Rabuka Hits Back at Chaudhry claims
“It is still part of team building. We were three days short of the end of the budget year and the Prime Minister Entertainment Budget was not used,” Mr Rabuka said.
Monday 05 August 2024 | 14:21
Former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry (left) and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka toasting during the special dinner at the Grand Pacific Hotel with Government Members of Parliament (MPs) and their spouses on July 30, 2024. Photo: DEPTFO News
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has officially broken his silence regarding the recently criticised ‘lavish’ Grand Pacific Hotel (GPH) special dinner.
The special lavish dinner, which Mr Rabuka hosted at Suva’s most premier hotel last Tuesday, treated Ministers, Assistant Ministers and their spouses to a night of ‘fellowship and team bonding.’
Former PM Mahendra Chaudhry labelled the event as ‘lavish and sickening’ and a decision based on irrational contemplation given that Fiji is forever going with a begging bowl to Australia and New Zealand for budget support.
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Speaking to this masthead yesterday after attending a church service at the Centenary Church in Suva, Mr Rabuka said the event was part of the Prime Minister’s Entertainment Budget.
It is the same clarification that crossbencher Member of Parliament Mosese Bulitavu first made last Thursday. He defended the event and called out Mr Chaudhry’s case of investing money outside of Fiji without informing the Reserve Bank of Fiji. Mr Chaudhry was fined $2.47m in 2014.
“It is still part of team building. We were three days short of the end of the budget year and the Prime Minister Entertainment Budget was not used,” Mr Rabuka said.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity to use it then in the wake of the civil servants’ week which was also a team bonding exercise by the Public Service Commission.”
In the 2023-2024 National Budget, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) was allocated $50.8m. In this current budget 2024-2025, the OPM is allocated $28.4m.
“We saw how good that was in the morale of the civil servants,” Mr Rabuka said.
“I felt that we should do one for the Ministers, Assistant Ministers and their spouses to come along and fellowship with one another out of the office environment.”
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