Chinese Government provides $2 million grant for Nukurua-Vatukarasa Road Upgrade Project (Linked to Project ID#64207)

On June 27, 2007, roughly six months after the December 2006 military coup in Fiji, the Chinese Government provided a $5 million cash grant to the Government of Fiji (as recorded in Project ID#64207). These monies were deposited into a trust fund controlled by Fiji’s Office of the Prime Minister. Then, on May 22, 2007, Fiji’s Cabinet approved the utilization of the $5 million cash grant to finance the construction and upgrading of rural roads and other rural projects. $2 million was earmarked for the upgrading the Nukurua-Vatukarasa road. The purpose of this project was to upgrade a road from the village of Nukurua to the village of Vatukarasa in Tailevu Province. A local contractor (Viti Vanua Holdings) was the contractor responsible for implementation. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 19, 2007 and the upgraded road was opened to traffic on August 26, 2009. Upon completion, the upgraded road was expected to help farmers in the Nukurua and Vatukarasa area transport their cash crops to markets in Nausori and Suva.

Additional details

According to Fijian law, any monies that are deposited into government-controlled Trust Funds are not the property of the state and not utilized for the purpose of government. As such, these monies are to be deposited in separate bank accounts and accounted for separately from public money and other money (since they are being ‘held in trust’). Fiji’s Office of the Prime Minister operates one Trust Fund that is financed by the PRC Government and another that is financed by the Taiwanese (ROC) Government. The PRC Government, in effect, entrusted its $5 million cash grant to the coup leader (Frank Bainimarama), who became Fiji’s Prime Minister.

Number of official sources

4

Number of total sources

7