those loans,” Mr Chand said.

The remaining provision includes $1m for general provisions and more than $1m for other specific provisions.

Opposition MP Alvick Maharaj questioned the authority’s decision to expand lending to Public Rental Board flat owners given the existing debt problems.

“Having said that such a huge amount is in provision for doubtful debt, and moving into new venture of financing the PRB flat owners, aren’t you actually increasing your risk?” Mr Maharaj asked.

He noted that PRB tenants often struggled to pay just $30 monthly rent, questioning their ability to repay housing loans.

Committee chairman Esrom Immanuel suggested the authority should escalate the village loan issue to ministerial level, calling the $3m “easy money for housing authority” that could be recovered.

The authority confirmed discussions were ongoing with TLTB to resolve the outstanding village loan repayments, with records being provided to substantiate the original loans.

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