Riya Mala 
[Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]
The Acting Chief Executive of the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji, Surend Pratap, has called for an urgent review of the organization’s fees and charges.
Speaking during the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence session, Pratap pointed out that the current regulations, enacted in 2011, have not been updated to reflect the increasing costs of operations.
He stressed that maintaining the same fees while operational costs have risen significantly is unsustainable.
Pratap says that fees and charges are a primary source of revenue, and the organization cannot rely on the government to provide assistance moving forward.
“Which means the fees and charges have remained the same while the cost of doing business has gone up. We have developed in terms of resources, equipment, and everything. In order to ensure that we continue to provide the required service, we need money.”
[Source: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji/Facebook]
Pratap adds that they have submitted a Cabinet paper to the ministry to advance their initiative.
Standing Committee Chair, Lenora Qereqeretabua, confirms they will be submitting the report to Parliament soon.
“Of course, we will be asking them to come back if there are any questions that arise in the next few weeks. But the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee has been working very quickly, so we have been able to table many reports back to Parliament.”
Qereqeretabua clarifies that the processing will take time since the annual report covers the period from 2011 to 2013, and the organization has been facing numerous challenges during that time.
