FIJI: EU sugar industry funding back on track
Updated
The European Union says its funding allocation for Fiji's sugar industry is back on track. Since the coup last year aid donors including the EU have suspended funding to Fiji although it is expected to be returned if the interim government restores transparency and holds democratic elections by early 2009.
Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speakers: Ritva Sallmen, EU regional economic sugar representative
SALLMEN: I can very well understand that these donor contributions and internal procedures are very complicated for the general public and for the media also. Full envelope for 2007 to 2010, 2007 and 2010 for that period, and for that period the commission decided can't see allocations for all the 18 countries. The allocation for Fiji is 60 million Euros which is something like 134 million Fiji dollars or 85 million US dollars if you want to have that comparison. And that decision was taken only on 18th April this year, 2007, at which time point all of the coup had taken place in Fiji and there were hesitations towards direction the country will go and so on. So what the commission decided was that in those circumstances it is not likely that the national stakeholders and the government will be able to submit their full national adaptations. So let's put the 2007 allocation, the portion of the total of the country's allocation as zero, which of course means that the annual allocations become back loaded instead of being front loaded, they will become back loaded. But the full 60 million is still there, so Fiji has not lost anything. It is only closed over to the later years.
COUTTS: So quite simply, the European Union's funding to Fiji's sugar industry has been withheld because of the coup?
SALLMEN: Because of the coup, yes. The total country allocation is not touched. It's the 60 million as you can see in the Commission's decision from 18th April this year. It is the same amount as it has been always. It's only that 2007 it's put zero, which means that later years back loaded.
COUTTS: So, the Fiji sugar industry feels that they haven't got the funding they need to proceed, whether it's because of the back loading issue and 2007 allocation being withheld. Is the EU's interpretation of the status of Fiji's sugar industry at the moment?
SALLMEN: What has been in discussion was the suspension of the disbursement of the 2006 initial amounts. The 2007 has in a way got mixed up, because you have years of commitment and years of disbursement. The 2006 commitment is being disbursed now and the disbursement of the 2006 funds were a little bit suspended. We wanted to see how the political situation in Fiji proceeds and evolves. The 2007 commitment allocation is zero and that will become available in the later years. The funds are back loaded, which means that the annual allocations 2008, 2009 and 2010 are bigger.
COUTTS: So the funding at the moment is basically suspended until transparency issues are dealt with and democratic elections have been held?
SALLMEN: Yes exactly those commitments which have been made by the interim government and which can be read also in the Commission Council decision 1st October and related to the president all which has been published. But now, if you read the Tonga announcements, the Commission has released also the two million Euro for disbursements now, so we are getting back on track.
